Zoe Saldana Beauty Recap-Essence Hollywood Luncheon

I’ve mentioned to you guys before how much I love fellow Latina/Dominicana actress Zoe Saldana. The girl is absolutely amazing. This year alone she starred with friend to the blog Michelle Rodriguez in one of the biggest movies of all time Avatar. She is truly an inspiration. Yesterday, she was honored at the Essence 3rd Annual Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon as "One to Watch.” Did you see how stunning she looked? I sure did. Her amazing makeup artist Vera Steimberg gives us the exclusive deets on what she used on Zoe yesterday to attend the event.

On Zoe’s face, Vera mixed La Mer Liquid Foundation in Tan with Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage in 06









Vera said she wanted to concentrate more on the lips so she used Shu Uemura Drawing Lip pencil in Red  and Shu Uemura's Red Lipstick 





On the eyes she used a black eyeliner from Mac and the MAC eye shadows Tete A Tin  and MAC Saddle

To contour, she used more of the brown tones so it could give a softer look on her eyes.





She also used a little bit of Nars Orgasm.

And a finish powder from Jouer Peach Bouquet to give a fresh and natural look.





Vera, you did more than give her a fresh and natural look. You gave her a gorgeous look.





Thanks Vera,





Hugs,





DE

Dominican Salon Review # 5-Elia Beauty Salon

In 2006 Latina magazine voted Elia Beauty salon to be the best Dominican Salon in the United States . As a Dominicana, I was curious to go over there, and when I found out that my buddy lived a few blocks away, I made sure to make the trip. I’m happy to say that I did.
Interior: The salon itself is very pretty. They have these really beautiful chandeliers on top with burgundy walls. There are 5 hair-do stations

3 hair washing stations,

and 6 hair dryers stations.


Customer Service.

When I walked in, I was immediately greeted with a smile by one of the hairstylist who asked me what I wanted. I advised her I wanted a wash/set and she asked me to fill out a “Check in Sheet” The sheet asks basic questions like your name, reason for coming, how your hair/scalp is and how would you like your hair styled. I thought that was incredibly interesting. Then because I was a new customer, I was told I should fill out a customer questionnaire because they wanted to evaluate my hair. I liked that! The ladies then offered me some coffee and some poland spring water. How nice was that. I noticed that the salon clientele was a great mix of people, from Caucasians, African Americans and Asians. Upon looking at the walls, I notice that every single person styling hair in this salon had a license. I was pleased. Many Dominican salons do not have many licensed hairstylist working there. I then met Elia, who is the owner. This woman is so friendly to the customers. She seemed to know everyone’s name. She then evaluated my hair and even my hair products. It was then that I realized that she was incredibly knowledgeable about hair and the ingredients in the products.

Quality of products: I was in shock at how many really good and high-end products this salon offers. They had products like Frederick Fekkai, Phyto, Chi, Ojun, Biolage Luna, but they also do offer Dominican products.


Hair: My hair wash was very relaxing. The woman that washed my hair was thorough. She massaged my scalp, and I was in heaven. She then put my hair in curlers and gave me ear covers wrapped in tissue paper (for sanitary purposes). Love love love it! I showed them a picture of how I wanted my hair done and Rocio (the hairstylist) assured me she would do it exactly the way I wanted it. After drying for around 60 minutes, I was led to Rocio, who immediately removed the curlers and began lightly blow drying my hair, while curling my hair with her fingers and pins. She took her time with my hair, and then when she was done curling it with her fingers, she asked me to sit under the dryer for 5 more minutes. After I did that, she took the curls out, told me to wiggle my hair, and voila! It came out exactly like I wanted it. Full of body and with a nice wave to the front. I was super happy! I also observed another girl getting her hair done. Her hair was probably Texture 3b, and it really looked superb. She was from the Bronx , but comes to Elias to get her hair done.
Here’s my Hair


Pricing: The pricing is a little high here. I paid $30.00 for mine but I’ll be honest, I loved loved loved my hair and think it was totally worth it.

Cons: Without a doubt, this salon needs more hair wash stations. Three is not so great (what happens when it gets busy) and the price was a little more than what I’m used to in Dominican Salons.

