I was in town for a short visit to attend a graduation. Two nights before I came I found this hair school and contacted them for an appointment. I was able to schedule the first appointment on Friday morning. I arrived and checked in. I had a short wait before I was greeted by Adele who performed my services. I originally came in for a silk press but after the consultation it was recommended that I pivot to a deep conditioner and blow dry. Adele was amazing! She was attentive and knowledgeable and consulted with me about everything. She provided great services and was very attentive with my hair. I ended getting a trim and a different style than what I had originally planned but I love this even more. The prices are great too! I can't believe everything came to less than $20!!! Please bring cash for tips! You can pay for services via credit card but can't put tips on the card and the students work very hard! read more

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I love participating in student learninf whenever possible and so, as part of the general public, I enjoy going to Empire regularly for beauty services whether with their daytime or nighttime students. I've have had back facials, regular facials, body waxing, and nail polish removing services. I highly recommend the skin and waxing services! I would give my overall skin services a 9 out of 10. I would give the wax services 10 out of 10. I would give the nail gel polish removal surface a 0 out of 10 I was in agony the 1 time I went there. It took 2 hours to remove the gel off my hands and feet. They removed it the 'old school way' of using a nail filer and grinding down the gel off until they got to my natural nail bed. My nail bed was in so much pain and soreness... it took a day for my hands and 2 days for my feet to feel back to normal. I had areas of my nail bed turn white due to the over grinding. They tried soaking my nails in acetone and foil but the foil was constantly dropping. It was a game of catch. The student had to switch to different fingers/toes or hands/feet when i needed to rest due to the irritation. I came in thinking it would probably take 30 minutes for the appt... but 2+ hours?? Imagine if I had plans afterwards?? Smh. I understand that they probably have issues with drill bits and nail drills due to students probably pocketing them. I wish they had a more secure system of keeping a nail drill on the property. For example, having it locked with a pass code protected lock and each student have a unique pass code so that, in the event it went missing, staff would know who was the last one who "checked out" the drill and that student would be financially responsible to paying for / replacing the drill (and accessories) before completing the program. Or another system could be it would be locked up with the instructor and a student would gave to request and return it to the instructor immediately at the start and end of the appt It would gave been a 5 star review had I not have had a bad experience with the nail part of the facility. Definitely book as much skin and wax services for yourself (and your loved ones) as you can! read more

I tried calling 6 different times on several different days (including twice today - over an hour apart) because I wanted to schedule a tour and enroll in their esthetics program. Each and every time I called, I was transferred and it rang for 3 minutes before hanging up. Upon calling back, the person who answered sounded annoyed as if I was the problem. She never once offered to take a message for whoever coordinates the tours. They have no voicemail to leave a message and you can't reply to the automated texts they send after you fill out their form online to schedule a tour. It just tells you to call to schedule - yet they make it unnecessarily difficult to do so. A first impression of not answering the phone on multiple occasion, hanging up on multiple occasions and having no voicemail when someone wants to enroll says a lot about this school's professionalism. After so many tries, I gave up and contacted another school that booked me for a tour in less than 1/5 of the time I spent trying to get in touch with people at Empire! read more

The students do a thorough job and the teacher checks their work when it's time. The prices are excellent, I have had several services done here and it has always been a good experience. read more

I love empire beauty school. the teacher's are the best everyone there is down to earth. I'm so happy to be a student at empire love it XOXO read more

Listen to this. As this is the most sneaky, embarrassing pathetic attempt at hiding all the terrible traits, habits, behavior/lack of professionalism from the educators at this school. When you come here for a service the "educator" (black lady with short hair) practically tries to force clients into reviewing the school and the service WHILE you are in there in order to try to make you feel bad into writing a good review. How unprofessional is that? I was appalled. She basically told me I had to write a review NOW while I was getting a pedicure. Why? What if I didn't want to? What if I didn't want to leave my bad yet honest review right there and then while all the salon was looking at me and still performing a service? I originally wanted to go to school here but after my visit with them a week ago I changed my mind. One of the educators here (I didn't catch her name but she is black and has short hair) was giving a student completely inaccurate information on how to apply a product to a clients hair. I was so shocked. She walked around the students saying stupid things that were incorrect. Outdated lady needs to go back to school herself. She was also very rude and whined a lot instead of teaching with a polite assertive manner she would whine and complain. Real classless lady. She really rubbed me the wrong way as being very mean, catty, almost evil natured. She gives me the creeps. If I owned this school I would fire her and replace her with literally ANYONE else as I'm sure a random stranger plucked from a group of people would know more about hair dressing than she does. I really never write reviews. But this has been eating at me for an entire week. Lady, if you're reading this... seek help. read more

