Greetings Chicas/Chicos..I pray all is well with everyone.
Ok, so we are featuring a salon, Urbanella, by none other than the beautiful Vette of Atlanta. Vette is here to give us the scoop on her experience at Urbanella. This is so important because so many naturals are in search of salons to visit and who will take care of their O'Natural tresses in a wonderful way. So, let's here what Vette has to say about her visit to Urbanella.SALON TALK...URBANELLA
141 W Wieuca Rd NE suite 202A
Atlanta, Georgia
2. Wait time (this is a huge pet peeve of mine..waiting in salons all day)
I made an appointment for the consultation, followed by style. They tell you to come with clean hair so they can try out products before the style. I arrived 15 minutes before my appointment time. They had me fill out an indepth questionaire asking questions like what was my reason for needing a consultation, what are my biggest hair issues(styling, product, dry hair, frizzy hair, damaged hair, etc...), what style did I come in for...
3. Level of professionalism
I feel Tandria (receptionist/the lady who provided my consultation) was very professional, informative, and patient (with the number of questions I asked).
I feel Tandria (receptionist/the lady who provided my consultation) was very professional, informative, and patient (with the number of questions I asked).
4. Stylist you met with
Britney-stylist
Tandria- receptionist/consultation lady
5. Ambiance
As soon as you enter the lobby...products galore! It was, hands down, the biggest area of the shop. The salon itself seems to be a more intimate setting. It was off in the back, which was VERY small. One wash bowl. Two hair dryers. One hair steamer. And a small couch (covered with too many pillows) to sit on if you had to wait. They did offer water and tea to drink. They also made sure that I was not to hot/cold and was willing to adjust the temperature in the room (I was the first client that morning).
6. Your experience
When you first walk into the salon, you can tell right away it's all about product advertisement. As soon as you walk in, there are shelves full of the most expensive "natural hair products" out there. The staff itself was very friendly and informative when it came to my consultation and product demonstration. During my consultation, Tandria told me that I might just need to dust my ends and work on deep conditioning to up my moisture before I can get to my main issues- length and styling options. Ok no big-y, we can work on that..see what you can do for me. She raked a couple different product lines thru different sections of my hair, and twist other sections, to get a feel for the product and style that would be best for my texture (4B). On to the next step...now, as far as my styling...the wash/detangle felt very nice, and I did get the deep condition w/steamer. While I was under the steamer, they offered me another beverage and handed me the "Hair Rules" book to read. So far so good...until...after rinsing and sitting me in the chair, the stylist (Britney) told me that the way my hair was growing in, it looked like a mullet and that I needed the back TRIMMED to give it a better shape...alittle embarrased, I say..."um ok...go ahead and TRIM". But as she started in on the back, I look in the mirror...OMG it looked like the whole back of my head was starting all over in the BC process! She trimmed the front and CUT the back! Now, on the questionairre they clearly asked what style did I want, and I know I wrote down scalp braids on the sides, two strand twists down the middle so when I did a twist out I'd have a cute hawk. I don't know where in the description of my style did they get "cut and shingle Kinky Curly throughout my hair"! But that's exactly what she did! As she started to apply KC, I asked her about my twists, she tells me, "well with the 'trim', you'd look great with a nice wash-n-go"...EXCUSE YOU, COME AGAIN!?!?! So she starts in on this rave of KC and how much easier it would be now that I got a "trim" . The PJ in me said, "well, I HAVE been wanting to try Kinky Curly..." When she was "finished" (I think she purposely placed herself in front of the mirror to block my view), she moves and DARES to ask me how do I like it! ARE YOU SERIOUS!?! It looked like I had been sleeping in a bag of marshmellow (one of the ingredients in KC)! My hair looked matted with white film in it! I'm looking like, is that it?! She says you'll see the curls definition and the film will evaporate once it dries all the way. She walks me to the register and picks out all kinda KC products for me to purchase. Didn't even walk me over to the items so that I can ask who/what/where/when/why/how/NOTHING! Just grabbed them herself and basically wrote out my bill (almost $300)! Like DANG, you're not even going to go over the items with me or tell me what to do with this stuff?! My stylist didn't even take the time to write out my TO DO list for me, the consultant wrote it (ex. shampoo with this, condition with this, moisturize with this, etc...) But being that they're the hair stylist, what could I say or do?! Had to let it dry and go from there, right?! To make an already long story short (the next morning) not only did the film NOT go away (looked like white little balls all over my head), my hair was hard, dry, and smushed! Now I can't style worth a damn, but shoot I KNOW I coulda did a better job by taking some gel and shingling it thru my head myself! So ofcourse I called them with my complaint and they said they could do a complimentary rewash/style it if I could come in...UM...YEA! When I get there, the manager washed, detangled, deep conditioned with the steamer, and all that good stuff herself (IMPRESSIVE). And that part I loved, even the first time. But now it wuz back in the stylists chair (and I'm guessing Britney was the only stylist). Do you know she tells me she can style it the same way free of charge...ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?! I'm thinking, If I didn't like the style when I left here yesterday, what'd you think was going to happen when I left today?! She tells me that once I up my moisture level, products won't sit on top of my hair (oh so it's my hair's fault that your styling SUX)! As best as I can, I politely tell her NO, I WANT TWISTS! So she ended up doing mini two strand twists all over let them dry and did a twistout (of course for an extra $50)
7. Would you recommend?
I will say the customer service was excellent (except that stylists comment about my hair growing in like a mullet and that it's my hair's fault that the Kinky Curly didn't work)-HOW RUDE! I did actually liked the turn out when I left the Salon the 2nd time(with the twistout). But truthfully, there really wouldn't have been a reason to get a redo if they would've followed my requests from the questionaire (I mean what's the point of having me write down the style I desire if you have it made up in your mind you're going to do it the way YOU want to anyway)! To spend $300+ for all that hassle...I would not recommend going to Urbanbella...unless you have the $$$ to blow... ;-P
Wow..thank you so much Vette for your thorough review of Urbanella..not quite the experience I would welcome in my search for a natural hair salon. Well, here you have it ladies and gents..I hope this was helpful. Until next time, see ya later gator!!
Vette rocking her beautiful coils using O'Natural Natty Butter
Have a happy healthy day
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