Ae Salon

Our mission is to help you love your hair not just on salon day, but over time—by improving its health, style, color, texture, and manageability with every visit.

Ae Salon is a collective of independent stylists in San Francisco’s Union Square, united by a shared commitment to precision craft, thoughtful listening, and evidence‑based care. We create styles that feel like an honest reflection of who you are and how you live.

At Ae Salon, each stylist operates as an independent professional, perfecting their own techniques, specialties, and client experience under one roof. We all share the same core care and retail philosophy and work with Milbon, Davines, and Olaplex for haircare, styling, and in‑salon treatments, while individual stylists select their own professional color and smoothing lines to support their craft and clientele.

Take a walk-through of our beautiful open space before your arrival. We all use and retail care, styling, and treatments from Milbon, Davines, and Olaplex lines.

Location

Ae Salon is located at 11 Tillman Place, 5th Floor, in San Francisco’s Union Square district. Our light‑filled, open space is designed to feel welcoming, calm, and focused on you from the moment you arrive.

Transportation and Parking

We are just a 5 minute walk from the Montgomery BART/MUNI station— walk up Post Street and turn right on Grant Avenue. It’s slightly further from Powell station. If you choose to drive, the Sutter Stockton and White House garages are just around the corner or directly across the street, with Sutter Stockton having the lowest hourly charge.

When you arrive at Tillman Place

Walk through the unlocked gate; 11 Tillman is on the left, in the back, across from Bella Cafe. Press the Ae Salon button at the front door and wait to be buzzed-in, then take the elevator to our 5th floor lobby. If you’re having issues, please text your stylist or Adrian—his mobile number is listed in the footer of every page on this site.

Adrian Elwell

salon owner - hair stylist - colorist

Adrian Elwell

Adrian’s approach to hair

Preparing Chrystabell at a runway show. There is Twin Peaks red carpet prep video of Chrystabell and me for Davines here..

Two handmade phogograpic prints from 2004, below.

“Boy and Door” Cyanotype 2004 *Adrian Elwell*

Based in San Francisco’s Union Square, hairstylist and colorist Adrian Elwell brings over two decades of precision and artistry to the chair, supported by seven Vidal Sassoon diplomas in cutting and color techniques, a benchmark of rigorous, technical hair education. Adrian specializes in gray coverage, corrective and creative color placement, and multi‑tonal, natural‑looking highlights, with a focus on results that feel polished, natural, and wearable.

Before returning to hairdressing in 2001, Adrian earned a B.S. degree from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA and spent seven years working in health settings during the AIDS crisis, helping people navigate life‑and‑death treatment decisions in a rapidly changing medical landscape. That experience shaped his respect for clear information, evolving research, and evidence‑based guidance—values that now inform how he evaluates products, technologies, and techniques in the salon.

In the years bridging health work and hair, Adrian also developed a visual arts practice, creating photographs using the gum bichromate process, a nineteenth‑century technique that layers watercolor pigments onto fine art paper. Though he is no longer active in Open Studios, the patience, layering, and attention to subtle detail in that process still inform his eye for shape, color, and texture in hair.

Today, as the founder and owner of Ae Salon, Adrian blends technical discipline, thoughtful listening, and an evidence‑driven approach to care. His goal is simple: to help each client make informed choices and leave with hair that feels like an honest reflection of who they are.

Adrian’s mobile number is available in the footer of every page for direct contact (text preferred).