It is unprofessional to use your educators position as a power trip and to put others down because you yourself believe to be above everyone else around you. Its sad to say they cant give the students a chance let alone tell them that they dont have one. Its unfortunate that people who are asumed to be looked upon as role models have disgraced not only themselves but the place in which they are licensed to work. Empire Beauty School should reevaluate the individuals they put in place to be "licensed educators" to these young adults who will be the future of this field for as long as it lasts. Judging by the attrition rate due to uncalled for degrading disagreements and disputes they wont last long. Any teacher who doubts their pupils are the true failures. Empire Beauty School Wariwck RI read more

I am currently attending school and it has been an amazing adventure.. along with covid making thing difficult.... they have made everything work out great!!!! read more

I called for appointment and was able to get one same day! Sophia cut and styled my hair to perfection! Very reasonable prices excellent service. I highly recommend. read more

I recently had a facial at Empire Beauty School with Dani. For 25$ I wasn't expecting much but was pleasantly surprised! It was a very relaxing and thorough facial ( lasted just over an hour). Dani had a very soothing sense of touch and I loved the facial massage and pleasant fragrance of the products Dani used. I would definitely recommend Dani and will return for future facials. read more

So I can not rate the school itself, but did stop in for a hair cut the other day and they did an awesome job! I always pass Empire and finally stopped in and was not disappointed. For $5 I was able to get a great haircut including washing, cutting, a blowout and flat iron straight! If that is not a deal I don't know what is. The service was great too the girls at the front desk were nice and so was the person that gave me a haircut. This isn't only a womans saloon, they also do men and children too. They also have other services such as manicures and waxing. Def someplace worth checking out. read more

I hate leaving negative reviews, but these guys can really use the feedback. I booked an appointment for a perm. The girl on the phone seemed distracted, but managed to confirm my appointment date and time. I showed up only to find out I'm nowhere on the schedule and the girl I booked the appointment with is already booked for that time. The person I was talking to was rude and didn't even offer an apology. They did offer to take me and just have the student work on both of us (which is very possible when there's a perm and a hair coloring going at the same time). Plenty of downtime to focus on the other client. After waiting for half an hour, nobody came to get me or to ask me whether I'm all set. I just left. The sad thing is they probably didn't even notice. They need to really work on customer service and logistics; clearly, not all know how to book appointments. Would not recommend coming here. read more

Definitely a great place to go if you want your hair and nails done for super cheap! Just a warning... you do get what you pay for. The service is good, but it's not great. But these are students, and that's to be expected. One problem I did have that I wasn't happy about was that the pedicure description online and in the store says "foot and leg massage," yet I didn't receive that or even lotion. I didn't get lotion/a hand massage during my pedicure either. Also, you should be prepared to be turned away during the walk-in hours. You can make appointments for 10am and 2pm and walk-ins are between 11am-1pm. I went in today for a walk-in at noon and I was turned away and told to come back another day. In the end, it's still worth it though because the prices are DIRT CHEAP. read more

Empire beauty School is honestly an AMAZING school. Ive always been interested in makeup and nails, but Empire taught me how to love Hair as well. Empire gave me the opportunity to pursue what i love to do. The teachers and staff are very patient and work with you every step of the way, they really push you to be the best you in the Cosmetology Industry, Empire also gives you opportunities for the future. Ive learned so many different things for the amount of time i've been here. I love this school, its my happy place. I would definitely recommend Empire Beauty School to anyone who is passionate about Cosmetology! read more

I enjoy my education at Empire so Much. Highly recommend going to this school. I learned so much during my time at Empire. It inspired me to pursue a passion in nails and become a nail tech. I am so happy that I came to this school. read more

