Blo Salon and Day Spa

These groupon haters are hysterical. What do you expect when 1000 people crash a salon because the offer is expiring? I’ve been going here for 2 years to see Krista (who i followed from another salon) They are very flexible, have men’s haircut specials during the middle of the week, and don’t do all that paraffin wax B.S.
Consistently awesome haircuts and very happy with them!

I had a groupon so I decided to get a facial and a haircut. I am a male, for the context of this review. The facial was 3/​5, the woman kept getting the chemicals and lotions in my right eye. I would never pay the full 90 dollars though.
But why am I giving this review 1 star? Because the hair cut was absolutely awful. Honestly, the worst cut of my life. The little blonde girl who was cutting my hair asked me where I usually go– and I told her a couple places I’ve been, Including Halo and even Supercuts. She scoffed at the idea of going to supercuts, well honey, they cut hair much better than you do. She left the back of my head uneven. My sides were left bushy and nappy. She took about 45 minutes just trimming the top of my head to oblivion, meanwhile talking my ear off about how she doesn’t use the bus because she thinks she’s a «target.» Wait, what?
Yeah. This place sucked. And you can’t tip on a card, so I suggest if you have a groupon you use it, don’t pay above the 110 limit, say you need to go to an ATM to get your tip and NEVER COME BACK.
If you don’t have a groupon, save yourself from this hair, nail and spa DUNGEON!

Admittedly I think I self-​consciously held off on modifying my review of Blo because I have this fear that Ariana (the resident «waxologist») will be completely booked thanks to my glowing evaluation, and therefore I won’t be able to get an appointment. Throwing out all selfishness, I will now begin my praise.
Ariana is a real professional at what she does. She meticulously takes care of all waxing needs and does it without missing a beat in conversation. And she also flies through the process, which let’s be honest ladies, is for the best. Now that I’m a regular I feel like she even is starting to know me beyond my follicles; recalling details of discussions we’ve had in the past. I also never feel like she’s sales-​y in anyway shape or form. On one wax occasion we somehow ended up on the eyelash topic, to which she did offer me (without any pressure) the service of perming my eyelashes. Of course this sounded like a make-​believe concept, but I trusted her, booked an appointment, and now I have Disney-​style lashes that don’t quit. I can’t speak to the pricing for hair services, but I definitely have found that the wax pricing, considering the location and the value, are hard to beat.
You’re welcome.

Frankly, this place blows.
I went here with my Groupon and got a nice dye job and then a TERRIBLE haircut. It took all of 5 minutes. This is not an exaggeration. When I tried to tell the woman it was too fast and say I was worried that she might have missed some spots she said «well I’ve been cutting hair for 20 years, I’m good at it now».
So I got home and noticed I still have a ton of split ends and my bangs look like I cut them myself. Fine. They were VERY busy. I called and made an appointment to fix it.
When I showed up for my second appointment I found I had a message on my phone from 30 minutes earlier CANCELING my appointment. When I got upset they had me talk to my stylist over the phone who said she had to cancel my appointment to meet with the owner of the salon.
When I said that I did not get her message and anyway I could not have rescheduled and that I was very upset she said that I would have been in the same boat no matter what happened because she had to meet the owner. Really??? Your owner is making you miss an appointment?
I asked for the owner to call me to discuss this issue but she never did and they would not give me her contact info.
This basement hole of a salon is so badly managed that even if you get a good service, like my single process $ 95 dye job, it’s spoiled by the fact that you never know if the owner will want a meeting with your stylist at the same time as your appointment.
DO NOT GO HERE.

I can really only comment on the customer service, as I have not received any of their salon services.
I called about two weeks ago to cash in my Groupon for a Galvanic Facial. Once I told the girl on the phone that I would be using a Groupon, she started talking very fast and I couldn’t understand a word she was saying. I could only make out that she wasn’t the person who made the appointments and that she would have her receptionist call me back. Confused, I said, «Okay…» and reluctantly gave her my phone number and the date I wanted the appointment. Never got a call back. I felt like this was a sign to not come in at all.
After reading the recent reviews, my strange phone experience doesn’t surprise me now. Now I’m wondering if using their services would even be worth it and if I should just eat my $ 56 Groupon.

