Des Moines’s Top 10 Hair Salons & Hairdressers

The Profile

Salon Spa W sits in Des Moines’ East Village, just two blocks west of the state capitol, and operates as both a hair salon and full-service spa. The team combines runway-inspired techniques with precision training, offering haircut, styling, colorwork, balayage and color correction alongside spa treatments and nail services for a complete beauty visit.

Salon Spa W’s colour specialists use Olaplex, Keratin smoothing and VoMor hair extensions when needed, and the salon supplies Aveda and Ultraceuticals retail lines. The staff provide complimentary makeup touch-ups for guests leaving after services, and the guest relations team coordinates bridal and on-site event bookings alongside routine appointments and long-form colour projects.

Salon Spa W holds national editorial recognition and industry awards including Top 100 in Elle Magazine, Top 200 by Salon Today and Brides Magazine honours, and maintains consistent local praise across Google and review sites. Their combined salon-and-spa model means visitors can book facials, massage, waxing and lash services in the same appointment as a precision colour or cut, simplifying special-event preparation.

Why It Made the List and Why It’s Our Top Pick

Salon Spa W earns the top spot because its precision-trained stylists deliver consistently accurate colour and cut work while supporting a full spa programme that handles bridal parties, on-site styling and long-form corrections. The salon’s national recognitions reflect a team capable of large-event coordination and repeatable, high-calibre technical work across services.

Good to Know

Salon Spa W is located at 400 East Locust, Ste 2, Des Moines; or for appointments and gift cards. The salon offers both retail lines from Aveda and Ultraceuticals and coordinates bridal planning with a guest relations team, so allow extra consultation time for wedding or extension bookings.

The Profile

J. Michaels Salon presents a broad salon menu with a clear emphasis on extensions, including hand-tied methods and professional hair services that include lashes and brows. The salon promotes a polished, salon-forward experience where clients can access extension integrations alongside standard cutting and colour and the team maintains an online booking hub and product shop.

J. Michaels Salon encourages first-time guests with a promotional offer and an online pre-appointment form that aims to streamline in-salon consultations. Located on Ingersoll Avenue, the business emphasizes career development for its team and positions itself as a destination for both extension work and dependable, wearable haircut and colour services in Des Moines.

Why It Made the List

J. Michaels Salon stands out for its hand-tied extension work combined with accessible client incentives for new visitors and the salon’s structure supports a professional, consultative appointment. The salon balances technical extension installations with daily styling services, making it a practical choice for guests seeking both dramatic and maintenance-friendly results.

Good to Know

J. Michaels Salon lists a contact number of 515-288-0541; new guests are asked to complete an online form before their first appointment to receive a $20 discount on services of $100 or more.

The Profile

dsm salon offers colour, cuts, extensions and wedding services and highlights a client matchmaking survey designed to pair newcomers with the stylist best suited to their hair goals and personality. The survey is intended to reduce uncertainty for first-time visitors and to align expectations, which helps the salon manage consultations and deliver more consistently suitable outcomes.

dsm salon’s team lists specialists for cutting, bridal styling and master colour work and frames itself as a welcoming studio with amenities designed to make appointments relaxing. The salon’s bridal programme stresses education and planning for wedding parties, and the practice operates from a steady schedule with weekday and weekend hours to suit large-event bookings and regular maintenance visits.

Why It Made the List

dsm salon’s distinctive merit lies in its matchmaking approach and experienced bridal team; by guiding clients to a stylist whose strengths align with individual goals, the salon reduces guesswork and often produces results that are easier to live with day-to-day, especially for colour transitions and wedding preparatory services.

Good to Know

dsm salon is located at 849 42nd St, Des Moines; hours vary across the week, so check the salon’s posted schedule before booking and use the matchmaking survey on the website to help pick a stylist for colour, extensions or bridal services.

The Profile

Marc Stephens Salon operates as a modern Aveda-affiliated salon in downtown Des Moines and advertises services from routine haircuts to bridal styling and foiling for dimension. The salon packages a haircut with a shampoo, scalp massage and blow out, reflecting a full-service approach focused on the finishing experience as much as the cut itself.

Marc Stephens Salon has an established team and long-term client relationships; testimonials mention decades-long loyalty and specialists for textured hair, while the salon publishes weekday and weekend operating hours. The business also offers local on-site bridal styling and a clear contact route for gift cards and bookings from the downtown Locust Street address.

Why It Made the List

Marc Stephens Salon’s strength is continuity: long-tenured stylists and a downtown Aveda affiliation that together produce technically solid haircuts and dependable colour work. Clients who prefer working with the same experienced professional for many years find the salon’s combination of consistency, local presence and service breadth especially valuable.

Good to Know

Marc Stephens Salon, Suite 101 in Des Moines with; book online or call ahead for bridal or on-site styling as those services require additional planning and coordination with the team.

The Profile

Elevencherry Salon is built around a roster of stylists with varied specialties, from curl and balayage experts to avant-garde colourists, and the site’s biographies emphasise individual strengths and personalities. The salon promotes a lively creative culture in which clients can choose a stylist who matches both skillset and aesthetic preference for a highly tailored experience.

Elevencherry operates an Atelier, a teaching salon where emerging stylists perform services under the oversight of senior staff; these sessions typically take longer and are positioned as more affordable while still benefiting from collaboration with lead stylists. The salon’s model offers immediate availability and gives clients options when scheduling or budget is a consideration.

Why It Made the List

Elevencherry’s distinctive merit is its combined senior-and-atelier system, which provides access to a wide array of specialist talents plus a teaching pathway that expands appointment options; guests can choose quicker availability with emerging stylists or book principal artists for advanced colour and complex cuts.

