I can't speak for all the stylists since I only get my hair cut by Gui. The studio is no dobut hip (in Bergamot Station), surrounded by art galleries (w. work by local artists), small art museums a local jewelry designer's design studio, et cetera... Frank Studio is a stylish space with a modern and industrial interior. The salon is home to hair stylists, make-up artists, facialists, and perhaps other professionals I'm not aware of. They carry Kerastase, L'Oreal Pro, Smashbox, Epicuren and various other lines. And, I can see where some might suggest Frank Studio has a pretentious feel. In the last 3 years, I've come to know Gui, Michelle and Ken and absolutely love them. I get my hair styled, cut and colored by Gui, and seeing him is worth the trek to the other side of town through all the traffic. And worth the $$$. He knows how to make a pretty, yet chic and up-to-date look while keeping my personality and "maintenance threshold" in mind. My hair never looks generic "pretty". Gui manages to create a sophisticated and urban version of "pretty" (though, I have yet to learn how to re-create the look as good as Gui does). I highly recommend Gui as a stylist. He is a wonderful person and a talented professional. A real pleasure to work with. read more

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I had a horrible experience here a couple years back - so bad that I'm yelping it way after the fact. I would dissuade anyone from going here. The salon itself is really chic and modern, with an NYC feel. They play cool music and serve fun cocktails...probably so you'll forget that they suck. From the moment I walked in, I got a snooty, too-cool vibe. I made the appointment with Frank, the owner. He cut my hair for a few minutes, all the while talking about how fabulous he was and how many entertainment-related projects he had worked on, never once asking me what I wanted or discussing recommendations. He used a razor to cut my hair, which I later learned should never be done on wavy hair. I ended up with a really choppy, bold cut that was better suited for editorial than everyday. And he didn't even finish the damn cut! He asked one of his assistants to do it. Um, I believe I was paying an arm and a leg so Frank, the guy I had read about in a magazine, would work his "magic" on my head! The assistant who took over then proceeded to sell me on a hair straightening process that would "do wonders". He said it would cost $400, which was steep, buy hey, I'd have stick straight hair for 6 months. So I agreed. At one point another sleazy male hairstylist came over and flirted with me in a way that I remember feeling very uncomfortable. I wanna take a shower just writing about it. I should have run for the hills with gunk in my hair while I had the chance. God knows where Frank was during all this, he never came over to check on me. Here's the kicker. I go to pay and the receptionist tells me the total is $950!! I almost had a heart attack - that was more than my rent at the time. To this day, I have no idea why I didn't throw a fit and call them out on overcharging me. Maybe I was intimidated by the snobby environment or high off the fumes from the hair straightener, I have no friggin idea, but I coughed up the money and said nothing! Grrrrr - the whole fiasco still irks me! Do not buy into the hype if you read about this salon in a magazine. After all, Allure recommends Sonya Dakar as well! (see my Sonya Dakar review) read more

I have visited Frank Studio twice now and have received GREAT hair color and style from Katie O'Neil. All of the staff is very friendly, professional, and I have always felt pampered and received wonderful customer service. KATIE is the best! In the past 3 years I have hopped from stylist to stylist and have finally found my girl. In the last 3 years I have asked for a specific hair color that no one had been quite able to get until I requested it from Katie. And the last haircut she gave me is exactly what I wanted. She has a great eye, wonderful personality, and gives you the best. Thanks Katie!!!! read more

I agree with the review written by Erin M. Ironically, I also had a bad experience at this salon a few years back. Like Erin, my experience was so bad that I am writing about it now. Back then, they had two salons. One was located in Brentwood. The owners were rarely at the Brentwood location. They allowed that salon to be run by little kids. Seriously. The people running the salon must have just gotten out of school. A few of them appeared to be younger than 20 years old. They were immature and unprofessional. I gave them a second chance and tried the salon in Santa Monica. I had my color done. The stylist did such a poor job, that I had to have it re-done elsewhere. I was so disappointed, that I filed a claim with my credit care company to dispute the charges. The credit care company reviewed the dispute and found in my favor. It permanently removed the charges from Frank Studio. In general, this salon overcharges and does sloppy work. The people who work there are unjustifiably arrogant and have an inflated impression of their own net worth. read more

Iam obsessed with Sean James at Frank Studio. In addition to being a truly gifted hair stylist and colorist who really listens to what you want, he is such a pleasure to be around! His superior work and charisma have made me a devoted fan unwilling to go elsewhere. Katie, his assitant, is also amazing. If you haven't let Sean work his magic on your hair, you owe it to yourself (and your 'do) to get in there asap! You won't be disappointed. read more

