Tried to call for an appointment yesterday and was told that there was one person ahead of me and would I like to hold. Since it's been my experience that they don't return calls when you leave a voicemail, I decided to hold. Hung up after 30 minutes. Worst. Customer Service. Ever! read more

My three daughters have been begging to be taken to a salon to get their hair done, but three girls with long hair hits the budget hard. A friend highly recommended Bellus Academy in Poway, so we thought to give it a try. Scheduling the appointment was super easy. At first I only scheduled two of them, but when I received a confirmation call the day before I asked whether the third could be added to the schedule and they were able to fit her in at the same time! Love the accommodation there. When we arrived, it looked pretty packed, but we were taken in quickly and introduced to our student stylists. All were very pleasant and made my girls feel at ease. I was not expecting the appointments to take as long as they did (about three hours because each step/decision is approved by a professional stylist instructor). Next time I will plan for that. The hair cut & blow dry included shampoo, cut, and style all for $15 each! Unbelievable! I happened to be there during their July special. All three of my girls are very happy with their haircuts. Thank you Shayna Devine, Anna Hogan, and special shout out to Jenny "Jules" VerDoorn for managing to straighten all the curls out of my youngest's hair - no easy feat! read more

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I had a wonderful experience yesterday at Bellus Academy. First I had a back spa that exceeded all expectations. Sonia gave me a superb treatment. Her demeanor was soothing and she listened to my response, providing the perfect massage pressure. Case waxed my brow and was efficient, friendly and knowledgeable. Great experience! I will be back and will tell everyone about my wonderful visit. read more

Zahra did an amazing job, she was wonderful and friendly. Really took care of my needs and did as i was looking for, she is highly professional and recommended her to my friends and family. See you again read more

If you want quality work for a discounted price, I would take advantage of seeing Esthetician student Iyana. Her attention to detail and warm personality is a great combination showing great promise in this profession. I will definitely follow her after she graduates. Thank you Iyana for the brow lamination! A great transformation to my self-esteem :). read more

Bellus Academy - Before - Cosmetology Schools Near Me - Poway, California

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I went in for a consultation with Allison for tape in extensions, in my case it's a bit more challenging because I am growing out the shaved side of my head. She was amazing!! Explained everything I needed to feel comfortable. I can't wait for the out come!! I'll definitely be posting before and after pics! Allison rocks!! read more

Lack of structure. Students have to teach themselves the material. Not getting much of a learning experience from here.

A big thank you to student Savannah De Leon for a great Haircut and Blowout! I left feeling so beautiful, it was exactly what I was hoping for! Savannah is so detail oriented and precise! Thank you for a great service- I will be back to see Savannah. read more

Bellus Academy - My hair on savannahs instagram account - Cosmetology Schools Near Me - Poway, California

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I went to Bellus because a friend told me it was a great value and that was an understatement! My esthetician Zel Hartman was AMAZING!! She knew so much about skin care and how to help me. If you go, do yourself a favor and ask for her. read more

This school is HORRIBLE If i could i would give this school 0 stars. Before Covid this was the best school in San Diego and that's why I chose to go here and invest in my education. After Covid they can't seem to get their school put back together and basically just stole $30,000 from me. I did not get taught anything and spent most of my days at school doing nothing, sitting in class on our phones or talking with fellow students. Throughout my time at school here I had many teachers quit, leave, show up late and didn't show or teach us anything most of the time. Since being out of school now for over eight months there are still things I paid for, kit wise, that I have not received my money back or the items in my kit. I have reached out to teachers many times right when I graduated trying to get my money back for items that I pre-paid for in my kit that I didn't receive and no one would even get back to me. This school 100% cares more about the money than actually teaching us and getting us prepared for the very competitive job ahead. I did the cosmo and barber program and had a teacher in my class maybe 40% of the year i was in school. Take your money elsewhere! The less name brand/ less expensive schools will teach more and actually care about setting you up for success! read more