Overall I was not impressed. Not sure if it was because the service I got was because I said I had a groupon. A couple of things irked me even before I arrived for my appointment:
1) I call 2 weeks before the groupon expires to setup an appt. they have no openings for facials. They tell me they are working to open up spots to accommodate once I insist I don’t want my hair done, I want my choice of a facial.
2) I hadn’t heard anything from them 4 days after my initial call — so I call again. They still don’t have openings setup yet. I ask, «so when do i call back and get an answer?» They say a couple days later.
3) I call back and they only have early morning appts. Fine. Nice of them I guess to accommodate. I ask how long a facial typically takes — they say carve out about an hour and 15 mins.
This morning I’m really excited to go get my facial, and then I end up waiting a half hour for the estitician –she was running late with another client. Fine again.
The facial felt really good, but she did NO extractions whatsoever and I was done in 35 – 40 minutes. REALLY?! The website explicilty states a $ 110 facial lasts 60 minutes. So I ask the receptionist at the counter what service she did on me exactly and all she could say was I spent my full $ 110 in services. Unbelievable. I did NOT get my money’s worth.

I bought a Groupon for Blo and had no problems scheduling. I knew it would be hard to find a weekend, as this was the last month of the deal, so I took some time off work and came on a Wednesday. Parking wasn’t too bad and I found the salon easily. I was a little taken aback by how small it was. It really is a throwback to my days of the Balkan underground beauty shops.
The waxing went as well as waxing does. I forgot to take any Aspirin or vodka before I went, so I was gripping the table as Ariana did her thing. It hurt more than the only other waxing I’ve ever had done, but I didn’t expect it to be a fun time and wouldn’t take off stars for that. She tried to comfort me and take my mind off of it. She also gave me great pointers for future waxing — exfoliate as much as possible, don’t use lotion for at least a week, try and come in regularly, etc. All good advice that no one else had told me before. Plus she left fewer hairs than the last lady.
My haircut was done by Vanya. I wish my top layers would have been made slightly shorter, per my request, but the end result isn’t bad. I actually quite like it. I wasn’t in love with it when I left. It was curled with a blow dryer and circular brush, which apparently was an additional cost since I ended up an extra $ 30 or so past what I had calculated. I was expecting to just have it blown straight with the aforementioned brush, as almost every other salon I’ve been to does for free. In the end, it was too much fluff for me. I didn’t like it. But now that I’ve gone back to letting it naturally dry and using my own products, it lays nicely and is a good cut. I would definitely recommend Vanya for a haircut.
They were having some issues with their system, so I was not greeted when I came in. In fact, it took an incredibly long time for them to acknowledge me. I was also early and sat down and waited, but no magazines or anything to pass the time was available near the seating area. They also missed out on up-​selling when it was time for me to pay up. Supposedly they offer 50% certain services to entice new customers to return; however, the girl working the front desk made no mention of this. You could visibly see a number of the girls seemed to want to be anywhere but there. It’s a bit claustrophobic. I don’t blame them.
So all in all, I’m not the biggest fan of the customer service aspect of the salon, but I think the services are above average and I’m very satisfied with my wax and the haircut I received. I would recommend the esthetician and stylist I had if you are looking for a salon in the area. I think if I move to the city then I still won’t be that close to them. For me personally, it’s a good salon, but not good enough to make me drive out of my way for it a second time.

Alright, so to update my review from before, I’ve been going to Blo for awhile now and they typically do a great job on my tans, but this past time I went was quite terrible…
First of all, even though I had an appointment, I still waited approximately 20 minutes. As far as I could tell, they didn’t seem that busy, so I’m not sure why I was kept waiting so long.
Once my lady showed up (name withheld to protect), she led me to the back and was very nice about going through what we would be doing and how to prep (pull my hair back, put on a hair net thing, etc.). I have to say that even though my experience was sub-​par at least she was nice.
I waited approximately another 20 minutes for her to begin. She seemed to be very thorough, but then afterward she left me to «dry». I waited.
Typically drying takes 10 – 20 minutes. At the 30ish minute mark, I began to get restless… At about minute 35, convinced she had forgotten about me, I got dressed, assuming she would probably pop her head in to check in on me afterward. Nothing.
I checked out, left a tip (I mean you really should even if service is terrible) and never saw my girl, the check out girl was largely uninterested in me even though all I wanted to do was pay and leave a tip (no one else in line. No calls. She just chose to talk to another girl who didn’t have a client instead of paying attention to me at the counter.)
How did my tan turn out this time you ask? Well, it was a strangely odd orange color (which has never happened before), and because she had put too much on some parts and not others, I was splotchy… worst part, she had missed an entire part of my leg, so I looked a bit like a Jersey shore zebra… Sigh. (As a side note, never try to fix a spray tan on your own– just go to a professional!) On top of everything, on the parts she sprayed too much on, I had weird darkened droplets all over my skin where the spray had stuck. Usually she catches those and wipes them off before they stick, but… welll. yeah.
So here’s my problem. I know I may look like a hot mess when I roll in here on the weekends, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay for the terrible service. I spend a significant amount of money here on services, and I like this salon. But seriously. Service is going downhill and I don’t want to go to a salon that doesn’t make me happy and actually makes me MORE stressed out before… so I’m sorry Blo, but as soon as my package is up, I don’t think I’ll be coming back.

