Rock Candy Salon and Spa

We brought our daughter there for her very first hair cut and mani pedi. The actual cut was fine and so was the mani pedi. The vibe however was absolutely horrible. If you’re serving children you should at least pretend to be peppy and happy to be there. The host was not…“host like” The only thing that made the time fun was the other little girl there with her parents getting a mani pedi. Then we scheduled another appointment for an ear piercing and boy was that a mistake. They wrote the wrong date down so when we came in they blamed US for missing the appointment. My wife and I both put the appointment in our calendars. It wasn’t us. That being said, I know mistakes happen and that’s fine but what the huge issue is that they completely blamed us and didn’t act apologetic at all! A simple, «we’re sorry about the mix-​up lets see what we can do.» Nope it was «well you guys missed your appointment. So Claires it is. Claires actually did a wonderful job and were very sweet to our daughter. They were much friendlier than the employees at Rock Candy. Management needs to know about the attitude adjustment needed in this Salon. Again, YOU’RE SERVICING CHILDREN. Act like it!

We take our three year old here for haircuts and mommy and me manicures. They do a very nice job of catering to kids– her haircuts and manicures have all been very good experiences and we have been happy with the results. The prices are fair. I do wish that they had taller chairs for the manicures for the kids– my daughter has to stretch her arms up for her manicure.

I brought my nieces (ages 6 and 8) to Rock Candy Salon and Spa a couple of weeks ago for their first professional mani/​pedi. Bailey and Veronica were fantastic! They were great with the girls — very friendly and engaging. I had a really fun time as well!
The salon is adorable. The atmosphere is bright and cheerful. The pedicure chairs have adult-​size foot tubs and the cutest little tubs for tiny ones’ feet. There are a number of salon chairs for hair cuts and styles, and they also have a spot for some fun kid-​friendly makeup. They also sell some sweet little accessories — headbands and bows, clothes, hair products and even lip gloss. They also offer party packages — what a great venue for a little girl’s birthday!
The next time my nieces are visiting, we’ll be back here for sure. :)

My husband, son and I like the salon. They did a great job and fix my son hair. She was very patient with my son and very nice. Also my son wasn’t moving that much which made it easier as well. She asked my husband and I, if this is okay or do it shorter or trimmed it shorter before doing it. Overall the experience was great for my son. He literally didn’t want to leave the salon. The music was playing and he was dancing and running around. The only thing I would have to say the ladies at the cashier desk were on their cell phone too much. Do it when there are no customers around. That’s all.

Beyond terrible customer service. I left a voicemail to make a nail appointment for my daughter. They called me back and I made the appointment. Pretty simple. We walked in for the appointment and the woman working appeared to be solo, giving a haircut, and had no appointment written for us. Shaking her head saying she doesn’t have anything down but could try and squeeze us in later. Her tone was condescending and insincere. Meanwhile my 5 year old daughter who has waited all day for a reward she earned gets a shaking head and shrugging shoulders from someone working at a place that «caters to kids» and offers nothing. Her apology was empty. She didn’t offer to let us speak with a manager or do anything other than say she could try to work us in later using a tone and body language that indicated the opposite sentiment. I have heard mixed reviews from friends about this place so now I have my own and we will not be back. Yes mistakes happen but when you have no clue how to quickly recover and truly treat a customer, especially a child, my business goes elsewhere. My advice, skip Rock Candy and go to a real nail salon. They are on every corner and I’ve yet to have one not be incredibly sweet to my daughter when she earns the extremely rare reward of getting her nails done.

We’ve been there now 3 times! Veronica has been great & we love the way she cuts our sons hair. My wife & I are pleased with the staff & service. Thank you guys!

We went here 3 years ago for my daughter’s 5^th birthday she absolutely loved it. We haven’t been back because every time we want to get in they are busy (probably peek times) but we will definitely be back soon.

