I was looking for a place to get a blowout before a wedding. Not speaking any Portuguese, I was…read morevery shy and intimidated. Beauty vocabulary is specialized and often neglected in translation tools -with hilarious results. The staff at Bellissima were so kind (and beautiful, as you might expect!) My hair stylist took the tine to ask me questions via iPad and Google Translate! The nail aesthetician was so friendy! I visited the salon twice while I was in Rio and would have gone more if I had the time. They sell high-end products like Kerastase (great if you want to skip on the usually damaging stuff in hotels.) You can get your hair done and a manicure *and* a pedicure done at the same time and generally feel like, yes, this is what vacation is about. (I highly recommend the Google Translate app and offline (!) Portuguese dictionary. It was a lifesaver.)

Worst pedicure I've got. She scraped the skin around the toenail very hard and I asked her to be…read moregentle twice. No apologies. She just rolled her eyes and kept going. And she got the coat all over the skin. A 5 year old would have done a better job.

Was there this week and asked about upgrading my pedicure. I was offered a spa pedicure for me and…read moremy mom however while my mom had a good service mine was rushed and I was cut so it stung very badly. When I went to pay I was told I must pay for a standard pedicure and a spa pedicure also, so I paid 141 reals each, that was ridiculous. They offered me then a free nutrition treatment for my hair,I passed and considered it but I was going to have to pay for the blow dry extra and I just didn't trust them, only got a second star since my mom liked her pedicure and mine looked decent. BEWARE AND GET PRICE IN WRITING BEFORE AGREEING TO ANYTHING!

I literally walked into this incredibly busy salon with no appointment and came out looking…read morefabulous in under 45 minutes. They took me right in and within a matter of seconds, I was getting my hair washed; the place was packed with clients. Service was top notch. My stylist, Tatiana did an exceptional job with my blow dry. Another stylist/manager who spoke English came over to clarify how I wanted my blow dry to look like. Coffee was served to me right away and best of all--my blow dry was only 40 R. Highly recommend this place. They also offer other services for nails, make-up etc.