The good news: Michelle is graduating soon, but she did my hair like no professional ever has before. She deserves all the stars, in my book! The shampoo and head massage, amazing. My hair after, just looked amaaaaazing. It had volume, shine, bounce... All the things good hair is made of! She took her time, she thoroughly enjoys her job and helping people look pretty. And, she is so much fun, to boot! I got compliments all day in the salon, and afterwards. Wish I could speak the same of my pedicure. My girl seemed very timid in doing it. Like, she was afraid to touch my toes or something. She did not do them like she meant it, if that makes any sense. She barely filed them, and was super cautious, but not in a good way. The paint job was not smooth either. I hid them within shoes for a day, then just ended up taking them off and doing them myself the next day. Also, a lot of cuticle was left on. I don't remember people coming by to check their work afterwards, or if a job looks bad, if their instructors tell them to fix it. It would be helpful for them, I presume, to bring up the level of work. It's a school, there's a disclaimer you sign ahead of time. I didn't hold it against them. And, since they're learning, it's a discounted rate. But, I heard the back facials and the massages are where it's at! They have monthly specials, so check them out for deeply discounted rates. read more

I got two services from their esthetician student Kaitlyn Lockyer. She was wonderful. Very professional, she explained each part of the treatments. First was a back facial which was basically a scrub and a massage. I loved it. You leave with the softest skin on your back...the hardest area to cleanse yourself. Then I got the anti-aging facial. I joked that I should've gotten the acne facial since I had a recent breakout and she added the high frequency laser for free!!!! The laser kills the bacteria in the pores. The next day my face was radiant and the pimples were noticing smaller. Kaitlyn's hands are gentle and her massage excellent. I highly recommend seeing her if she is still a student there. read more

The way the many students have talked about the disrespect the teachers give certain individuals because of their style choice is ridiculous. This environment is not inclusive at all, meaning if your more on the dark side of beauty good luck. They want pretty pink makeup artists, and no creativity. The environment is so toxic that at the graduation ceremony many many left early because how disorganized it was and how selfish and egotistical the guest speakers were. They're supposed to influence kids not talk about their own accomplishments because they did this and that. So many students were bullied in this program too so for them to not receive proper recognition at THEIR OWN graduation that THEY PAID for for paying for the academy is sick. Get yourself together. Never have I been so disappointed in a beauty industry with bully mentality and setting certain beauty standards to be cookie cutters. Beauty isn't pretty Barbie, it's self expression. Broken your horizons. Forever putting this academy down because you have crushed many self esteem's. Shame on you Bellus. read more

Amber berry did an AMAZING job on both my back treatment and brightening facial! She's very thorough with her work and her massage movements almost put me to sleep. She helped my skin go from being really dry and dull to being moisturized and glowing! I don't normally feel great about my skin but she helped me feel renewed and refreshed! read more

Priscilla did my full color hair and it turned out amazing!! She did a great job and I recommend her. read more

Bellus Academy - A full color! - Cosmetology Schools Near Me - Poway, California

I had a service today from pedicure ($12) and conditioner plus blow out ($10) according to the instructor and flyer. When I paid it was 40 dollars altogether and never got an explanation. I called the manager and he said since the hair cut was not included he would not honor the deal and the pedicure was not $12. Basically this school is not on the same page and does not honor flyers or what the instructors say. read more

I came here for a full color and Erin H. did a stellar job with my hair. She patiently listened to the color I was thinking about and mixed the perfect shade of chocolate brown. Super happy with the result! Thank you! read more

Bellus Academy - Cosmetology Schools Near Me - Poway, California

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Once again, Jada did a great job! Super attentive, very gentle, and professional. Highly recommend it!

Recently got my hair done from Dulsiana, most definitely can say very pleased from my results, she did a very beautiful job!! My hair has never looked better I'd highly recommend!!!! read more

Bellus Academy - Cosmetology Schools Near Me - Poway, California

Ashley R. Was really awesome! She gave me a facial tonight and was so sweet and accommodating. I thoroughly enjoyed her services. Thank you Ashley! read more

Last week, 3/8/2023, I had the pleasure of having a facial & stress reduction back treatment. This was my first time at Bellus Academy and the service was excellent. I highly recommend my esthetician, LORIBELLE!! She was very knowledgeable, answered my questions & explained the steps. I felt comfortable and relaxed throughout my time. This was a wonderful pampering & stress reliever experience. read more