I too have had a HORRIBLE (my worst hair experience ever and I have had a few to date) experience here a few years ago and am still so marked by the experience that when my Facebook group "Hidden L.A." was talking about good stylists I had to write a negative bit about this awful salon, which then prompted me to add my Yelp voice here as well. Frank Salon was by far my worst experience...it drove me to a lifetime of trust issues with hairstylists. I paid $250.00 for the haircut (without blowdry!!!) and I would have paid $250.00 more for them to just UNDO it! I have never seen a bigger group of talentless snobs in my entire life than at Frank Studio, and living in WeHo that says a lot. I booked Frank, the owner (hence the price, but you'd think the added expense and status would have meant something regarding their skills). However, it was not to be. Just because the Olsen twins used to go here, or just because my beloved Allure magazine recommends this place, doesn't mean it's actually any good to non-celebs (I went because I love the Olsen twins' hair and Frank Studio was listed as their stylist at the time, but I guess being that I'm not an Olsen I didn't have a right to a decent cut). Though Allure (and several others on other websites) raved about the free martinis that were offered to them during their visit, I was not offered so much as a glass of tap water (again, I guess it's because I'm a nobody) and was left insulted because other people in the salon DID have martinis. I could have demanded one, but I'm not that much of a diva so I just sat there feeling like the "trash" of the salon or something, being that I wasn't cool enough for a martini despite paying $250.00 for a couple scissor snips, which is really all it was. Not only was this the most expensive and worst cut of my life, it was also the quickest. My hair was cut about 3 inches shorter than I wanted (I asked for shoulder-length and ended up with right above the earlobes), the back was crooked, my bangs were also crooked and inches above my eyebrows (good thing I asked for long and side swept), I cried ALL evening and didn't go out for a whole week. It was a slow and long growing out process that included my new stylist exclaming "who the HELL cut your hair last?! Did you do this yourself?!" when I finally got it long enough to get it evened out. To top it all off, the staff were complete snobs as though they actually had the best salon in Hollywood, and I should be honored they'd touch my peasant hair. Worst experience of my life for the most expensive haircut ever. Please steer clear of Frank Studio. Nothing that costs $250.00 should make you cry, aside for maybe a speeding ticket. If you'll notice the comment made by staff in response to the other negative review, in which the staff claims they have "changed": the staff is actually blaming the girl who paid almost 1,000 dollars for poor service for not Yelping about this "soon enough" and more or less saying her opinion is therefore invalid and that she should just go screw herself. It's the same self-entitled, snotty, holier-than-thou "we are never wrong" attitude I remember from a couple years ago so I highly doubt Frank Studio has "changed" all that much. I guess the point of the comment left by Frank's staff is that perhaps they've upgraded their stylists (that remains to be seen because anyone this obnoxious is usually unpleasant because they have no professional skills to speak for themselves and want to terrorize people from criticizing them), but either way they've kept the "make them feel like crap, we're better than them" attitude so just don't go here. There are plenty of posh, high-end salons that have a GOOD TRACK RECORD (as the staff stated in their comment, they're under new management so they really don't have any kind of history that would back up their ridiculous prices and attitude at this point) that'll take $250.00 bucks from you for a cut but won't insult you in the process. Anytime you see a negative review with a manager's response, it goes something like " we are so sorry you had an unpleasant experience, we have taken your opinion into deep consideration and will continue to work to make appropriate changes, we appreciate your feedback", but not Frank Salon! They just take it as another opportunity to insult their past client and then use it as a stepping stone to boast about how great they are. Disgusting! Final thing to note, 3 of Frank Studio's "5-star" reviews have been filtered, meaning Yelp has reason to believe they're fake. Take a look here: http://officialblog.yelp.com/2009/10/why-yelp-has-a-review-filter.html. For such an expensive studio, you would think there would be more than 4 "legit" positive reviews, I mean they have as many fake ones as they do real, and for all we know the 4 "real" ones are fake too. Honestly, if Frank Studio paid me $250.00, I would refuse their stylists ever touch my hair again. read more

I have to say that Allure really came through on their top salon rating this time! Frank Studio is a beautiful, open space, and they made me feel at home as soon as I walked in the door. I lucked out and got Sean James as my stylist. He was fantastic. He clearly knows his "hair" and what works for you as an individual-- at the end of my treatment (Brazilian blowout) he super generously picked up the scissors and made my bangs "work" with my new straight hairstyle. And while I love the effects of the blowout (good-bye frizz!) as anyone who has had one done, it takes time! Yet Sean and another capable assistant, Molly, worked seemlessly together and in no time I was on my way out the door. I definitely felt catered to the entire time. Not only is Sean super friendly but the entire salon team were close (something you don't see very often, for sure!) Treat yourself on your next hair day and head to Frank! read more

Amazing! Frank and Gui are the greatest! Gui is my go-to -guy! Even after three weeks since my haircut I'm still getting compliments. That's how good he is! read more

I had been a regular client...and I first started paying $60 for just a haircut with one of their assistants. Later that assistant left and I was charged $80 with Michelle who did a good job. The prices continued to go up and by the end I was paying $160 within a year. I moved out of town and from time to time go back to get my hair cut. I wasn't able to make a couple of appointments and would call to cancel. They began telling me that I would have to pay ahead of time and would need to cancel 24 hours if I knew I could not make it. I let them charge my card in advance and then when I did cancel 24 hours in advance; the manager told me that that was not good enough and I should have cancelled 4 days in advance. I was sick and going to see my doctor at the time and could not understand why they were harassing me. Even Michel became nasty and rude. They said they would not credit me back for services never rendered. I disputed this with my credit card and was credited back the money. A hair salon should not be charging in advance for services that were never rendered. They are highway robbers. Businesses should not be able to treat their customers with a haughty attitude and a sense of entitlement and get away with it (ie. NARCISSISM). AVOID THEM OR IT MAY COST YOU! read more