My experience at Empire Beuty School is amazing. The fact that I always wanted to come to a beauty school I was able to find this great school. Staff and educators are wonderful they take their time and patience with the students. So happy I get to involve myself in the beauty industry to provide services in the future to my clients, excited for being here at Empire. LOVE WHAT YOU DO, NEVER GIVE UP I WILL RECOMMEND EMPIRE BEAUTY SCHOOL PROVIDENCE 100% read more

Empire Beauty School has served as the gateway in accessing my deepest passions in the beauty industry. My journey to self love and self acceptance with my own beauty was always a struggle for most of my life. Growing up with a physically altering disorder, I always challenged the true concept and definition of beauty. Because of this, it grew an interest in me to exercise different aspects of my life in which I felt beautiful, which translated into hair styling, makeup, skin care and overall health. In 2016, after a medical diagnosis, I ended up losing the vast majority of my hair which devastated me. However, that loss translated into an opportunity to change the lives of others. I decided to leave my original career path and serve as an ambassador for the beauty industry wholeheartedly and make other people feel their most authentic beauty self. Empire Beauty School in Providence was the outlet I used to hone my skills as an stylist and give me the leverage to become a leader in the beauty realm in Providence, RI. It was one of the first times I'm my life that I looked forward to attending school. The education was focused and rich of information. I learned insurmountable techniques and skills from talented educators like Miss Corrie and Miss Diane. The level of professionalism evoked by the leaders of Empire is also something I truly prize and appreciate it. Starting Empire in the height of the pandemic, the administration and staff worked strenuously to make sure everything was safe, organized and efficient to give us very tool needed to succeed here and beyond. The application process was very smooth and peaceful, with the help of Renee who welcomed me with open arms. Empire has become more than a school building for me. It's a part of my journey and story. It has become a place that I call home. Finally, it's somewhere I highly recommend if you desire to take your passions seriously and dive into your greater tomorrow. read more

Empire Beauty has been an amazing experience. I have learned so much in such a short time. I feel confident and ready to pursue my career as a cosmetologist! read more

Ms. Maureen is the best teacher ever! She is so nice. She's the type of teacher that will be honest with you about everything no matter what it is. I am a visual learner and Ms. Maureen has helped me with that. She always makes sure her students learn the Mods correctly. There's no better teacher than Ms. Maureen! read more

If you're a potential student, please run. My mother talked me into going here, due to it being cheapest and close by. Personally, my education was TERRIBLE. I graduated feeling like I knew nothing. If you failed a test (I failed one) you could retake the SAME EXACT test over and over till you passed. They also told you every question on the test a few days in advance, you looked up the answers and that was your study guide. Are you kidding me? We learned 3 weeks of cutting, a new cut every day, you don't learn the angles and their results. So if someone wants something that goes against "the norm" good luck creating it. By the time I left I only knew a straight "blunt" cut, long and short layers. Want a bob? Nope, sorry. Want something edgy? Maybe even Miley-ish? Nope, sorry. Want a fringed angle to you face? Oh sorry that's also out of the question too. We had students who wouldn't do projects and passed right along side the hard workers. The only thing they cared about was you were there for them to get your money. Show up, you'll pass. Go nap in the lunch room, as long as you're there and they are getting money, they don't care how well you do. We never did real relaxers because they didn't want to waste product. They taught us Keratin but didn't give us a certificate, which is required to purchase the products. The best scumbag mover, they don't let students formulate color. You're not even allowed to measure it. Apparently, this is a Warwick Campus thing, it's been a few years since I've graduated so hopefully this has changed. The director when I went said "students are wasteful and disrespectful" So for color, we would get our teacher, they would consult and then bring us a bowl of color. Leaving me wondering what and why those were picked for this particular client. Wanna hear about our kits? Hahaha. All my butterfly clips they charged $9 for broke in week one. My blow dryer, caught on fire. They don't give you a flat iron because you need to learn how to create styles using a blow dryer and not rely on the iron. Their curling iron, I must say was really good. The scissors they charge $300 for, are probably at best $50 quality. 5 mannequins is also pretty good, but they along with everything else is grossly overpriced. When you sign up they tell you "other than things like pens and paper you won't need a thing, your kit includes it all." Yeah, lies we were forced to spend money most of us part time workers didn't have, pretty regularly for projects, or new clips, new brushes 'cause theirs are a joke, extensions for lessons, supplies for nail art that they don't even teach. You're supposed to be able to get state board preparation, but because they overbook students my senior class got stuck in the Junior class for about 2-3 months over due. By the time we got to move up to the class where they teach state board practice, it was almost time to graduate. They also forced students in the classroom out on to the floor, and they came for seniors first because you have more education and according to them can miss more. We would be in the middle of learning something (which probably wouldn't do much for us anyways) and the receptionist would come in and say "I need 5 girls" and we would be forced to miss instructional hours to work on clients probably doing things unbenificial to us like a nifty roller set. They had a asinine policy where clients cannot wait over 10 minutes. Uhm? Have you never walked into a Salon to be told "sorry there isn't an opening for a half hour." If you don't want to wait, be smart and make an appointment. I think this rule was less about customer service, and more about making money. As for a state boards, the teachers are the ones who grade you, again they pass anyone and everyone. It keeps the schools statistics up. I will tell you first hand, I probably should of failed 75% of it. I didn't meet the times on anything other than nails, cut and make up. I passed with a grade in the high 80's. I'm grateful that even with my horrible education I did obtain a license, because it can open doors and is a great benefit. I can also continue my education at my own pace at professional classes, however I'd trade my easily obtained license, for a solid education any day, even if it meant struggling. Because as of now I have so many holes in my education, it's going to take a while to become useful. I am going to check out Tony And Guy. I went for services and was amazed. I think I may go for half the time, relearn basics like cutting and coloring, and continue on to do what I love. Please don't fall victim to this school. Look at your options, read read and read reviews. I rushed into my decision blindly, out of excitement. Twenty thousand dollars, is a lot of money to waste for nothing, so is 1,500 hours of your life. Good luck to future stylists I truly wish you all the best! read more

