Jon ‘Ric International Salon & Day Spa

Stylists were good, but management was rude. Maybe that’s why they are closing down?

I don’t usually write reviews, but this place is a disaster. Completely unprofessional and unorganized. After receiving a promotional coupon for this salon as a gift, I figured I would try their services. Firstly, they only have a couple hours a week that they will make appointments for people with the coupon. Secondly, I had to wait an additional 15 minutes to get my manicure. And, thirdly, the manicure I got was HORRIBLE. The inside is unpleasant and unorganized with power tools laying around. I got my manicure on a tiny table that was set in front of a door with no place to set my things. The managers and staff at this establishment are extremely unprofessional and I wouldn’t wish a haircut from this salon on my worst enemy.

I had the Keratin Treatment done by Lissa and my husband got a haircut there with someone who’s name we don’t remember. We had just moved to NM and were looking for a salon. I jumped on the Living Social coupon for the Keratin Treatment ($ 99) because back in IL I consistently got the Brazilian Blowout done and knew that I wouldn’t be able to afford it here. After getting my coupon, I suggested my husband try the place for his monthly haircut because they advertise a private men’s section on their website. He was not impressed. Said the décor was lacking, ambiance was cold and industrial and worst of all, the stylist ignored his requests and cut his hair however she wanted, much much shorter than my husband preferred (he’s dealing with newly thinning hair and this cut made it look much worse than it really is). He hasn’t bothered going back.
This made me a bit nervous about going but I figured you can’t compare apples to oranges and I had already paid for the treatment. The coupon was for the full Keratin treatment. When I called to schedule I got a bad feeling because she tried to tell me the treatment was better than the Brazilian Blowout for various reasons that are actually not true about the BB product (my sister is a stylist in IL at a very high brow salon so I know lots more about the BB than someone off the street might). Then, she said something about scheduling my ‘touchup.” I emphatically reminded her that I had paid for the full treatment. On two more occasions she mentioned the touchup treatment and each time I told her that I had paid and expected the full treatment.
Day of appointment: Lissa was very nice, personable, and a decent conversationalist. I felt that the process went too quickly and as I was watching her apply it, it didn’t appear to me that she was doing it very thoroughly but I figured that she’s the ‘expert,’ not me. Specifically, I don’t think she even applied it around my face, and only very roughly applied it on the bottom layers. It was also a little unsettling that she was reading the manual as she was doing the treatment and she commented something about how she could never ‘remember the steps.’ I can appreciate that, but she should have brushed up just my appointment at least instead of making me feel like a test subject. She told me to expect similar results as when I had the BB, especially the initial extreme flatness and lack-​of-​volume. I told her that I was prepared and didn’t mind that phase because it shows me the treatment worked and will last. However, that phase never happened! I waited 64 hours to wash my hair, more than the 48 hours that she recommended. I only wash with high quality shampoos (Pureology). However, the first time, I let it air dry to see how my hair took the treatment. All of the hair around my face still had my natural funky kinks at the roots, plus I could see the huge crease between the hair that had been treated with the BB and the roots that looked completely unphased by this new treatment. Additionally, the collicks of my underneath layers were still popping in every direction. I had to deal with it because I was traveling for 2 weeks.
Upon returning to ABQ, I called the salon 2 or 3 times and left a message for Lissa to call me because I had concerns about the treatment. I never caught her at the salon and she never returned my calls. I don’t like to complain and I liked Lissa so I really wanted to give her a chance to explain or redeem herself.
I had done the treatment with the hope that, as with the BB treatment, I could allow my hair to air dry for awhile, or at least just blow dry it. I’m trying to grow my hair out and the only way to do that is for me to not have to spend tons of time blow drying and straightening in small sections. I have not saved ANY time with this treatment (plus have to use expensive products to get my hair straight and smooth especially around the face), which I believe is due in part to the product not being nearly as good as they claimed it to be and also due to the poor application of the product.
As far as the actual salon, everyone was nice but the ambiance was very lacking. It feels very industrial and not at all like a spa/​salon escape. Too much bright direct lighting to be calming, too many sharply contrasting colors. I’ve lived in big cities and small midwestern towns and in both places I found salons with better prices and much better interior design that truly felt like an escape.
I’ll be looking for a new salon unfortunately.