HELA Skincare- Soho — Local services in New York

I debated a bit before writing this, and wanted to wait overnight to see what my skin would feel like. The good - I love that it's a no-shoes environment, and I didn't mind the curtained off sections with talk from other clients, it actually felt kind of soothing to have that background noise personally. My skin overall feels great, like it does from honestly any professional facial. However, a few things that really rubbed me the wrong way. First, I felt like they were trying to upsell me a lot. They offered me the menu of items and given that I'm just visiting in NYC I didn't really want anything fancy. They kept asking me if I was sure and offered different options I said no, 2-3 times - after the final time it was palpable that they were disappointed and just took the menus and walked away. After the facial, after I had chatted at length with the aesthetician that rung me up that I was just visiting NYC and lived across the country, she tried to sell me packages for more than 1 facial. I really do not enjoy when places push like this and to me it speaks to their business model (vs letting the service speak for itself). After this, they really pushed me to Venmo them instead of use my credit card to avoid the sales tax - this is usually fine in itself but after everything else it felt weird (I don't mind Venmoing businesses but usually they are upfront that they only accept that or cash, for instance. I answered "card" to their question of "cash or card" and was met with "Are you sure? There's just so much tax on cards, would you prefer to Venmo?"). As for the facial itself, a minor thing is I would've liked some explanation or warning for what they were going to do, but perhaps that's on par with other places. I even speak Chinese so there wasn't a big language barrier - but I had to ask each time what was going on. Especially for the more unpleasant things like the zap disinfecting wand, it would've been nice to know about right beforehand, or even the benefits of whatever they were doing. My main reason I wanted to wait to review was that they used so much pressure for the extractions that my nose continued to hurt into the night, and this morning a painful red bump remains on the tip of my nose - looks and feels like angry cystic acne, which they told me was temporary and would go away. It honestly feels like when I have squeezed pores at home (which is why I went to get this professional service in the first place, is to avoid this). I appreciate that they tried to hard to extract, but I also expect of a professional place to know when there might be more damage than good. Ultimately, it's the price of the facial that drove me to write this - for less, I might be ok with some of this, but for a facial that is this expensive I expected much, much better. I do not know if I will be recommending this place to my friends. This after seeing all the stellar Tiktok reviews and Google reviews, although on further reading it looks like the Google reviews come from accounts with very few other reviews, and I'm sometimes wary of Tiktok influencers and their...

Although this review is a bit delayed due to my vacation, I felt it was important to share my experience at this spa—particularly with Ella—so others can avoid making the same mistake. I regularly get facials and know what to expect, but since it was my birthday, I decided to treat myself to something special. Unfortunately, it was a complete disappointment. I arrived around 5 PM for what was supposed to be a two-hour facial, but it barely lasted an hour and 15 minutes. The technician, Ella, didn’t explain anything she was doing, and worse, she kept leaving the room every few minutes instead of staying present throughout the treatment. The entire process felt rushed, impersonal, and careless. The products she used felt cheap and generic, there was zero customization for my skin type, and she applied everything so quickly that I barely felt like I was receiving an actual treatment. There was no proper cleansing, or exfoliation and extractions were half-hearted, and the mask was sloppily applied before she disappeared yet again. There was also no facial massage or effort to make the experience relaxing—it felt like she was just trying to get through it as fast as possible. To make matters worse, the front desk had told me I would receive a complimentary service for my birthday, but when I mentioned it to Ella, she dismissed it, rudely saying it didn’t matter because the front desk staff had already left. On top of that, I watched another customer receive a goodie bag in exchange for a positive review—clearly explaining all the glowing reviews online—yet I wasn’t offered the same, even though it was my birthday. The moment we finished, she immediately threw on her jacket and left, making it obvious she just wanted to go home. The actual facial was beyond underwhelming and absolutely not worth the price. I expected a high-end experience, but instead, I got a rushed, low-effort treatment that did nothing for my skin. My face didn’t feel particularly clean, hydrated, or refreshed afterward, and while I did break out (which could be due to my sensitive skin), I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if it was from improper cleansing or the low-quality products. Additionally, instead of private treatment rooms, the spa has one big space with beds and thin dividers, which does nothing to create a relaxing or high-end experience. I was hoping to treat myself to a relaxing, rejuvenating facial on my birthday, but instead, I left feeling frustrated, disappointed, and completely unimpressed. If you’re looking for quality service and an actual spa experience, do yourself a favor and go...

Over-hyped on social media. It is marketed as a Korean beauty center but all of the employees are Chinese and they cannot communicate in English or Korean. The facial itself was decent but you would expect that for the price you are paying for.

I visited this place with a partner for my birthday, and was looking forward to it for weeks. However, the whole experience was very disappointing.

Right upon entry, we were heavily analyzed on our skin with the estheticians repeatedly stating how bad of a state it was in. I have never been treated this way at the other facials in New York, which felt wrong for a service that should be making people feel comfortable in their skin. Then, they moved us to the "beds", which are merely separated by the curtains. The whole experience feels more medical than a luxury spa day. You will hear everyone chitchatting around you for the whole facial and the employee will keep mentioning about all the other services they can provide you for the next visit.

We were taken to the counter for payment afterwards, where they push you to pay in cash instead of card to avoid taxes and other complications. This was not notified to us beforehand. Then, they go ahead to upsell their services, pushing us to sign up for their 5 to 10 times facial packages. We said a firm "No" 4-5 times, but they did not stop until final payment has been made. They went as far as saying "You live in Brooklyn. This is just 30 minutes commute compared to our other customers who come from out of state." The whole atmosphere just feels very suffocating and I honestly just wanted to leave. We ended up paying 15% in Tips through Venmo before leaving and they also felt like that was not enough. I feel like the workers fail to understand that this is a luxury for some people who wants to feel relaxed for just one day in their hectic lives, and not every customer is ready to drop $400 every few weeks.

I hope the owner will train their employees better, because they are lacking so much in terms of professionalism and service. I hesitated so much before writing this review, but I do not want others like me falling for influencers on TikTok and Instagram. Yes, I would overlook a lot of these factors for a decently priced $100 facial in Chinatown, but for a $350 facial in the same neighborhood, you would expect a lot better.

It has been 6 days since the facial and I see no drastic changes in my skin too. I would say save the money and go to another...