After I got my hair done, I spoke to Elia and asked her a few questions. Many of my friend are non-relaxed beauties, and I wanted to make sure that this salon was fully equipped in dealing with them. She said that they dealt with all types of hair and had no problems with that.

On a scale from 1-5, this salon gets a solid 4.5. The customer service, the interior, and my hair were all fabulous!

Here's a plus! If you go to Elia’s and say you came from BeautyLogic, they will give you a free deep mask which retails for $15.00.

Let me know what you think!

Elia Hair Salon
850 Amsterdam Ave
New York , NY 10025
Between 101 and 102nd street
Take the 1 Train to 103rd street
212-316-3100

Dominican Salon Review # 4 Sister's Unisex in BK

Note: There are no pics of the interior of this salon because they wouldn’t allow me to take any. They didn’t even want me to take a pic of the front of the salon until I got the owner’s permission, but you know I took it anyway (it’s not that serious).

Anyway, I recently went to Sisters Unisex in Brooklyn. A few of my readers had e-mailed me about this spot so I went. Apparently there are four of them, two in Brooklyn and two in Manhattan. I went to one in BK (2 train). Let's Begin:



Interior: The salon is a pretty decent size but they sure do a lot for the space they have. There are over twenty-seven hair-drying stations in this salon and twelve hair-do areas. (I was in and out of this salon in an hour and a half.) There are four hair-wash areas as well. They have these annoying green signs all over the salon that have different warning to the customers like: Only children getting their hair done are allowed to be in the salon, or, we can’t do your hair if it’s dirty, or no cell phones allowed while washing your hair, or you have to pay before you deep condition. I feel like a salon should be welcoming, and those signs weren’t at all. The salon is pretty standard in decoration. Green leather hair drying chairs. Nothing overly pretty about it. Two flat screen tv’s in the front.

Products: I saw Wella & Chi products but I mostly saw Perfect for Perms, Olive Oil and Dominican Products. Not top-notch products but not ridiculously cheap either.

Customer service: I walked in on a Wednesday Morning. For a weekday and for an early morning, I was surprised at how many people were getting their hair done already. It was like 9:00am and there were eight or nine people there. I was immediately greeted by a lady with a smile who asked me what I wanted to get done. I advised her that I came for a wash/set and she led me directly to the back to get my hair washed. Thinking about that hair wash is getting me excited! That was one of the most soothing, and therapeutic hair washes I’ve ever had in my life. She was massaging my scalp directly on my itchy spots as if I had told her where they were. It was so relaxing and felt amazing. I was almost crying when she stopped.

I was then immediately put into a chair and a young lady began setting my hair with rollers. I notice no one was overly conversational but I think it’s because they didn’t know if I spoke Spanish or not (for some reason people never think I’m Dominican). Anyway, she gave me ear covers which was a major plus for me and put me under the dryer. As I was under there, I observed two girls getting their hair done and I’ll be honest, I was very impressed. One had around texture 4b hair, and I’d say the other had around 3a hair, and their hair came out very full, shiny, and volumous. I noticed that they don’t like to use the curling iron too much; they’ll use their fingers more. Anyway when I was done drying (it went by really fast) I walked up to the same lady that had done the other girls hair, and asked her to do my hair. I told her I wanted my hair with a little bit of volume, and she began blow-drying and curling sections of my hair with pins. Although my hair didn’t come out quite what I was expecting, it came out pretty cool. The same lady that did my hair had done the other two girls hair and their hair looked incredible. Oh, another good thing is this salon opens at 7:00 am and they take the last customer at 8:30pm (great for if you want to get your hair done before and after work.)


FYI: I cut 4 inches off of my hair last week.

Price: My price was $25.00 but if you hair is short they charge $15.00, if it’s shoulder length it’s $20 and if it’s long $25.00. If you want some highlights, it’s $65.

