Secret of Beauty & Spa

Aug 2016

Stopped for a quick blowout last Thursday afternoon. The place was locked, but the owner (I assume) opened the door when she saw me peering in. No English spoken, so gestures and super rudimentary Spanish to try and explain what I want. I should have walked away right then and there, as I've been in similar situations where language is a barrier, and it's never worked out well. Despite my hesitation, I sit in the chair and prepare to relax. Well, forget about relaxing. The shampoo was pure torture, despite my repeated screams of pain and "por favor, no mas". I didn't think my hair was dirty but she scrubbed my head like she was scrubbing skin off potatoes. The language barrier prevented me from being clear about the water temperature , so it was either too hot or too cold. Between the water temp, the brutalization of my scalp and getting my whole face and neck soaked, I wasn't thrilled. On to the blowdry which involved more gestures, a google translate for "loose beachy waves" which by the way, didn't mean what I wanted it to mean, and hand movements to indicate that I did not want poker straight hair. The blowdry was actually not so bad, except for the burning of the scalp when the dryer nozzle was put right against my head. Lots of shrieking and pulling away from the heat, which isn't at all relaxing. In the end, the stylist was skilled at the blowdry, but it was not the look that I wanted. She took pride in her job and wanted me to be happy, and despite it being different than how I requested it, my hair did look nice. I would not go back though, as the wash was too rough, the language barrier too much to bridge, and the last straw was that she could not break the $50 I went to pay with, and I was the one that had to run to the store to make change to come back and pay her. I was already running late as the blowdry took way more time than expected, so this really bugged me. This place might all be ok if you've got a relationship with the stylist, but for someone just walking in off the street, nothing wowed me enough to come back.