TERRIBLE school alert!!!! Please like and share so they maybe learn to get better. As you will see this review has been up for awhile and have received one phone call. But they never called back. To me this shows they care not for their students but hey you judge for yourself! IIf you would like to throw money away here is your chance. This school/academy is terrible. This school is the reason that the law changed in California. I will just give a brief over view. Paid 28,000 had test grades forged because there was no teacher to give the test. Multiple times. Teachers repeatedly not on campus so we would just leave. 1000's on supplies never even touched sitting in a closet now. The owner is never around and honestly I know now that she must not care to leave so many unhappy customers . As long as she gets her money!! The campus director never returns calls or emails leaves me standing outside of a door to her office for 15 minutes for a meeting which she never had with me. If you would like to know more please feel feee to ask me but Do not waste your money at Bellus Academy! Brief update. I did receive a call from the new salon manager, after reading this review. I missed the call but she did leave a message. That was a pleasant turn but then in Bellus style, she never returned my call. When did I call back 15 minutes a after she calle I Left a message and guess what no return call. She called on Friday June 17th and right now it is Tuesday June 21. I would highly recommend another avenue rather than this school. Next update, I think I will make this weekly, because I have way to much to quit now. Well I still have not received a call back, from the new manger who reached out but I bet she will be gone soon. The turnover is amazing there. If you were looking to see new teacher faces daily this is the place. Let me give another shining moment, the day the teacher put an email war on a overhead projector to have a text war and email war with another teacher. Then a discussion on how bad that other teacher was. All while I was paying 28,000. It was so enlightening and helpful in my journey. This school is filled with moments like this. Oh the learning!! Update June 30th. I hope all that want to attend this for profit school will notice that I have posted this review with no action from the school except for one call. This is how they run. I have two complete state board test bags filled with items I will never use. The school said oh well. I have complete bail kits never used, again the school said, sorry not our problem. I will say the one test they can help you with. The written state board test, never is gone over or studied at all and when I did it during school hours the teachers found it to be not appropriate even though that is the only test to get a cosmetology license now. Just sayin be very wary. Oh yeah side note, ask if you will have a consistent teacher. They have a hard time keeping instructors. For any future students, I would take the fact that they allow my review to stand with no comment or even an attempt to communicate more than one time. It is sad that they care so little for past students experiences. A school with no leader or moral compass makes for a very difficult path to success. Their lack of even engaging with me should show you enough about their character. I would be more than happy to receive an email and hear their thoughts but nope. Silence, speaks volumes. . Update July 6th: if you are planning to go to this school, please really look into it. Why I say this is because they see my review and do nothing about it. But little do they know you can track engagement with a post and guess who has been reading it. If you guessed people who work at Bellus you win the grand Boobie prize! Have a great day Brllus keep providing no service and no education. Cheers! Update July 9h: still no word from them but I do see Bellus still looking at my review! I wish Bellus cared about what was important, but as you can see by them still not reaching out that they obviously do not care about a bad review as well as a very unhappy ex student. Let me add a funny one they did try and offer me once, get this they wanted me to come back for guest appearances and classes which they had twice in my one year. Yea he part I found funny about this was that they were offering me this when I pointed out that on more than 8 occasions we had no teacher in class and don't get me started with zoom. No direction, no instruction and absolutely no follow there by them. Ask me how I know.... Umm same picture sent in multiple times and not a word said! But hey read their website, they Care about your education. I would beg to differ! Cheers. Hey back again still now word. Not hard to believe from them. Today being the 12 of July and they are still afraid to discuss anything!! I wonder why. Sometimes hearing you are not doing a good job is hard to recover from. Cheers read more

Had a shampoo cut and style with Hanah Rodriguez. Can't wait for my next cut!! Loved that I can help to perfect her profession. The salon was clean and inviting. I will start coming on a regular. Thank you for raising up the next Salon professionals;) read more

I had the best stylist Yuliana. She was very nice and did the best job. Very nice and friendly.

Cynthia Gonzalez trimmed and dyed my hair , something I don't trust many hairstylists to do. I ADORE the way it came out. Plus she's a fun and comforting stylist! read more

