I stalked Dawn when she left a salon in Lara and it took a while, but I eventually found her here…read more The atmosphere is so friendly, even if I bring kids in tow for a 2hr appt. I love the fact that Dawn doesn't do the same thing each and every time because that's what my card said I had done the last time. She takes the time to listen to what I want and goes about achieving it each and every time.

I have been looking for a good hair salon let alone a good hair dresser for over a year in Geelong…read more I found Jackie D's review and thought I would give Racoco's a try. When I rang to make an appointment it was VERY loud in the background and very difficult to hear the person on the other end. Needless to say, I finally got an appointment time/date. A text came through the day before to remind me of the appointment. Upon arrival, I realized why it was so loud when I rang. There were rows of stations (about 4 rows with I think 4 stations in each row) and about 4 people standing behind the counter. I was escorted to a station straight away. To confirm what Jackie D mentioned about the T.V.s at each station.... there are but they just had the same trashy music videos playing on every single one (the T.V.s are inside the mirror and about 5"X7" big. The music from the music video's was blaring in the background along with the hair dryers, people talking etc. it was a tad bit overwhelming!! My hair dresser was Jess, she wasn't overly friendly, chatty and didn't smile much; which was a surprise since most of the hair dressers were very chatty! She seemed to listen to what I wanted; low lights in the auburn/brunette range that blended well (my hair was a medium blonde with highlights). Either she wasn't in the mood to chat or she figured I was enjoying the magazine enough to not really engage in conversation; which over all was okay with me. The trouble of starting out with new hair dressers always is realizing my hair is very fine and takes on color very quickly. So she had to rinse out 1/3 of my foils by the time she was finished my head, then another 1/4 rinsed out and finally after about 15 minutes rinsed out all the foils. By this time Jess had another client so I Hayley finished rinsing my hair and applied the toner. Hayley did an AMAZING job with the head massage!! Oh my, it was one of those ones that I would just go back for the head massage!!! Plus the rinse stations had massaging chairs and the ability to put your feet up. Well when I got back to the station to finally look in the mirror after all the color had been rinsed out.... I realized there was ALOT of blonde!! I guess the communication was not as good as I had thought. So even though it looked good.... it pretty much was a freshened up version of what I already had.... which I had wanted mostly auburn lowlights with just a few blonde nicely mixed in. Hayley asked what I wanted to do with my hair i.e. body, flat etc. I said body since normally my hair is quite flat. She took probably a good 20-25 minutes blow drying my hair to get some body! It hurt a lot because of the pulling, but in the end it was okay. I found it interesting through out the time Jess and Hayley were attending to me, there were people floating around constantly asking how they were or how other stylists were doing. They would bring what ever it was they needed or set up stations how every the hair dresser requested. It was kind of like the gopher runs.... but very efficient and seemed very team orientated! Also one of the 'gophers' did a meter run for me.... which was very nice! Also the 'gophers' would go around and ask if anyone wanted to order food; the placemats are each station had menus for alcohol, coffee, simple foods etc. I did not take advantage of the food, but I saw a few yummy looking dishes go out and coffees. Jess came back shortly after Hayley had finished blow drying. I told Jess that I had wanted a bit more low lights than it was... she said she would write down what we did that day and add more low lights next time. Which was a nice answer, I am not sure if she realized it until that second that communication wasn't great initially or I am not sure. But it was okay. She did a nice job on the trim. I was very happy to have a smaller bill than I had anticipated!! As Jackie D said it was much less than many Melbourne Salons for similar service. I will be back, which is another pleasant surprise as since I have been in Geelong for 15 months I have never returned to the same Salon twice. I would recommend for everyone to experience Rococo's at least once, as it is definitely a different experience than other Salon's I have been around Geelong (which I have tried 6 in 15 months).

A good hairdresser is one of the most important things to a twentysomething gal, and I spent YEARS…read morehunting down mine. From Geelong to Melbourne and back again I finally found Ally and haven't turned back. These ladies are all over current and future trends like a RASH. I was talked in to going 'ombre' (only ladies will understand the term) and 6 months later it was splashed on everyone's head. So no matter what style you want - classic or something different - they have it sorted. The salon itself is decadent - massage chairs, TV's in every stall and a wine/beer list to make the local bars hang their heads in shame! Who doesn't like a sneaky drink while they're getting pampered? They can also supply you with lunch or just a snack if you are going to spending a few hours there... Despite all this, Rococo remain VERY affordable and literally hundreds of dollars cheaper than an equivalent salon in Melbourne.

I recently went to Glos Nailbar to have my toenails painted and had a terrible experience. Upon…read morefinding a white mark on my friend's toenail the nail technician asked where we had last had our nails done. My friend explained that we had had them done in Melbourne at Tips and Toes. At this the nail technician leant in, hushed her voice and said 'it wasn't one of those Asian places was it?'. She was obviously inferring that 'those Asian places' are bad which is not only incorrect but stinks of racism. I asked her 'what difference does it make?' trying to challenge her at which she just glared at me dismissively. Firstly, it is ignorant to describe a place that may be somewhat or entirely staffed with people from Asian descent as one of 'those Asian places'. There are many different countries in what we know as 'Asia' and the diversity between different cultures and countries is huge. Further, have always had good experiences at places of staffed by Filipino and Thai people. Yet obviously one Thai person may be a great nail technician and the next not so good. The same goes for Australian people. The point being that you can't judge people on their race. The technician obviously thought nailbars staffed by people who are of Asian descent inferior. I think that this nail technician's negative idea of 'those Asian places' wasn't so much backed by evidence of bad service but by racism towards people who are not white. Do not bother with Glos Nailbar if you want to have a relaxing experience, do not bother if you are person of colour, do not bother if you want a racism free pedicure! Unfortunately White Australia lives on in Glos Nailbar, Geelong West.