Magic Touch Salon

My first time here and im very happy Thanks Cheri my 3months was worth the wait… i love my new look…

I’ve been going to Cheri for two years. I for got to book a appointment for 3 month in advance. Lucky she was able to book me in 1 week before my wedding. Loved the color. Thank you.

Got my hair done by lyenna or whatever her name is. Showed her a picture of what I wanted – didn’t listen to anything I said, put foils on my hair way too close to my grown out roots after i said i didn’t want them too close, had me under the hair dryer for over 1 hr, «washed» my hair but really she was just trying to fix her mistakes for my roots by adding MORE bleach, was at the sink for over 20mins and NO wash was even happening, and when she did she was VERY rough, came back to her station with some RATCHET 90’s style streaky yellow highlights on my dark brown hair with UGLY YELLOW HOT ROOTS (i looked like a tiger), blow dried my hair WAY TOO CLOSE TO MY SCALP and burned me a couple times, after seeing her mistake on my roots proceeded to take me over to the sink and «blend it out», came back it was still the same, blow dried me again and brushed my hair SO ROUGH that literally I felt/​got multiple breakage from the damage of my hair, and then lastly finished off with some poodle looking poofy «curls». I think she knew that her creation was NOT what I intentionally wanted and couldn’t even look at me in the eyes. On top of it, my hair was DAMAGED. Hair felt SO SOFT AND BRITTLE I WAS HAVING BREAKAGE. Needless to say this was MOSTDEF NOT worth $ 140. I still gave tip because im human and felt bad even after considering i wasn’t even going to. But I HONESTLY do NOT think she knows what shes doing. I would NOT recommend her. Also, just in terms of the whole vibe – was not very friendly and just awkward.
I was so sad and desperate that I ended up getting it fixed by another salon and I LOVE IT SO MUCH. Thank you Ascend Salon in Fremont!

The color is somewhat uneven & weird, not sure how to describe it

I’ve been coming here with Lyana for about a year now. I had the worst experience with hairstylist before that I literally just wanted to go dark. When I first called this place Lyana explained to me exactly what she was going to do with my hair, I went in feeling confident and left literally almost crying tears of joy because I couldn’t believe how beautiful she left my hair!!! It was then that I knew I could trust her with my hair. This is my fourth time going with her and she didn’t disappoint. I asked for something totally different from what I had and although I was there for pretty much the whole day, I LOVE the outcome. My hair is now a really nice grey tone, exactly what I wanted.
So if you’re looking for a good hairstylist this is the place to go too. They won’t disappoint.

I got my hair done by Cheri and my hair turned out how i wanted it to be! My hair used to be silvery/​grey which was done by Cheri also and I loved it. I had it for almost 2 years. now I just wanted my hair to be blonde. So I told Cheri I wanted it close to how Khloe Kardashian has her blonde hair and I must say Cheri did it pretty close, I mean I understand it wont be exactly like khloes. Especially because my hair was silvery/​grey to begin with so my ends were pretttttyyyy white which I dont mind at all.

I found Magic Touch Hair Salon on Unilocal.So glad I did. Lyena colored my hair. She was gentle went over with me what I wanted done with my hair! Anyone looking for a beautiful hair color and cut! Go see her.

Damn, you really can’t go wrong with Cheri. She’s a sassy one but hey, for her price & her talent, I really, really, REALLY cannot complain. She’s seriously done every single hairstyle & hair phase on me that I can think of. I’m one of those people who dye their hair a different color & cut it into a new style like every other month & Cheri truly does have a magic touch. I’ve gone to «high-​end» salons to dye my hair & they always say things like, «Oh, we can’t do that because your hair is blablabalbla» but with Cheri, no hesitations, she sits me down on the chair & I come out of her salon looking EXACTLY how I pictured, or well looking exactly like the pictures I’d show her lol.
My friend volunteered to give me an A-​line & I let her & well… it didn’t look like an A-​line. I went to Cheri to get it dyed. When Cheri was about to dye my hair, she was like, «Wait. This A-​line doesn’t look right to me. Girl, I’m gonna give you a free haircut because if I’m dying your hair, I don’t want people thinking I gave you this haircut.» BOOM. VOILA! My A-​line was sleek, chic & had a great new color to top it all off thanks to Cheri’s magic touch.
It’s really impossible to book Cheri nowadays & that comes to show how worth it she is. Get her to do your hair while you can!