Good to Know

Elevencherry’s Atelier services involve longer appointment times and collaborative work with lead stylists; clients seeking a lower-cost option should expect extended duration and possibly more in-salon consultation during the visit.

The Profile

Aveda Institute Des Moines operates as an accredited cosmetology and spa training centre that also runs a student-led salon open to the public, combining classroom theory with practical, supervised hands-on experience. The institute’s cosmetology programme spans 1550 hours across approximately 44 weeks and includes hair shaping, chemical services, colour and skin care instruction as part of its curriculum.

The institute markets salon and spa services where students perform treatments under educator oversight, and it promotes memberships for savings on hair colour, blowouts, facials, nails and waxing. The campus at 6905 Mills Civic Parkway runs weekday and Saturday hours and positions itself as both an education centre and a service provider for the Des Moines area.

Why It Made the List

Aveda Institute Des Moines is notable for its education-first model: salon services are provided by students gaining required practical hours under instructor supervision, which delivers professional training exposure while offering community clients access to a broad menu of treatments at institution-run service lines.

Good to Know

The institute is at 6905 Mills Civic Parkway, Suite 120, and lists (515) 224-5244; prospective clients should expect student-performed services that may take longer and should check the institute schedule for instructor-supervised appointment slots and membership savings.

The Profile

Serenity Couture Salon & Spa presents a luxury salon and spa programme in West Des Moines that pairs artisanal colour treatments with restorative facials and therapeutic massage. The business frames luxury as a personalised experience, tailoring services and treatment plans to guest needs while using premium products and advanced techniques to support beauty and wellness goals.

Serenity Couture highlights a team-driven creative culture and offers a mix of traditional and non-traditional employee benefits along with continuing education for staff. The salon operates from The Atlas building at 7001 Westown Parkway, and it emphasises a high-touch guest experience across both salon and spa service lines, including specialised appointment options and premium retail.

Why It Made the List

Serenity Couture’s defining strength is the integration of high-end salon and spa services under one roof, enabling guests to book combined beauty and wellness appointments that are tailored by senior technicians and spa therapists, which supports elevated preparation for events or sustained self-care routines.

Good to Know

Serenity Couture is located in The Atlas at 7001 Westown Pkwy, Suite 120, West Des Moines, and can be reached at 515-309-6782; the salon identifies itself as an Aveda partner and suggests texting the team with questions for quick responses.

The Profile

Trixies Salon and Spa operates multiple Des Moines-area locations and emphasizes an inclusive, welcoming environment where accommodations are available for guests requiring adjustments. The team describes personalized service and facility adjustments to support visitors with varied needs, creating a sanctuary-like atmosphere that prioritizes comfort, safety and an attentive client-centred approach to appointments.

Trixies offers a broad menu of salon and spa experiences, from haircuts and specialty colour to full-body massage and facial waxing, and promotes client retention through a loyalty punch-card and weekly email and text promotions. The Uptown location includes a rentable community room for events such as bridal showers, workshops and pop-up gatherings, expanding the salon’s role into local event hosting.

Why It Made the List

Trixies distinguishes itself through a community-centred model that combines multi-location accessibility with event hosting and ongoing client incentives; the Uptown Community Room and a loyalty punch-card programme work alongside weekly email and text specials to keep regular customers engaged while providing a flexible venue for showers, workshops and pop-up events.

Good to Know

Phone numbers for each location are published: Uptown (515) 274-9981, Grand Creations (515) 271-6995 and Salon B (515) 350-7788; the Uptown Community Room is bookable via an online form addressed to Tricia on the salon website, which handles event enquiries and rental details.

The Profile

Refinery Hair is a West Des Moines salon that highlights Invisible Bead Extensions® as a core speciality, promoting certified installation, advanced colour matching and texture blending for seamless extension work. The salon positions itself as an extension destination where trained stylists focus on length and volume transformations tailored to individual hair type and desired outcomes.

Refinery prides itself on continued education for its team and curated, personalised consultations that help guests select colour, cut and extension strategies. The salon sits across from Jordan Creek Mall and advertises easy in-and-out parking, with a team structure that lists multiple certified extension specialists and an owner active in Invisible Bead Extensions education.

Why It Made the List

Refinery Hair’s standout merit is its Invisible Bead Extensions expertise and the presence of certified extension technicians, which makes the salon a destination for clients prioritizing meticulous extension installation, colour blending and regular maintenance rather than one-off length services.

Good to Know

Refinery Hair’s address is 230 S 68th St, Suite 1101, West Des Moines, across from Jordan Creek Mall; and the salon notes a parking lot with easy access that facilitates extension consultations and return maintenance visits.

The Profile

G Spot Hair Design maintains an active Instagram presence under the handle gspothairdesign.dsm, using the platform as the primary public showcase for recent cuts, colour work and client-ready styling. The feed supplies a visual portfolio that prospective clients can browse to judge the studio’s current aesthetic and to identify a stylist whose results match their expectations before contacting the team.

G Spot Hair Design’s legacy descriptions position the studio as a boutique focused on creative yet wearable hair design delivered within a professional appointment experience; while a full service menu is not publicly listed, the studio’s social portfolio suggests regular work in cuts, colour transitions, maintenance styling and textured finishes that clients can preview online.

Why It Made the List

G Spot Hair Design’s distinguishing feature is its Instagram-first presentation: by centring visual work on gspothairdesign.dsm, the studio allows prospective clients to evaluate recent cuts, colour and finish before booking, making visual matching and stylist selection straightforward for guests who prefer to choose by portfolio rather than by a published price list.

Good to Know

The studio’s Instagram account gspothairdesign.dsm is the only publicly listed contact shown; use the account to view the portfolio and to message the team directly for appointment availability or consultation requests, noting that Instagram is where the salon posts its recent work.