Anyway after I was done, I asked the lady in the front a few questions: I asked her if they were comfortable working with women who did not relax their hair, and she said they were very comfortable working with all types of hair and they do it all.
Cons:

This salon seems to nickel and dime you. If you want to leave with pincurls they charge $5.00 extra for short hair, $10.00 for medium hair and $15.00 or more for long hair. Also, they might want to revamp the interior a little. My hair didn't come out exaclty like I wanted it, but it came out ok. And those signs (ones i discuss in the interior section) are such a turn-off. grrrrrrrrr

We’ll give this spot a 3.5-4.

Sister’s Unisex Four locations in BK & MANHATTAN.

Dominican Salon Review #3 Reaction Salon

Last year I reviewed this salon’s Queens Location and thought it was fabulous. However, after returning another time and being a little disappointed with the service, I could no longer stand by my word, and removed my recommendation. Recently though, I have been staying in Long Island (boyfriend lives there), and one morning, I needed to find a place to get my hair done for two very important events. We were driving around searching for a salon when we passed by the Long Island Location of Reaction. I walked in and I must say this salon seriously exceeded all of my expectations.



Decorum: The interior of this salon is so pretty. When you first walk in, there’s a miniature waterfall on the wall. Here’s a pic:



The salon is decorated in a very chic and contemporary style. The mirrors are enormous with gorgeous orange frames and the chairs (orange as well) look so incredibly modern and stylish Here’s another pic



This size of this salon is enormous. It’s probably the biggest Dominican salon I’ve been to. It has 8 hair drying stations (pictured only 4)



5 hair do stations and 5 hair washing stations


Everything is meticulous in this salon. Nothing is out of order, and everything is in its place (I love that).

Customer Service: The customer service was indeed great. Everyone greeted me with a smile, and asked me how I was doing and what service I wanted. Also when I was getting my hair done, the stylist kept asking me if she was doing my hair the way I liked it. Three other women walked in while I was there, and they were treated with the same courtesy as I was. FYI: the owner advised me that they will soon be offering coffee and donuts on the weekends and wifi so you can log on to the internet while getting your hair done.

Quality of Products: Ok, when it comes to products this salon has the majority of salons beat. First of all, they are an Aveda Approved salon, which means that Aveda walked in the salon and deemed them good enough to carry their products. Although I bring my own products to wash my hair, all the washer stations had products by Aveda, Matrix, Bain de Terre, Joice and Alter Ego. I was pretty impressed. I also noticed all of the stylists had Aveda products on their work stations.
By default they will only use Aveda to style your tresses. However, if you want another brand, they also offer, Joico, Nixoderm, Matrix, Nexxus, Alter Ego, oh, and the owner claims to have every Dominican product that has ever been made for hair-that was incredibly interesting to me. Also, four of the salon’s hairstylist are Aveda trained in hair coloring.

Hair-My hair wash was really therapeutic. The lady was using her fingertips to do some serious magic on my scalp. I wanted to sit there forever. After she finished washing my hair, I advised her that I was in a rush, so she used these enormous rollers to set my hair. She put me under the dryer, but guess what, no ear covers (you know how I feel about no ear covers). Under the dryer, the intensity of the heat was really bothering my ears, but after thirty minutes they took me out and proceeded to style my hair. The stylist removed my rollers, and began using the blow dryer on a very low setting. I told her that I wanted a lot of body on my hair, so she began using the curling iron on sections of my hair, and then she would pin the curls up. Once she was done, she removed all the pins, and my hair looked like this. (I’ve already posted this pic before)

Also, after my good friend saw how my hair looked, she borrowed my Giovanni conditioner, and went to the Reaction in Long Island and here’s how her hair came out (I’ve posted this pic before too.)

On Tuesday, I had to get my hair done again and I went back there (I was in Long Island Here's how it looked:


Price: The pricing to me is great. Your hair can be as long as Rapunzel or as short as a new military cadet, and they'll still charge you $23.00. HOWEVER, IF YOU BRING THIS POST TO REACTION (BOTH THE LONG ISLAND LOCATION AND QUEENS LOCATION) YOU WILL GET A WASH/SET FOR $15.00 from June 21 to July 6.

CONS: NO EAR COVERS,and the salon needs more workers. I asked two girls who were getting their hair permed what their biggest complaint was and they said that although they love this salon and they only trust them to get their hair done,a few times they have had to wait an hour to be seen. However, in my own personal experience, I was seen immediately and the girls after me were seen immediately as well.

