Finding a hair stylist I like has been a huge trial for me, for most of my adult life - I never…read morefound one I remotely liked in Berkeley (and refused to ever get my hair cut at Cal, after an unfortunate salon visit that left me looking like a North Korean communist soldier movie stereotype); found an okay one whilst in Silicon Valley, but who I bore no great love for; and failing once more in Seattle, leaving with cuts reminiscent of Socal ricers or Justin Bieber, opted to grow out my hair instead.
Coming back to the Bay, I experimented with some medium (~$30) to high priced (~60) salons across the city, just to rule out the "you get what you pay for" argument - and rule it out I did. You'd think a "I don't know, you decide, make me look different" would lead to differing styles each time wouldn't you? But nope, somehow it always ended up the same, be it a $15 cut, or a $60 one. The only differences were in actual technique, but those had no correlation with price points either.
So, eventually, I found myself sitting in Iky's chair, having read all these rave reviews here on Yelp. And you know what? For the first time in my life, I have a hairstyle that I actually love (I'll worry about the age-appropriateness of a fauxhawk when I get there), and a stylist who is dedicated and very well-trained, to boot! Iky will schedule you for a full hour, and actually be cutting your hair for that full hour, all the meanwhile making conversation, be it about life, or the technique and reasons behind how she's cutting your hair.
On top of all this, she's affordable too, at $15 for first time customers, and $18 thereafter, not including tip (it'll do you well to tip her well - she works hard, remembers clients, and, more importantly, treats returning customers well). One last thing to take note of though is that it can be fairly difficult to book an appointment with her. She has a lot of customers, both old and new, and given the full hour bookings, and the fact that she's a one-woman operation, it means she's always booked, and booked out far, with two months not being uncommon. Since I always book my next appointment at the end of my current one, this is of little consequence to me though - well, unless I miss it. Then things can get a bit... hairy.