Before they moved to Providence from Warwick I'd have given them a 5. Had been going here for over 15 years. Never a bad experience. The last 3 appointments have been a disaster. First week they moved I had an appointment. Waited over an hour because students didn't show up. Couldn't get everything done in time left. Two weeks ago I called before I made the drive. Again short handed. They rescheduled for tonight at 5:30. I have a wedding out of town this weekend. I have been sitting here for 45 minutes. No student to take my appointment. There seems to be no accountability. As a courtesy they could give you a call to let you know no one is here. I drove an hour to get here and now have to find someone to color my hair tomorrow before my flight. There is also NO PARKING despite them saying there is. I won't be back. Management needs to be on top of this. I was just told "it is a school". If you are training students to be professionals they need to be accountable for showing up. read more

I'm currently a cosmetology student at Arthur Angelo an EMPIRE SCHOOL in Rhode Island. I'm am discouraged and shocked at the what they call an education. First there is no a structured curriculum . One day we are doing hair cutting, the next braids, the next pin curls and in the next breath we are having a test on waxing which we've never done. When I first started, we were told we weren't allowed to use any salon product on our mannequin because it was a waste for students and cost the company money, so we used water for everything. The school is open enrollment. They accept everyone that comes through the door. Majority of the girls there don't take this seriously and are only there because their welfare counselor told them "this" was a good idea. They're always late if they show up at all and disrupt the "class" any chance they can get. Once (while teaching pedicures) the school refused to allow us to wear the pedicure slippers and told us to tape paper towels on the bottom of our feet. I refused and took a pictures of this horror. The teachers don't want to be there and talk down to the students. We were never taught how to properly curl or blow dry hair. We still burn the hair(I've been there 10 weeks) The theory is a joke. I get good grades. When we have test, The girls that fail are allowed to retake the test right after they've failed it and the new grade which is higher than mine is kept while their failing grade is dis guarded. I'm not allowed to retake the test because I passed the first time. This is a reminder you get exactly what you pay for. This school is the cheapest in the state. They said everything I wanted to hear in order to get me to enroll. I'm currently working on attending a school that takes education seriously. I can no longer attended a school that has no interest in producing hair stylists, partakes in unethical practices and could care less if we learn anything at all . GO TO TONI AND GUY better education. read more

