I first found Heidi (she's the owner of The Cutting Room) years ago from a friend's recommendation when I was looking for a good stylist to fix the poor home dye job I'd done on my hair. Heidi was fantastic, not only did she fix my damaged and bad color job, but she was super friendly and fun to talk to. Even though I live in Somerville, I've been driving up to North Reading ever since to have Heidi cut and color my hair. I can't say enough good things -- I always love how my hair looks when I leave and she's great about trying new styles and colors, which I love to do. And her prices are super reasonable. She also did my hair for my wedding and I loved it! It stayed perfectly the whole time and was exactly what I wanted. I highly recommend her! read more

I went in for a cut with Danielle and told her generally what I wanted. Shortish in the back (I showed her where), a little longer in the front, but I definitely did not want it stacked in the back. I also told her I'm not one to style my hair, that when I just wash it and go it curls naturally, so I just wanted some long layers for the cut. I asked her to please tell me if she thought what I was going for wouldn't be flattering, she said it sounded like it would be great and she went to work. I wear glasses so I had to take those off for the cut, even though I'm blind as a bat without them. While she was cutting my hair I also asked her to check the bangs, since I trimmed them myself recently and I just wanted to make sure they were even. She said she would. When the cut was over she asked if the bangs were short enough. I couldn't see a thing so she handed me my glasses and my bangs were... pretty short. She had not just made sure they were even, she actually shortened them. While I was busy looking at the bangs she said "So, I DID stack it in the back." "You DID." "Yeah. I think it'll look good when you just wash it and go." Um, okay. What the hell. The thing is, I'm torn. It's not a bad cut. It is shorter than what I asked for, especially in the front, and she freaking stacked it when the one thing I explicitly asked her NOT to do was stack it, but it does, in all fairness, look good. I just have to get used to it being something that I didn't ask for. I was thinking at the time since it does look okay I'd just pay and leave (though I didn't leave as big of a tip as I normally do) but as I drove home I just got more irritated that she totally ignored me, so that's why I'm here. If she had said to me "You know, I know you said you didn't want it stacked, but I really think if I do stack it a little it'll look good for XYZ reason" I probably would have trusted her and gone with it, but she made that decision on her own, and that's the thing I have a problem with. So, the cut is worth maybe 4 stars, but the fact that she just completely ignored me and did what SHE wanted to do is worth 2 at best, so I'm compromising on 3, and I won't be going back. Womp, womp. **I'm editing this to say that it's been a few weeks and I'm even less impressed with the cut than I was when I got it. The very first thing I told Danielle was that I am the type to NEVER want to style my hair. I wash it and go. This haircut forces me to style it. If I just wash it and go, I look like a mushroom. So now that's two things that she did that I specifically asked her not to, plus I don't actually think it's a nice cut. It's not really flattering and if I don't style it it lays a little choppy (and not in that good way). So now I have to style it, which makes it look the way I don't want, so that it doesn't look even worse if I don't style it. Awesome. I'm knocking this down to two stars (though I'm flirting with 1), and I'm really pissed at myself that I even paid for it. read more

I tried this salon for the first time last Feb. 2012. I had never had highlights before, so I read about this salon and all the good reviews. I saw Danielle, and she did an amazing job! I loved the way my hair looked and I got so many compliments. I did return for highights 2x's after my first exp. The problem I had was I feel as though the price went up every time I went in and I felt taken advantage of. The first time I went, the price for my HL was I think $80 they charged me for. The thing that bothered me was after I was done, Danielle would go over to the owner Heidi, and I could hear them whispering, Talking about how much it should be etc..instead of having a set price. This happend every time I went in, and the price went up every time! The straw that broke the camels back was when my sister was in town for our brother's wedding last Sept. My sister had me make her an apt. at this salon (since she was coming from CA) she wanted some curls put in her hair for the wedding. I recomended Danielle. She said Danielle was very nice, and basically she just took a curling iron to her hair, but my sister liked how it came out, and was happy with the result. Well, when it came time for my sis to pay, the same thing happend and Danielle was whispering with the owner in regards to how much it would be...the owner said something like $40 and my sister said "excuse me" she was shocked, because again, she basically only had a a few curls put in by a curling iron, nothing fancy or elaborate. So then the owner lowerd the price and said " okay, $30- my sister couldn't believe it, and I was upset to hear it too! I felt like they took advantage of my sister as well. I think they should have a set price list, and the owner shouldn't change the price as she did with me every time I had my HL's- that is not right. It's sad, because I really did like Danielle. She was always very friendly, and professional during my visit, except for the end, when she and the owner would whisper with how much I would pay etc...Sighs....Needless to say, I have not been back since. We both felt taken advantage of! Not a good feeling. read more

Great prices and friendly stylists. I went here after my hair stylist moved farther away and I couldn't spend that much time to go see her anymore. I was a bit hesitant on what to expect for a relatively inexpensive mens haircut, seeing as how my previous place was way more and the one time i went to a local place that was inexpensive i just wanted to cry afterwards because it was so bad. I was pleasantly surprised by a nice little hair salon that gave me a great cut and a wash for a reasonable price. I will definitely be returning. read more

I went in to get partial highlights after purchasing a groupon. I arrived and specified that I had the groupon and I didn't want to change my color drastically, just a bit lighter than what I have for highlights. She did a good job with the color. But in the beginning, I said I had quite a few greys that I wanted to get cherry picked and covered up with color (the main reason why I get highlights). After finishing up, I show her my groupon and she states that it would be $40 extra because she had to use additional toner. I have never been charged extra for "additional toner." I explained that the groupon doesn't state anything about any possible additional charges and that $40 was not expected. Danielle looked at the owner and they brought it down to $20. I still wasn't happy so they agreed not to charge anything extra. Then I got home and got a better look at my hair. I did see a grey hair and just covered it up thinking it was the only one. But NO! My husband gets home and gets a look at the back and tells me that there are still greys! Very upset that they weren't taken care of since I specifically asked. read more