So I finally joined the Groupon party and cashed mine in here.
1) hair cut: not with the same stylist they scheduled me with on the phone, but that’s fine. Dan was super-​personable, did a great job and the whole experience was seamless and enjoyable. I would definitely come back to him.
2) wax: was absolutely terrible. The room was tiny, as other Unilocalers have mentioned. It was also FREEZING, I almost considered leaving and I should have. The aesthetician, Angelina thought she was doing my eyebrows, even though she had given me a cover-​up to put on. OK, really? So she gets the right area and basically had to be instructed on everything, like where to wax, etc. Didn’t ask me anything, just waited for me to ask her to do something different. I was completely dissatisfied when I left. I got home and inspected her handywork and was even more annoyed. Groupon or no, I will be sticking with my girls from Trim, that’s for sure.
On my way out, I told the receptionist how cold it was in the wax room, and she just said… oh…ummmmm…OK. Which perfectly sums up my feelings about this salon.

Dear Owner of Blo: Please believe your staff when they tell you that the room for facials needs to be sound-​proofed. I heard every detail of every stylist’s (and customer’s) weekend plans and wedding whirlwinds and real estate frustrations, none of which helped me to relax.
I felt bad for Angelina, the esthetician, whose skill, care, and kindness were undermined by the cacophony of the salon. I made a joke about it, which is when she told me they’ve been asking the owner to do something about the noise for years. Years is too long.
The room was tiny and the facial table rotated. That’s a darned good thing, because walking around the bed would be impossible. When I say tiny, I mean it. Angelina worked all of her magic from a seat between the table and the wall. The table rotation was a necessity.
The salon space is quaint and a little crowded. The two shampoo chairs are shoved right up against each other into a back corner that looks like it should hold a linen closet. One client was being shampooed with her little dog on her lap. If you don’t go anywhere without Toto, keep Blo in your little black book.
Many Unilocalers have mentioned the fact that it’s in a basement. They are correct. But it’s not just a basement — it’s a basement with low ceilings. The white paint doesn’t make up for the claustrophobic feeling.
My facial, which I paid for with a Groupon, was very nice. Angelina definitely knew what she was doing, and seemed somewhat removed and more professional than the rest of the staff.
With all of the pricey places to get pampered in this city, Blo salon just doesn’t cut it. No pun intended.

I used my Groupon last week (around ⁹⁄₁₅). I decided to have the facial and a haircut.
As I walked downstairs into some danky basement, I thought «really?» But I was comforted knowing that if a tornado passed by, I would probably be okay. I was brought into a room for my facial and I would give that experience a ³⁄₅. It wasn’t the best I had received, the woman kept getting the lotions and rubs in my right eye, and her hand/​face massage was more like a tickle. Before I left she gave me some glib advice like «exfoliate more.’ Okay, thanks a lot. I am glad I had a Groupon or it would not be worth $ 90.
I entered the main dungeon once again and waited for my hair stylist. I was brought into the chair by a skinny, blonde 20-​something. I was about to receive the worst experience and actual cut of my life. First, she talked my ear off about how she hates to use the bus because she feels like a ‘target’ and other insanely moronic things that made me want to put a glock to my temple. The cut itself took forever because it seemed like she was picking at my hair.
During the cut she asked me where I usually go, and the answer was Halo and Supercuts– which she scoffed at. Well honey, they do a much better job than you, talk much less, and charge half. She left the sides of my head nappy and uneven– which surprised me because I didn’t even know my hair could be nappy. She showed me the back of my head and I nearly died, it was incredibly uneven. She immediately noticed it and said she was «obviously» going to fix it. This girl was completely incapable.
After I was finished I went to use my groupon and pay and discovered you can’t put a tip on a card, so I went to an ATM. My advice to anyone using a groupon is to not bring cash, say you need to go to an ATM for a tip, and PEACE OUT. These people do not need any more money– its ridiculous.
I ended up going home and buzzing the entire thing off, and I actually look much better looking like I left a concentration camp rather than what Blo did to me. Sigh.