Bellus Academy - Cosmetology Schools Near Me - Poway, California

Sophia did another fantastic job with my hair tonight! #bellusacademy

Another AWESOME student experience. I was referred to Jenny To from another student who I had been going to for months but recently graduated (as they all do)...and Jenny blew not only my hair but my mind! Super personable Easy to talk to Passionate about what she does Perfectionist at what she is doing Gave great advice Asked important questions to make sure I was involved with what was going on and being done to my hair I have EXTREMELY resistant hair and she knew right off the bat! She herself had color in her hair so I knew she knew about color and wouldn't steer me wrong. She was so quick to do my touch up AND blow AND style my hair I was so impressed Not only did my hair look good when I left the salon (on a Wednesday) but I had an event that I was going to on Saturday and was crossing my fingers that it would stay! AND IT DID!!!! She told me how to care for my curls (how to tie them up when I go to sleep, run my fingers through them in 2 days and I will have "beach waves") and that's EXACTLY what my hair looked like!!! Yes I already booked my next appt w/ her :) read more

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My facial was so awesome I highly recommend this to you the young lady Nicole was so caring and no, I'll eligible.

I got a European Facial by Taylor Ayala and let me tell you...her hands are perfect for this profession. The pressure, the movements, everything was so solid. My skin felt like butter when I left for the day. I will definitely be back. Thank you Taylor! read more

Thank you Alondra for fixing up my hair! She's so kind, welcoming and professional and I would schedule her before she graduates in a couple weeks! Definitely request her if you want quality work:) read more

Wasn't sure at first but I went because Mariana is a friend. Wow!! She did an amazing job!! The instructors overlook and check their work and they are turning out awesome stylists!! I love my hair and I will definitely have her do it again!! read more

Bellus Academy - After!! Mariana did an amazing job!!! I will definitely trust her again!!! - Cosmetology Schools Near Me - Poway, California

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I highly recommend hair stylist, Angelica. she is amazing and very talented. she knew exactly how to cut my hair so it could frame my face and make it look vibrant. Angelica is also friendly and patient. read more

Katelyn Moore is literally a hair angel. Not only has she helped all of my hair dreams come true, she's such a fun person to be around-- which makes any hair experience SO much better. Her color is phenomenal (she was able to lighten my near black hair without it getting orange) and her blowouts make you feel like a million bucks. I HIGHLY recommend going Bellus and asking for Katelyn :) You won't be let down! Going to shamelessly plug her: @_beautyby.katelyn on Instagram! read more

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I went here recently to get a back treatment and Jessica Dunsmore gave me the best experience possible. She was very professional and fully described the treatment to the very last detail. She kindly asked me if everything was going well and kept me updated with what she was doing. I hope to come back again soon for the best treatment I could've received. Thank you Jess ! read more

I went to school here for barbering and to sum up my experience in one easy statement: my barbering instructor got mad when I asked her how to hold clippers. I didn't learn anything. All my instructor did was watch regular show in class and listen to the Backstreet Boys. Going to school here is like paying for a REALLY expensive Hulu subscription but you can only watch shitty cartoons and you're forced to do it in the company of strangers. While i was here the cosmetology students didn't even have an instructor at all, they just sat around. It was really weird. This school is a weird scam. You are paying to come to a facility and watch Netflix. I honestly don't know how they haven't been sued out of their butts yet but if you're reading this and considering going here then you should save your money and go to Paul Mitchell Oh and I also went here for cosmetology - on my first day their instructor Michael forced us to write and submit fake five star reviews of the school as "practice" to show clients how to give reviews - Lol what a joke! read more

I went in today to get an oxygen facial and had Raizel as my esthetician. HOLY WOOOWWWW! She was so amazing and so professional. The whole service was so relaxing I fell asleep . She used the perfect pressure for the facial and explained everything well so I knew what was going on. The products they used smelled great, one mask smelled like brownies. Raizel had me feeling so pampered I highly recommend her and look forward to following her where ever she goes after she graduates but until then I will follow her journey on Instagram @staypeachy_withraiz read more

Instructors are of no value. All they do is stand around drinking a sbux or talk. Never give students constructive tips while working on a client or even watch a client. They only tell a student they can't sit down. This place has gone down hill. I've been coming for over a year and saw dramatic unfavorable changes while prices have risen. Students are very nice. read more

Kaelyn did my lashes and they are AMAZING! She is so gentle and always does a great job and gets them done in a perfect amount of time. Cant wait to go back! read more

Bellus Academy - Cosmetology Schools Near Me - Poway, California

Ms. Jen is one of the many remarkable teachers at Bellus! She keeps our brain stimulated with fun projects and objectives. Thank you Ms. Jen! #BellusAcademy read more

Allison Peters did a wonderful job on my color today! She was very professional and really made me feel beautiful.