I went to Aura for the first time a few months ago. My stylist was Jina. She was friendly and styled my hair well (I'm natural and got a silk press).
Although she did an excellent job with the style, I was only moderately satisfied with my overall experience.
The pros are it's very close to where I live, the salon itself has a nice interior where I was greeted by a friendly receptionist and offered water. I think she knew I'd be waiting for a while lol (see below). And overall I did like my style at the end. But there were also too many cons for me to ignore.
The cons were: 1) My wait time. Jina was dragging a bit for some reason (i.e. before my service, leaving me at the shampoo bowl for way too long etc.). 2) She didn't seem to care when I asked her questions about hair care. Overall, she was friendly and we talked about other things but when I asked her advice on how to best moisturize my dry hair she pretty much seemed like she could care less and didn't give me much to work with. So that was weird. 3) I did experience heat damage on the front of my hair, meaning my curl pattern is nearly gone. This has ONLY happened to me when "pros" do my hair, never when I've flat ironed it myself (which I have been doing for years but sometimes like a break, hence going to a salon). I think they see kinky hair and go ham not realizing some of my strands are fine and hair that isn't properly moisturized can't take as much heat/passes. She did get my hair super straight and it lasted for two weeks but dealing with the aftermath wasn't worth it. And finally, and what bothered me the most was 4) False advertising. The service on the website said $45 ("blow out and smooth"). But at the end when I went to pay she charged me nearly double!
I asked her why it was $80 instead of the $45 it said on the site she said "because your hair is 'very' natural...next time it will be less".
Basically, she used my kinky hair as an excuse to overcharge me. My hair is not long (about 5-6 inches) and not very thick (medium density) just kinky. So although I knew it was bs I was caught up in the moment and not only paid her what she asked but tipped her $20. Yes you read that right.
I'm naturally a good tipper and she did get my hair very smooth and we had a good rapport. But when I got in the car I beat myself up a bit for paying $100 including tip for a service that was advertised as $45. I should have walked out paying $55-60 at most including tip. She added her tip and then some by quoting me $80 AFTER my service. But hey that generous tip after being overcharged is on me.
And after waiting so long I was excited to be leaving too so I had a temporary lapse of judgement Lol
Overall, I think Jina is a good stylist and has a pleasant personality but she took too long for a simple service and definitely overcharged me. Of course, I won't blame her for still tipping her well, that was completely on me. I think even she was shocked lol.
For the wait, damage and overcharge (without warning) I should give 1 stars (or 1.5 if I could) but my experience did have some pros too, so I'll give credit where it's due.
I just want stylists to be more honest upfront about prices and honor their customers' time AND the health of the hair (not just the style). read more