A cut above: Tomáš Arsov Hair & Beauty Institute

In the UK there’s John Freida, in the US there’s Paul Mitchell, and in the Czech Republic, there’s Tomáš Arsov, a hairstylist and television personality with his own line of products and a flagship salon on Prague’s V Jámě street.

But despite the salon’s high profile and A-list clientele which includes top models, actors, and Czech pop icon Helena Vondráčková, Arsov insists he’s simply in the business of making anyone look gorgeous in a setting meant to put clients at ease from the moment they walk through the door. 

Sending customers into the world with luscious locks, however, is obviously the name of the game and the salon prides itself on its diverse and skilled staff of stylists which keeps current on international trends in coloring and cutting while using Arsov’s signature line of regenerating products – infused with plant extracts – to create smooth, sleek styles.

Hair extensions are another specialty. Made of quality hair and implemented using a method that can’t be found anywhere else in the Czech Republic, they are comfortable and easy to maintain. Men’s’ cuts, kids’ cuts, and blow-drys are among the salon’s other popular services, though Arsov admits that repairing and correcting damage incurred from other salons is an all-too-common request.

It’s this particular issue that was the inspiration for Arsov’s other reality show, Barrandov’s “Nůžky, prosím,” (Scissors Please). Similar to the popular series “Ano Šéfe,” in which celeb chef Zdenek Pohlreich rehabilitates restaurant kitchens around the Czech Republic, the show is aimed at helping haircutters sharpen their scissor skills. 

Speaking to the particular difficulties – mainly language and culture barriers – that foreign customers often face at Czech salons, Arsov says a successful salon experience must be a compromise between both the stylist’s and the customer’s idea.

“There is always a barrier when two people have two different mother languages and when the common language is English none of these two people is speaking 100% perfect English,” he says. 

“There may be there a moment when, for example, the client doesn’t express his/her wish right and the hairdresser, on the other hand, is accepting the information in another direction.”

He adds that as Prague changes so does their typical customer. The salon welcomes foreigners who are seeking a positive salon experience that meets international standards. Hairdressers at the Tomáš Arsov Hair & Beauty Institute speak numerous languages, among them English, Russian, Portuguese, and Spanish.