This new head spa place just opened up in South Pasadena, and I saw their advertising on Instagram so thought I'd give it a try.
Let me warn you, this is going to be a novel of a review, so grab your tea, sit back, and see what I experienced, you won't want to miss it!
I made an appointment on instagram, specifying what I wanted and when. It seemed fast and easy enough.
The day came, I received a confirmation message saying they can't wait to see me at 3:00. Mind you, I made the appointment for 3:30 and won't be able to make it at the time they said. I even sent the screen shot of the initial confirmed time. They were able to accommodate, thank goodness.
When I got into the place the first thing I noticed was how aesthetically pleasing, new, and clean it was. Great!
When I got to the front desk at 3:20 (10 minutes before my appointment time) a lady came out from the massage area and asked if I had an appointment. Before I go on, I need to mention this, the ENTIRE staff speaks Mandarin as their main language. I gave her my name and appointment time. She didn't know what massage/package I wanted even though they texted me half an hour earlier to confirm my arrival.
I wished the staff communicated better with each other and have just one person at the front desk in charge of just booking and guiding the customer through the process and expectations. I mean, I've been to scalp massage places before, but never have I been led to the back and asked to be sat on a massage chair, which by the way had all their buttons in Chinese. She proceeded to set the timer on for 15 minutes and left me to my own devices, literally. My neck is very short and so instead of massaging my upper shoulders, the machine knobs kept circling the base of my head, which was quite uncomfortable and I didn't know how to change that! There was no one around for me to ask.
So as I sat there waiting for the 15 minutes to pass, wondering if this was going to cut into my 70 minute scalp massage treatment (spoiler alert, it didn't, again thank goodness).
When the 15 minutes were up, the massaging chair stopped, and my head was no longer bobbing back and forth, I sat there for another few minutes wondering if I should get up and say something or sit there like an idiot not knowing what was going to happen next. I decided on the latter. Finally someone came (who happens to be my head spa masseuse) and asked if I could wait 25 minutes before she can start on me. Umm, no. First off, my appt is at 3:30, 70 minute spa would make the appt end at 4:40 and I set it at that time since I need to pick my daughter up at 5pm. So I told her no, I can't do that. She said ok, that's fine she will start working on me.
This is getting long, follow for part 2.
Haha jk but seriously, other than my masseuse giving me the 70 minutes I paid for and explained my scalp condition to me in the beginning and end, the whole hair washing was okay. She was quite strong in massaging my head that I had to ask her to go softer. I expected a facial massage and cleanser or some type of face treatment too (like how other places do) but she didn't touch my face at all, other than the heated eye pads that were too hot and I had to ask to remove (in her defense, she did warn me prior to putting it on). Again, wished someone told me the whole process of what to expect every step of the way before it was done.
The shampooing and massaging of the neck and body was okay. There was a lot of repetitive motions. Half an hour into my massage, someone brought their kid in and was talking in Mandarin the entire time. It was difficult to relax. The only positive? I did like the scent of the conditioner they used. I think that was the highlight.
This place has a lot of potential as it was a nice setting with individual rooms and calming scents and I wish them all the best. But for now, it's not a place for me. Please work on staff communication and explaining to customers what to expect. Maintain a quiet atmosphere and diversify the massage and shampooing techniques. I tipped my masseuse well knowing how much time she spent on me. Hopefully management sees this and improve form future customers.
Thanks for sticking to the end! Enjoy your day :) read more