First time here and wanted to try a balayage. Lyana was the person who did my hair. The reason for a one star is because she fried and damaged my hair so bad that I had to go and cut off so much of the dried dead ends. My hair was long and healthy before I gave her a try, and not to mention how long it took me to grow out my hair. I really do think that she set me under the dryer for way too long! Now the rest of my hair just looks dead, dried, frizzy and short. The color is nice, but so not worth it. If you do get your hair done by her, just make sure that she doesn’t put you under the dryer! Paying 150 – 200 plus tip is a lot of money so they should really care of how your hair turns out. I didn’t even know that my hair was that bad until I got home and showered to see how my hair really turned out. They’re experts of cover ups.

My sister came here showed her some pictures of what she wanted and asked Cheri for an OMBRÉ and Cheri said Ok I’ll do an Ombré balayage…
Few hours after she was done, I asked my sister to send me a picture and see if she liked it. I told her it looks like highlights? Did you ask her for highlights? She said no. My sister also tipped her $ 50 bucks. Cheri curled it and hided the mess! & she didn’t know how messed up it was. It was her first time and my sister was being very generous. She regretted everything.
The next day I saw it in person myself… I couldn’t believe what Cheri had done to her hair. It was very brassy spotty and uneven! It did not LOOK like an Ombré Balayage at ALL! It was my sisters first time dying her hair! And it was VIRGIN hair.
I called Cheri and asked if she can fix it and she said IM SOO BUSY all the time and was already rude about it but she scheduled her on a Wednesday & I said ok. I called back and asked her to schedule another time because my sister couldn’t make that time anymore. But Cheri wasn’t there that day so she called the next day and LEFT a NASTY & RUDE voicemail on my sisters phone!
Cheri said so much stuff about how she couldn’t do it because of whatever reason she wants to make up and she also said «I KNOW DAMN WELL I DIDNT MESS UP YOUR HAIR!» We were all shocked and so angry. So my sister never came back.
I told my sister to go to INSPIRE HAIR down the next exit and they FIXED THE MESS CHERI DID! Thank goodness!
DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY HERE!!!
CHERI IS HORRIBLE with a BAD ATTITUDE!

I’ve been trying to go blonde for a long time and have been told it’s not possible and turned down… Until I came here!
I heard about Magic Touch through one of my friends who’s ombré is always flawless… She told me that she gets it done at Magic Touch by Cheri, but recommended Liana to me because Cheri’s appointments are always booked out so far in advance. I called on a Tuesday and was able to get a saturday appointment with Liana. I couldn’t wait!
The salon is located in the Greenhouse shopping plaza in San Leandro, a little confusing to get to if you’re not too familiar to the area but not too bad at all, just gotta keep your eyes open.
I arrived to my appointment about 10 min early and Liana was finishing up another client, I left with my kids (crazy to bring them I know, but babysitter cancellation last minute happened). Anyway, had a little snack at Kasper’s next door and when I came back about 15 min later, she was ready for me.
I went in wanting blonde. I had no specifics, except pictures of Shakira because that’s the kind of shade I wanted. Liana got the idea, recommended some colors to work with my skin tone and off we went on the blonde journey. The 4.5 hour blonde journey lol. My hair was dyed with a wash out black color over a year ago and that posed a bit of a challenge, but Liana worked her magic and it came out amazing! I am extremely happy with the outcome and will gladly recommend anyone to Liana at Magic Touch.
The staff is super friendly and understanding… I unfortunately had to bring my kids with me to the salon (which I highly do NOT recommend doing, but hey. shit happens) and they gave them some lollipops and crackers. I know it doesn’t sound like much at all, but they didn’t even have to offer my kids anything. That was a big plus in my book. However, I will make sure that on my touch up appointment I will have a more reliable babysitter!

I want to thank LAN (the older lady in the salon) for giving me the worst haircut ever!!! Thank for not taking your time and rushing me out of your chair. I will never go back to this salon ever!!! The picture should say it all!

I’ve seen Lyanna twice and she’s a haircolor expert.
I came in wanting the red ombré with caramel highlights and she kept mentioning i would not like… initially, i thought well that’s what I WANT but she advised it would not last long and fade, etc and recommended something else and after much discussion i told her that i would go with what she thinks would look best… she based it on my skin tone and it came out lighter than what i wouldve asked but i received so many compliments that i guess Lyanna was right afterall! whew! She is one of the experts at this salon and her hair is beautiful and testimonial of her work
She can be a little rough with washing but overall a great result. And i will get my red and caramel highlights in the fall/​winter! haha Highly recommend!