Rating: A solid 4.5 for the location in Long Island! Remember though, if you go the salon location in Long Island (one I highly recommend) or in Queens and you bring this post, you can get a wash/set for $15.00 from June 21st to July 6.

Reaction salon

Dominican Salon Review #2

Mirror Image Salon

I’d first read about this salon on my fellow beauty blogger 55 secret street’s page. Then one of my loyal readers Valerie, wrote in that she went there too, so I figured it was time for me to check it out. I'm so happy that I did.



Pros: This salon has over 13 dryer seats and 8 hair do chairs. You might be saying to yourself, "Who the heck cares, DE?" Well, you should care. This means that you will never have to wait long for a wash/set. I arrived at 9:30 on a Thursday morning. There were already six girls ahead of me, but I didn't have to wait long at all. Seriously, i was in and out of the salon in less than two hours.

Customer Sevice: I thought it was great. The beauticians smiled at me. They asked me if I had any special preferences for my hair and most importantly they asked me how I was doing. Many times you walk into these salons, and they look at you as if they have a personal vendetta against you and your family-not at Mirror Image. They greeted me in a very friendly manner, and everyone else that came in after me was greeted the same way.
- Products-They offered a lot of products. From Salerm, Alter-Ego, Mizani, Nexxus, Sebastian, Luzy Colors,Infusium, and a whole bunch of other stuff I haven’t heard of. They also offer some Brazilian treatment called Kera Hair that is supposed to do wonders for your locks. It supposedly takes three hours for them to work it through your tresses, and the service is around $80.00.
-The hair dryers are fantastic. Because my hair is long, I had those huge rollers, and I still had room under the dryer for my big head. And guess what, after she did my roller set, SHE GAVE ME EAR COVERS!! YEAHH! I was very happy about that.
-The Experience-When I sat down in Ramona’s chair, I showed her the pic of what I wanted done to my hair. She told me that when she was done with my hair-it would look even better than the picture. (I love that attitude!!) She began to blow dry my hair with a 3 inch round brush. Almost immediately after she finished blow drying one section, she would then curl it with her fingers. I liked that method because usually other salons put a curling iron to my hair even after they blow-dry (therefore adding more heat to my tresses and increasing damage) but not Ramona-she clearly knew what she was doing. She took her time working on my hair too which really made me feel as if she cared about it. After I was done, my hair looked incredible.
I observed two other young ladies with different hair textures than mine getting their hair done. These beauticians took their time making sure that their client's hair came out fabulous, and these 2 beauties left with such shiny, bouncy, and lustrous locks. (I asked them if i could take a pic of their hair but they said they were a little uncomfortable about appearing online, lol).
Decorum-This salon is pretty big. It has two levels. There are over 13 dryer chairs, and 8 hair-do stations-and a pedicure station (apparently they are looking for someone to do pedicures now). But there are only 2 washer stations (which will be my only con). There are three televisions as well. There was a waiting area with around 4 chairs, and a small table with flowers. They also have boards that show the different conditioners they offer and what the conditioners are good for.Here's a pic of one:

Price-The price was $30.00-again because my hair was long, but normal price is $18.00. Usually this would have been under my “cons” section, but I liked my hair so much that I didn’t mind.

Cons
My only con was that 2 hair washing stations is not enough if you have over 13 dryers. In the future they should add more.

After getting my hair done and paying, I advised them that I was reviewing the salon on my site and wanted to ask them questions. They were very receptive. I knew my readers would want to know if they worked on natural/non-relaxed hair. I spoke with a beautician named Suny, and her response was, “We work on all hair; natural hair, relaxed hair, curly, all hair. We are experts in it all.” I asked if they did weaves, and they responded that although they don’t put in the weaves, they know how to take care of a weave after it’s in.

All in all, out of a scale of 1-5, this salon gets a 4. I would highly recommend it. If you go, please let me know of your experience.
www.mirrorimagesalonnyc.com


Hugs,
DE

Have a great weekend hot mammas!