I did the Group On thang to try this place out. It was alright but I have a few problems.
Brazilian Wax: The aesthetician, Arianna was a doll. i loved her! However, the koochie cover up given to me was either stained or dirty. Either way, it’s problematic. Even if it’s only a stain, it gives a bad impression. If it was dirty, I am going to vomit. Also, they use honey wax which was obviously sticky. Not a fan of that product.
Haircut: My stylist was a junior stylist who was kind enough to listen to me vent about my wavy hair. She told me she would be able to cut it in such a way to enhance the curl. She actually did, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell by the way I looked leaving the salon. I couldn’t believe she was even finished, I looked so bad. She was going to straighten my bangs, but they looked super nineties and curled under. I couldn’t believe that senior stylists and management let me leave looking so horribly.
I was at a cosmetic store later in the day and the sales people kept offering me hair samples-​I finally told them I had just come from Blo Salon and they laughed about how terribly my hair was styled. To my surprise, it actually looked good after I washed it at home. So, I guess this chic can cut but hasn’t learned to style-​at all.
Salon: This salon is in a basement. It is very crowded and if you look in the corners you can see built-​up dirt. The chairs where your hair is washed are stained with old dye. Furthermore, the pop music is a bit loud and the various stylists have that twenty-​something attitude of being too cool or pretty to even smile at customers that are not theirs.
Mostly, I am amazed that no one came to mentor/​consult a junior stylist’s work. Also, the place and all of the ikea furniture/​towels need a good scrubbing.

The very sweet Taylor gave me a dye job and a bang trim. When I decided I didn’t like the dye job that afternoon, she re-​dyed it for me for free and gave me a free blow out, without a slightest hint of an attitude.
She’s the sweetest.

I completely understand that when a business sell 4,000 Groupons, it becomes strained for capacity and resources. That’s why my friend and I were not at all upset that we could only get an appointment for 8 am on a Saturday despite calling 4 weeks in advance. We were psyched about our day of pampering, following by brunch and a little shopping.
What I don’t understand is when the services are just poor. I went for a facial and a wax. While the front part of the salon is cute, the back part (where all the private rooms are for the wax and facial services) needs a serious renovation. It just felt dingy and gross. The facial was ok… i definitely didn’t have the facial-​glow after. The wax was just bad. She literally just missed spots, which is frankly unacceptable.
If you have a Groupon, wait to use it. Let them try and figure this massive surge in demand out.

I bought the groupon — like so many others — and was extremely disappointed. I could not get a hold of anyone at the salon for 5 continuous days of calling. I even set my alarm for 7am so that I could call as soon as they opened, and yet the lines were still busy.
My appointment. I waited about 5 – 7 minutes for my arm wax to begin. The lady who normally waxes in a private room was busy, so someone else did it right there near the waiting area. So when other women came and had to wait a few minutes, their view was of me getting my arms waxed. I had to hold my arm up the entire time, which was exhausting because the woman took FOREVER.
I normally do my own arm wax, but needed to use up the rest of my groupon, so thought I would just get it done — definitely a bad idea. When I asked her for some calming oil or gel since I have sensitive skin, she looked at me like I was crazy.
I had planned to dye parts of my hair purple, and since this was my first time dying my hair, I spoke to the person taking my appointment over the phone extensively. I told her my hair type (dark black), what I wanted (a rich purple), and she told me this would be a «single process hair color.»
The stylist first brings me a pathetic selections of colors. The purple they had looked like hay that was colored purple with a crayola. She then goes on to tell me that since my hair is pitch black, she would have to bleach and then dye purple, which means it’s a double process.
I didn’t do the color because it was ugly and they wanted to charge me an extra $ 50. I asked for a pretty basic cut. Even that, I could not get. I asked for long layers, yet the longer part of my hair is TWO INCHES longer than the shorter layer. It looks AWFUL.
I will never go back to this place.
Oh yes… and I had to come home and re-​cut my bangs because she made me look like a 10 year old child.

