Mai's Beauty Salon in Honolulu, HI

I've been to Mai's over the years and this review is a long time coming.  Her cuts grow out so well that I only see her once or twice a year.  She had an opening this week so I grabbed the chance to get in my New Year's hair cut.  She did not disappoint.  I went for an asymmetric cut and was so happy I tried something different and new.  I love visiting with Mai but sad that I only see her only a couple times.  She asks questions to find out what you are capable of doing for your hair or if you'll put time to styling then does her magic.  Her experience shines through after a few snips to your hair and voila!  I felt sassy and sexy!  Much love to Mai!

Mai came in special to do my roots & hi lights.
She the Best for blonde highlights (no orange).

yesterday was my first time there and i'm always really nervous about coming to a new salon. in the past i've had really bad experiences with multiple salons. and majority of the time i didn't like the haircut/service i received. they would always give me a haircut that i didn't ask for. but when i found mai's, i called and asked if i could make an appointment that day and luckily she just had an opening and she scheduled me in. i read the reviews people have written about her and they all looked promising. i was still nervous just because of past experiences but mai made all of that go away immediately. she was very kind from start to finish. even my husband thought she was so nice and we both agreed she did an amazing job! i showed her what i wanted and explained to her how the last time i cut my hair like this it didn't exactly go as planned. she explained to me why and gave me the cut i was going for the first time i had it done. and it came out so much better than i expected! i couldn't picture what she was seeing because i only remembered the bad haircut from last time. but this was exactly what i wanted and mai knew it as soon as i told her. she's truly so kind and welcoming and i can see why everyone loves her and her service. my husband and i couldn't stop talking about her and my haircut after we left. and we will definitely be coming back again!

I found Mai online as the reviews were very good.

Having her color and style my hair has been an excellent choice!

She listens to what I want and then gives me advice like texturing and lets me decide if I want it or not. I must say that my hair always looks better at home when I've gone with her suggestions! 

While I am waiting for my hair dye application to set, she generally does a guy's haircut as she is quite busy. I hear her listen to what they want and they all leave with great looking haircuts. I also hear her trying to squeeze in last minute phone calls for appointments.

On top of a flattering cut and color, Mai is very sweet and it feels like visiting with a friend.

I'm a man with very challenging hair. It grows in multiple directions, even within very small sections of my head. And it does this in multiple areas of my head. Plus there's this weird divet in the back where hair simply doesn't grow for no good reason, surrounded on three sides by normalish areas and one open side facing south along my neck. I almost never use a hair cutting or styling professional for my hair, chiefly because absolutely everyone I've gone to over the last 50 or so years, has mangled this ridiculous mop in some way or other, through no fault of their own, I hasten to add, the poor things.

At some point in life I decided that I just didn't have a head or hair that was ever meant for haircuts.

It took many years, but my wife, who cares about my appearance, persevered and figured out how to make it all look street legal and not goofy.  So I've been on her schedule every 4 weeks or so for a haircut, pretty much forever.

Cue the last-minute, must-have, should've-done-it-sooner drama, but include that the normal stylist, the wife, can't make it!

Fortunately, my wife had been going to Mai for ages for her own hair, and absolutely loved her, and that's how I wound up in Mai's chair that day.

Moral to this story is: Even if no one else can do your hair because of its bizarre, never-before-found-in-nature idiosyncrasies, Mai can do it.

That's the review. Mai can do things with your hair that presents you in the best possible light, even when no one else can.

There's more, actually. While I was sitting there, having my difficult head worked on by Mai, (btw the earlier shampoo part, if you're not used to that, will put your mind in outer space) I got to see how warm and caring she was in all her interactions with other people in her shop, and with folks walking in during my haircut. Simply put, she's a lovely person. I was so lucky to have wound up in her chair that crazy day. It was a hair care sanctuary.