Soma Salon and Spa AVEDA — Attraction in Somerville

I should have written this review a few years ago but the last event on the list sealed it today for me. I have been an Aveda customer for 13 years now and have been coming to this particular salon for 4+ years. The owner tries his best to keep clients happy but the ladies are just not up for it. In my 4 years I have had the same service every 4 weeks with at least 6 different stylists . My major complaint has been their rude attitude. I had been : rushed for service with another waiting client for no fault of mine and sent home without the basic clean up after service. since I do not buy a blow dry, sometimes They left me without even minimal dryer touch up with dripping water from my hair. Stylist Danielle almost pulled my hair out one time. Receptionist was so rude to my child once at the salon that she pulled the chair the kid was playing around and tucked it away with a bad face. Lost my hair clips at least a couple times. And the most egregious one, stylist called Ro literally placed the dryer in my hand and asked me to dry my own hair refusing to spend 5 min drying my hair enough so I could go out in the cold because I did not buy the blow dry treatment. This is after years of getting the same service from various stylists junior to senior every 4 weeks and having spent 100ds of $$$ in expensive hair treatments. The receptionist refused to even ask me how the service was. When i complained she answered back saying each stylist is different. A pretty lame excuse for people working under one umbrella salon.

They all work under the same roof with different rules. Some will give head massage , others will give hands massage and yet others none. I love Aveda products and if I find these products elsewhere I would promptly quit. Their rudeness is getting hard to bear.

Update: The salon never valued that the extra service of touch blow dry are exactly what the tips are meant for. At another Aveda salon I wanted to ensure the no fee touch dry was not an issue and was surprised to know that it was their standard treatment at no additional cost. After Soma treatment this change feels so good! I am glad I moved...

Edit: 3/14 Lanie is back and so am I. Back to 4 stars for me!

I’ve been going to this salon for years and had wonderful experienced with Lanie for a brazilian wax, under arms and lower leg. Raved about her to my friends. Unfortunately, I went back and tried the waxer that replaced lanie and did not have the same experience. While she was very nice and friendly she admitted she doesn’t do brazillians often and it showed when she laid the wax and did not allow it to harden long enough and mid pull it would fall apart and get stuck in my hair. It was very uncomfortable and times hurt a lot. More than it ever did with Lanie. I had to suggest she lay the wax then lay another section of wax before going back to pull the original. She also admitted that the glare of her glasses made it hard to see the areas she is waxing after I mentioned a few places that had a significant amount of hair left when she told me she was finished.

My wax was okay, hairs left over after spending $172 on the services. My biggest issue is the way the hair is growing back. It feels like razor burn last week and was incredibly itchy for a few days. Most of the hairs are growing back ingrown which I have never experienced in 15 years of waxing including a huge ingrown cyst in my bikini area that I have to treat. Same for my under arms. There are lots of bumps and it is painful when I move my arms. I did the same after care: shower and lotion, no contact or exfoliating after a couple days then exfoliated every couple days followed by a lotion and oil to soften the regrowth. As I said this has never happened before and I have been getting waxed a long time. I would not recommend the new waxer and will be finding...

If you are black or and didnt dress up dont go to this location!! Most of the employees are stereotype and racists. I go to this location to buy products several times because I leave in the area. However, except a couple of times I never found my experience pleasant. My experience today was the worst among all. I bought almost $100 worth products last Saturday and didn't like one of them. I know they have a seven days return policy and today is the six day. I found one lady at the counter and I told her I need to exchange and gave her my receipt. With out even looking at me right after I hand her, she said "We have a seven days policy so I can't exchange it." WHAT? You didnt even read it, you just want to say NO because some black people come and give you trouble and assumed that I am one of them. When she saw me mad at her, she said "they are some people who come here bla bla bla..." I don't care I'm one individual who is way different that what you think. If you are in service you need to see it case by case. She told me she has been in the service industry for long time and she is one of the owner. Really? You are the owner and your first answer is NO? You dont wan't even go extra to help customer? Of course not. Why should you care? I am not your type of target customer and you dont care if i came back to your store or no. But guess what? I can afford to buy the products and the money is the same color. Also if I drive a few miles there is another store with great customer service. I suggest you and your staffs to come out of your shells and think positive. EVERYONE IS...