If you are serious about cosmetology AVOID THIS SCHOOL AT ALL COSTS. This is what corporate education is all about. PROFIT. This school, (not just prov but all Empire schools), only care about profit. Their curriculum makes NO SENSE. Why on earth would you spend one week on hair cutting but FIVE WEEKS on relaxer?..they would have us doing hair cutting and the next week we would do hair dye so your maniquinn had no hair left on it to dye cuz you cut it all...on the week we did makeup, they didn't teach us anything, they had us partner up and do our partners makeup with really cheap horrible make up that they let everyone use which is unsanitary. when we did facials, they had us laying on two chairs, which is unsafe and uncomfortable....when we did hair dyeing (one week which is not enough time to learn a skill like that) they had a plastic bin full of expired hair dyes, mostly empty, all one blonde shade and weird copper shades no one wanted to use. It's very hard to be creative with hair color when you only have 11ash and 7 copper red to work with. The students there are mostly ignorant welfare scum...they interrupt the class so that the teacher runs out of time and you never accomplish anything. there are really only a handful of serious students who will go somewhere some day, but mostly that school is churning out employees for Best Cuts or Fantastic Sam;s.... Basically their curriculum is ...teach the students JUST ENOUGH to pass state boards and then send them packing....30,000 dollars and a year later...you're working at Best cuts making 9.50 an hour. Not worth it...I quit, and if I go back to beauty school I'm going to Tony and Guy or Paul Mitchell. i was enrolled in 2009, my tuition was 16,000 dollars, every month they tuition rate goes up. There are girls who enrolled after me who's tuition cost them nearly 30,000 dollars!! I can only imagine what it is now, 4 years later....geez.... read more

This school is an embarrassment, they treat their students poorly. I graduated feeling I knew nothing. The esthetics program is a joke! No makeup was taught to us and everytime we would complain their excuse was, "they are only there to teach the basics" (which we didn't even get that) we would complain to corporate as a group which just made all the teachers including the director hate us and treat us even more poorly. Total waste of money, we learned nothing and hardly did any hands-on because they were to cheap and said it was a waste of product. Majority was learning through a book. They would over lap classes, which means before your program is done they are starting another program, they move you to another room where you sit and do nothing all day. They tell you to study for your stare exam, but it was just busy work so they could teach the new class. We had so many substitutes and half of them wouldn't know any answers to our questions. Iv had to take so much continuing education after this, Total rip off! read more

Screwed up my emo/goth side bangs, No angle, Uneven, Looks choppy, Told me she has an emo/goth brother and she knows exactly what to do... okay sure... she cut my hair wet and hair is not supposed to be cut wet. She said blowouts are her weakness and I guess that was true because after she finished my blowout, my hair was still damp and puffy... she said she has OCD about the cut being even but it's nowhere near even... read more

where to begin. I actually looked into going to this school, but there customer service is a turn off. The first time I went i went pretty short and was so scared because I dont like letting ppl cute my hair short. The girl cutting my hair didnt do to bad until i straightened it and realized how horrible it looked, i went back and the teacher said she will have another student fix it while straight. the student was sweet and taking her time to fix it and was going over it with the straightner since she sprayed my head with a water bottle. A teacher came by and asked her "what are you doing, you need to hurry up and finish and take more customers." then looks at me and says " i wasnt going to charge you and now i have to" which i do not believe her whatsoever. and then just walked away. both the student and I felt very awkward and i told her to just stop, ill finish at home. I decided to give it another chance to go get my hair blow dried. my sister gave me a name of a student that was really good, so i made an appt with her in the am. when i called to let them know i was 5 min late, they tell me she left for the day! so i cancelled and went to Paul Mitchell (and the girl did a great job at my hair) just yesterday my other sister needed a blowout and manicure so she goes, find out the girl scheduled to do her hair never showed up, she waited forever to be seen, a random girl who was being guided the whole time just to trim her hair and the blow out was horrible, she ended up having to fix her hair when she got home and had to rush out to get to work because she ran out of time for the mani. i know its a school but customer service is so important read more

i love going here do how cheap is to got a hair cut if you don't mind Lerners working on your hair and good location

i used to do my hair their before untill when studendt do a very cracy job on my hair while perm i lost a lot hair as aresult. am still rebuilding the hair read more