I did a walk in because my hair desperately needed a hair cut and I didn’t have any appointments. Hair salons nowadays I feel like they usually for females only specialize in like ombres and getting your hair did, and the basics aren’t usually of focus anymore. I’m not the girly type so hair stuff usually scares me. But like I said, hair was so dead you could basically set it on fire by being under the sun too long.
I stopped by on my lunch break on a Tuesday afternoon around 1pm, and they weren’t the busy. Van swooped me up and took me to her station. I was surprised, it wasn’t like your typical salon. The station was cozy and not bright lights. It was an interesting concept! She was amazing and super skilled with her hands. She greeted me sweetly and asked what I wanted and absolutely delivered! I wanted lots of layers, but long enough to still tie up, and for her to only get rid of the dead hair. She didn’t razor my hair AND I didn’t have to ask her NOT to! Now that’s huge props in my book because all asian people that cut my thick hair love to razor their way. Talk about overly scissor/​razor happy.
It took about 30 mins but her skills blew me away. Not even half way through she started styling my hair and I thought she was done and I was bummed. But little did I know, she straightened my hair so she can get the layers perfect. I left looking super fly with healthy hair and not upset at the length at all.
Love it! So there’s still good salons and hair dressers out there that can cut hair for a good price. It was $ 20 + tip.
I’ll be back for Van. If you’re looking for a haircut, she’s the one to find!

Everyone raves about Cheri, though I don’t color my hair and have only come here for haircuts.
1^st time — Anh — 4 stars: I loved the layers she made! I told her I wanted a lot of layers, and she made them beautifully. I wish it was a little bit longer, and I thought I’d just be more clear next time
2^nd time — Lan (old Vietnamese lady) — 2 stars: Do NOT get Lan if you can avoid her. I felt extremely rushed, did not really care about my hair, and I asked for a lot of layers and it looks like to be only about 2 layers. After the cut, she didn’t even blow dry!
I asked, «Are you not going to blow dry?»
Lan, «It’s dry hunny.»
Me, «But normally I would get it blow dried to have it styled.»
So she reluctantly blow dried it, but didn’t style it. She obviously was just trying to get as many customers and tip as she could get. I will never get her again and she is unfortunately giving Magic Touch a bad name.
Not sure if I would come back, but if so, would make an appointment to avoid getting her again.

6:42pm – edit; Cherie is very sweet I just got off the phone with her. She felt horrible for Lyana’s situation that she was really trying to get me in tomorrow or sunday but I can’t its the PACMAN vs mayweather fight! and on sunday is my birthday brunch/​cruise with my girls. I appreciate her call back. so this review was only on Lyana’s part. UnilocalERS PLEASE DONT BE HINDERED BY GOING TO CHERIE AT LEAST BUT PLEASE KNOW SHE IS BOOKED OUT ALWAYS.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I am so dissapointed.
I had called in to get an appointment with Cherie (sp?) but I knew from the beginning it would be hard to get an appointment with her because I know she’s all booked up. My friend recommended me to her. I called a couple of weeks ago and unfortunately she couldn’t fit me into hr schedule so she recommended me to Lyana.
I came in on time, 3 minutes early actually because even Cherie pointed this out. They told me to have a seat.
I waited another 10−15minutes until finally Lyana greeted me and sat me down to her side of the salon. I took my phone out and showed her what I wanted which was an ombré of an array of browns I would say a rose brown type of color. I had the picture because I saw it on someone else’s IG page. She looked at it and said:
«Oh this color is not nice when it’s straight, only when it is curled»
Then she takes out her phone and I guess its her IG of all the hair she’s done and she kept on showing me ombré’s/bayalages that were all the basic brown to blonde which isn’t what I wanted. But I really wanted to get my hair colored for my birthday weekend so I kept looking through her IG page to maybe find something close to what I wanted (5minutes) and at this point she showed me the hair samples and kept saying
«It’s auburn or it will be orange. I will only color your hair one color like a red»
At this point she goes «If you don’t know what you want can you just come back and re-​schedule it’s getting late it’s already close to 5:30»
1. I got here on time
2. I told you what I wanted
3. You kept pushing to just do some sort of blonde ombré that I didn’t want.
So then I told her «I know what I want and I wanted this but you’re saying you can’t do it»
then she goes «No I can do it for you if this is what you want let me check if I have the colors.»
THEN she goes to Cherie and they’re talking in Vietnamese, and at this point I’m just like forget it… and Cherie ends up saying «she doesn’t feel comfortable doing your hair because she’s not sure if she can get your hair this exact color like you want…»
so I said, «Are you able to get my hair this color?»
and she says «Oh yea I can totally do this color, I can do anything but unfortunately I’m booked until August»
SO I WALKED OUT FEELING LIKE WTF…
1. If you didn’t feel «comfortable» doing my hair then you should have just said this from the beginning. THE BEGINNING, so don’t get me wrong I’m glad she spoke up and said she wasn’t comfortable but you wasted my time! Acting like you could do my hair then try to push other ideas. JUST BE STRAIGHT UP!
2. I wasn’t late at all, it took YOU 15 minutes after my scheduled appointment to sit me down and discuss my hair, and once it hit 5:30 you tell me it’s too late to do my hair but in reality it’s because you didn’t know how to do my hair. You kept on pushing ideas when I had clearly made up my mind of what I wanted and you kept saying «if you don’t know what you want just re-​schedule». let me say this again I DID KNOW.
3. If you’re coming here just strictly go for Cherie who’s confident enough to say she can do ANYTHING.
4. What a dissapointment it’s my birthday weekend and I was looking forward to this.