This was our first time here and I really just think that because we were the last appointment of the night maybe our girl was just tired and not into it, but I sorta wish she did a better job of masking it since it was my little one’s first haircut and I get that they probably do first haircuts everyday, but it was my first and only for that kid and I was kinda pumped about it.
My daughter doesn’t have a ton of hair and I don’t know what I was expecting, but the only thing they did was straighten out the back. Not their fault, but I guess I was slightly disappointed that I didn’t notice a difference from when we came to when we left. On the other hand, the little girl who was having her hair done next to us had an opposite experience. I was having fun watching that girl’s lady make cute comments and get excited with the little girl in the chair. I would give it another shot probably and just hope to have a better time the next time now I know to go in without big expectations. The space is adorable and I love all the little accessories and cute gifty kind of stuff!

Half price haircuts on Tuesday! It’s best to make an appointment. We always go to Miss Veronica and she is great with my daughter and gives a great cut.
They also have cute hair accessories available for purchase.
It always throws me off but parking on this stretch of Lincoln is free.

Yucky — went once — great /​second time made my son look like flowers in attic child /​cut by a woman who was way too née is to deal with children — stay away

Great service. Not sure why there are bad reviews. Risa was very patient with my 18 month niece. She took her time and played with her.
A bit expensive, but with the experience and the customer service.

I absolutely love this place! The environment is great and the staff is very friendly! Very clean and look very nice inside! I def would recommend this place! Especially mother and younger daughter bonding time. Being able to get a mani/​pedi together is awesome to build many memories! Overall love this place!

I agree the overall rating is too harsh on this place. I have taken my girls here many times and you are paying for service, which we have received. This is not Hair Cuttery or places like it where you are rushed in and out and they don’t care about you. We have only ever gotten hair done here, but my girls like that it’s something just for them. And aside from the Super Cuts style places I found the price to be competitive. We go a few times per year, not every six weeks or anything.

I really think the overall rating on this place is a little unfair. It was easy to get my daughter in for an appointment right before the holidays. She wasn’t even 10 months old yet, but she had an unruly mop that needed a trim before Christmas.
I didn’t spring for the first haircut package. It was a $ 6 up-​charge for a certificate and a picture. I did keep some of her hair and took pictures myself. They had the facilities to accommodate such a little baby and her haircut is adorable. It’s not easy to cut the hair of such a squirmy little baby even if she did remain calm.
After my visit, I wasn’t sure I would ever return. There was an 8 year old just in front of us getting full makeup, and they definitely asked to put glitter on my baby, to which I answered a very enthusiastic no as it is just not my style, but there’s a certain niche of women out there to whom that would appeal, and more power to them– there’s a salon that’s perfect for them.
That being said, I have been to other salons with my kiddo since this appointment. I have seen other salons absolutely butcher other kids’ hair (ahem…rhymes with Tickles). It hasn’t been a big deal for us because my daughter’s hair is long and we’ve only ever requested a trim since this first haircut at Rock Candy. Also on their side– there is more room for parents to stand nearby and you aren’t crammed into a corner.

I wanted to love this place, but I couldn’t. We followed our stylist, Bailey, here from another children’s salon. The haircut my six year old daughter received was fine, but the salon itself was awful. From the outside, the place looks clean and new. The inside is a little bit confusing. The reception desk is against one wall, while the waiting/​seating areas are opposite. We weren’t directed to wait anywhere, and felt awkward until our stylist led us to her station.
I paid extra to have the stylist wash my daughter’s hair at the sink. The hair washing sink area was dirty with hair balls around the floor. I was appalled when the towel she used to dry my daughter’s hair after washing it looked dirtier than the rags I use at home to clean my floors with. It was hand towel size, stained, and very ragged looking. It was in a basket with other dirty looking towels, and I wasn’t even sure if they were clean. The hair cutting stations were fine, except the floors looked really dirty. Regular sweeping and mopping needed here!
Again, the hair cut itself with Bailey was fine. However, the cleanliness of the salon will not have me coming back. For the prices they charge, I’d rather take my daughter to Hair Cuttery and then buy her a toy with the money we save for not coming here.

