How to express a hairdresser in Mandarin? Recently my Chinese friend rephrased my use of 美容院 with 理发店 during the conversation, on which I said I'm looking for a hairdresser.

In Japanese there are two types of hair salons - 美容院 and 理容院. Both cut your hairs but the service is different. The former focuses on the aesthetic and used by women and most of younger men. The latter is for men who don't care about the aesthetic (mostly middle-aged and elderly men), and often offers the shaving service as well as the hair cut, and cheaper.

In Mandarin, is this distinction applied in the same way? Or are these words more like the synonym and thus can a (fashionable) girl use 理发店?

Also, does it sound awkward for men to use 美容院? I wonder why my Chinese friend rephrased it... (she is female and I'm male, and both of us are 20s, FYI)
理发店 is more of a general term for hair salons. If it were for a girl, then we usually say 美发中心，美发院。