I have been trying to find a good salon for years that could get my dark brown hair and dye it platinum blonde. I came across this place on Unilocal and decided to give it a try since there were so many good reviews. I called trying to make an appointment with Cheri, who seemed to be amazing but really busy. She was booked thru June and I wanted something a lot sooner than that. The lady on the phone said Lyana would be available and that was totally fine with me. I didn’t really know what to expect, I was nervous and excited.
Lyana ended up being a sweetheart and she did pretty much exactly what I wanted: to get as light as possible with the least amount of yellow/​orange with a few blacks streams. She did EXACTLY that.
Really happy with this place. Definitely going here every single time I need something done to my hair!

Every few months I come in for a hot oil treatment w/​either Anne or Lani. Both make the process quick and the results feel great. Silky soft manageable hair for a good 2 – 3 weeks.
I do go to Lani for my highlights and cut too. My Mom and I have been clients of hers since her and her daughter had a Magic Touch Salon in Union City.

Magic Touch Salon forever ruined my hair. I came in and saw Lyana a while ago because Cheri wasn’t available and she said Lyana was just as good. The process of getting my balayage was super long, but I wouldn’t have minded if it turned out nice. When Lyana finished my balayage hours later, my balayage looked decent in curls and in the picture she took for me. However, when I washed my hair, it was so tangled that brushing my hair was hurting me (that’s when I had a feeling that the products they used were cheap and ruined my hair). When I straightened it, it looked completely different… it looked like my hair was dipped into bleach… within a matter of only a few days, my hair no longer looked platinum blonde but it was a brassy yellow blonde. It’s definitely true when they say that an ombré or balayage is only good if it looks nice when it is straightened.
Yes, I understand that bleaching your hair isn’t healthy and all, but I’ve had my hair highlighted and have had an ombré and balayage done before, prior to coming to Magic Touch Salon — with all my experiences, my hair was 1) never this brassy and 2) never this damaged. My friends who have went to other salons, and get their hair done consistently, have not dealt with issues of their hair being so damaged and nasty brassy.
Not too long ago, my friend asked me about Magic Touch Salon. I told her my experience and emphasized on how that experience damaged my hair and how my hair turned brassy yellow quickly. However, I told her that I had Lyana do my hair and not Cheri so maybe it would’ve been different (considering that Cheri posts all these nice pics and calls herself the ombré queen). She decided to give Cheri a try because of all her nice pictures and great reviews on Unilocal and Instagram. Sure enough, her experience was no different. She came out with hair dye on her skin and her hair also looked OK in curls but looked uneven and patchy when she straightened it. It basically looked like her hair was dipped in bleach (just like my experience). She also left a review and received a call from Cheri right after through a blocked number.
If you’re looking for a nice ombré or balayage (curled and straightened), I’d recommend doing your research and searching for a place that uses better products — pay a little more is better than having your hair damaged and brassy yellow.
*This is a long, overdue review because I just started to write reviews on Unilocal.*

Short story:
Ladies, book with Cheri in advance. She’s amazing!
Long story:
I wanted to get my balayage ombré and cut done by Cheri but my appointment wouldn’t be for another month, in September. The September appointment happened to be a cancellation, otherwise she was booked until October. I kept my September appointment but looked for other salons in the meanwhile.
I found other potential salons, but was hesitant to come in. I just had to get my hair done by Cheri. I decided to call and check for cancellations. She was waiting on a client to confirm. They never confirmed so I was so happy that I got to see her earlier than I expected. Add yourself to the cancellation list and you may see her sooner than later!
I felt comfortable leaving my virgin hair in her hands. I wanted an ombré balayage with a caramel transition, ash blonde and platinum tips. She gave me her honest opinion on what would look best and I knew I could trust her. The whole process took about two hours but it went by quickly. She is so easy and fun to talk to. She exceeded my expectations! I’m glad I didn’t go to another salon to get my hair done — her expertise and reasonable prices can’t be beat.
I did drive around the plaza to find Magic Touch. The salon is located near the dollar store and McDonalds, so it’s better to enter the plaza from Washington Avenue.
She books up to two month in advance so plan ahead. She does call to confirm and remind you about your appointment, so make sure you confirm or you’ll lose your appointment. After lots of searching, I’ve found my salon and will continue to return.