I was in Chi-​town for a family wedding and thought I’d give Blo Salon a try with the fantastic Groupon I acquired a few days ago. The phones were naturally jammed due to the Groupon success (the staff mentioned that they sold over 4,000 of them)…but I still ended up with an appointment on Saturday. With my Groupon I scheduled a Blo out, Deep Conditioning, bang trim and makeup application.
As I sauntered into Blo, I was promptly greeted and checked in. My Deep Conditioning and Blo out with Taylor was great — not only is she a talented stylist but she was bubbly and just the sweetest to be around. As for my makeup application, it was just ok. While Adrianna expertly applied some great false eyelashes, the rest of the look was something I could have easily done at home in just a few minutes.
If not for the Groupon, I would not have been happy paying $ 50 for the makeup application… and while $ 29 isn’t a huge chunk of change for a great blow out, adding in fairly substantial extra charges ($ 10-​$ 20) for longer hair, curls, flat iron, etc irks me just a bit.
Overall though, next time I’m in town I will definitely stop by Blo for a standard Blo out with Taylor.

Oh, Blo. I don’t know.
For one, the girls that got updos in my party looked FABULOUS. Truly. The wedding party looked curly, lovely, pinned up, and primped.
Mine though? hmmm. A blow out, but… kind of, meh. I mean, having your hair blown dry for $ 25 is a treat, most definitely. However, the end result was just mildly better than I can produce on my own, therefore not proving a worthwhile expenditure.
Luckily I can whip my own little mullet into a pretty «OK» looking updo, so all was not lost. But, pretty much just shellacked my blo-​out into oblivion…
The staff? SUPER friendly. No complaints at all, they were jovial and fabulous.
Location: swanky… for a basement.

I dread getting my hair cut. Maybe that’s because I don’t have a go to hair stylist in the city.
I decided to give Blo a try. I was pretty impressed, the space is bright and open. Not an easy feat for a basement business. I also liked how they have a cozy waiting area with a huge flat screen that you can actually see throughout the salon. Good thing I ate before I went, because that Food Network show that was on would have made me run for the nearest take out!
My stylist, Cayli, did a great job cutting my hair. I don’t know why, but I always seem to end up with the same cut. Thank goodness Cayli was able to end the monotony and give me some cute layers that don’t make me look like Carol Brady. She was also really helpful in recommending some new products, since they just discontinued mine.
So I’ll be retiring my pony tail for now and I will definitely be back.

Went back to Blo AGAIN on Saturday for the 3^rd time in 2 weeks. I had to get another Blo out before going out for my b-​day/​roller derby party… plus I hadn’t washed my hair since over a week before, when I was last at Blo for my first Blo out… I can’t believe it lasted so long and truly, my hair looked rockstar everyday.
The ladies remembered me and asked how my friends b-​day event went the week before– very considerate! The girl who did my hair didn’t even grimace when I told her that I had still not washed my hair and she made me look fab in no time flat… well not flat, actually full bodied.
Wait– I’m getting ahead of myself… I am perpetually late. I don’t know how it happens but I blame it on my internal clock being on Hawaiian time. I had a 4:00 appointment that I was running late for due to a disco nap and some unexpected heavy traffic going into the city. I call Blo and they were able to get me a new appointment at 4:45… Perfect! I got there a little early and waited in the VERY crowded waiting area… people– please don’t bring your kids to blow to take up space, get a babysitter for Christ sakes! Okay, back to Blo… My girl washed and blew out my hair in no time so I could still make it to my b-​day without being late.
They are seriously miracle workers! I have not had my hair cut since November and her blow out made my ends feel great and look like I’d just gotten a fresh new cut. I felt like a zillion bucks walking down the street as I saw heads turn… okay, maybe it was my neon hair but I know I looked good.
Thank you (AGAIN), Blo!

Oh Blo– you are what’s been missing in my life! $ 20 blo outs??? I had heard about these $ 20 blo outs, but I don’t put my unruly hair in the hands of just anyone so I haven’t experienced them yet.
But last night the Blo stylists (Amy was my stylist– love her!) worked their magic fingers (& curling irons) on my hair for the Unilocal Fashion Show and boy did it look fabulous. The stylist from tristinstyling had suggested Victoria Secret hair and I wasn’t quite sure how it was going to come out, but I sure felt like Heidi Klum (sans the body) as soon as they were done!
So yes they are talented, but more importantly– these girls are FUN! I almost want to get a part time job at Blo (i have about 20 years of blow out hair experience from doing my own hair ;)) just to hang out with the fireball owner, Elizabeth, and her awesome staff!
Thanks to Blo for making me & the rest of the Unilocal models look smokin HOT!