I have been going to this salon for 12 years. I originally started with Vilma, who can cut your hair amazingly. I switched to Erika about 3-4 years ago. She seemed to have more open appointments, and I liked her styling.
I had been getting a mild relaxer, semi-permanent color, and a Brazilian Blowout--typically the Brazilian every 6 months, and the relaxer/color every 9 weeks. Erika told me about a treatment called Black Diva, which she said contained natural ingredients and could potentially replace both the relaxer and the Brazilian since they are chemical-based. She mentioned there would be some lightening of my hair color, similar to what happens with the Brazilian, and I was okay with that. She normally applies a black semi-permanent color, knowing it lifts to a dark brown, which I've been fine with in the past.
Erika recommended that we wait a few weeks longer than the normal relaxer time frame to apply the Black Diva.
After receiving the Black Diva treatment, my hair was left in poor condition -- uneven color and no real results aside from temporary softness. It had been 14 weeks since my last relaxer, so my hair was extremely unmanageable within a few days after treatment.
Either Erika used a brown color instead of black this time, or the Black Diva lightened my hair more aggressively than the Brazilian, because my hair was a much lighter brown and my scalp turned even lighter than the rest of my hair due to my gray. After about two weeks, I had to apply a semi-permanent dark brown color myself, as the lightening continued and made the color look even more uneven. After I applied the color, it began to fade after two weeks back to the original color that was left after the Black Diva.
I emailed Erika to let her know that my hair was horrible. She recommended that I come in for the Black Diva deep conditioning treatment. I did, and while she didn't charge me (as she shouldn't have), it did not fix the issue. I waited another week, hoping my hair would become more manageable, but I couldn't take it any longer. I emailed Erika again to let her know that this needs to be fixed properly -- by going back to a relaxer and having my color applied.
She didn't respond until nearly a week later, when she called and gave me a date and time for an appointment. I assumed this was to address and fix the issue at no additional cost, given the poor results, lack of follow-up, and the amount I had already paid.
I returned to Erika expecting she would stand behind her work and correct the issues I experienced with the initial service, which cost $461. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
Instead, I was shocked to find I was being charged the full price -- $224 -- with no consideration or discount. Erika mentioned she didn't charge for the deep conditioner (which I did not ask for) or the curling (which I was prepared to pay for, as they refer to it as "iron work"), but she made no effort to acknowledge or adjust for the inconvenience, the delayed response, or the condition of my hair. She just kept stating that she told me what "could" happen with the treatment. Really??? She was even surprised by the condition of my hair herself. The treatment made it soft and that's it. I don't care about soft, it wasn't worth $305 for softness or $89 for a color gone bad.
A la carte charges from both appointments:
Original ($461) included:
* Light trim - $67
* Color - $89
* Black Diva - $280
* Additional ounces of Black Diva - $25
(And yes, I questioned the trim cost. She trimmed my hair for all of not even 5 minutes. The reply was if I recommend someone to the salon they would give me credits but that is the cost.)
Follow-up appointment ($224) included:
* Relaxer - $88
* Color - $89
* Shampoo/blow dry - $47
(The shampoo/blow dry charge makes no sense -- you can't give a relaxer without shampooing the hair afterward. This is just another way to tack on charges. This was possibly to charge for iron work without really saying it was charged this time.)
I'm not sure how Vilma would have handled this issue but I am not a happy camper with how Erika handled it. With all that being said, I'll be going to a different salon. read more