O.M.G. This is too bad because I really wanted to love this place. The women were all super helpful on the phone, and accommodated my daughter last minute for a haircut. Hence the 2 stars. The actual service there was AWFUL. ZERO STARS. This was legitimately the worst experience, stylist and haircut I have ever seen.
My daughter is 3, and the lady scooped her into the chair and sprayed her down with water, and started ripping (yes ripping) a comb through my daughter’s hair. She divided it into 3 sections: 2 sides and back. Cut each section for oh say 5 – 30 seconds and after two minutes declared her done. She didn’t even make sure the sides were the same length (they are not). I asked her to put a braid in my daughter’s hair, she took a few pieces of hair, twisted them, and pinned a bow in. After 7 total minutes in the salon, I was charged $ 20. I didn’t make a stink about it because I didn’t want my daughter to feel bad or worry about having uneven hair. :-/​
Last weekend, American Girl place charged me $ 15 to do a doll’s hair, and the stylists there were more professional, thorough, and even though it was ridiculous, I didn’t feel ripped off, not so after Rock Candy. There are loads of great kids hair places. I recommend steering clear of this one.

My shaggy son was in dire need of his second haircut. His first cut was done at snippets in northbrook court. It was fine. His cut was totally mangled but the stylist did her best considering what she was dealing with.
Today, I decided to pop into Rock Candy as we were passing by on our walk. We got there just as the salon opened and got right in. The place was clean and the staff was very friendly. I sat my son up on the chair and 5 minutes later he was done! No tears on my little fella with the sharp new haircut! The stylist was fantastic. She talked to my son, blew bubbles for him, and didn’t show a bit of tension or fear of a toddler haircut meltdown. They can sense that, ya know ;)
I got my card out to pay, I expected a $ 20 charge. Nope! It’s half price Tuesday! Yay! Not that I think $ 20 for a kid’s cut is out of line. I am by no means a «yuppie» as another Unilocaler described the potential clientele, I’m a single mom on a tight budget. I’d pay full price for a haircut at Rock Candy simply because it was so quick and painless plus its totally comparable to other kiddie salons aaaaaand I like supporting small businesses in my neighborhood. But hey, I’m certainly not going to pass up a half off haircut :)
Thanks a lot, Rock Candy. I’m looking forward to my son becoming a regular at your salon. Keep up the good work :)

This is an amazing concept, family bonding and proper hygiene introduction for children !
Love the mommy and me pedicure service, so cute! What a great place to celebrate a birthday party, they can customize any child’s dream party!
Sarah the owner is hands on and always there, love this place!

I have never seen such an explosion of services for little children in my life. Yay for rich yuppies who can shell out the dough for stuff like haircuts and manicures and facials for kids. I am a nanny so I’ve had the pleasure of visiting this place and I walk by it almost every day.
Here’s my experience: The mom called to schedule an appointment for her daughter, in my care while she’s at work, and the lady at the salon told her the place was very busy but she could squeeze her in at 4:45. Perfect. Mom would meet us there after work. We show up at 4:45. Where was everyone? I thought it was supposed to be busy. We were the only customers in the decent sized salon — they have at least 6 chairs and then there’s the «spa» area for mani-​pedis and other salon/​spa services. So that was kind of a joke. I will say the space is nice and open, but it just seems absurd to have all of that for little kids. Although they do offer adult services… maybe it would be nice for a mother-​daughter type deal, but you can go to any salon for the same experience.
The lady was nice and friendly and chatted with the little girl while she «cut» her hair. It was over so fast, they sprinkle a little fairy dust on her head and it cost $ 10. And that was the Tuesday special. So normally it would have cost $ 20??? You’ve got to be kidding me! For 3 minutes of work they definitely overcharge. The little girl asked me and her mom if her hair even got cut. Wow. So while everyone was nice (they better be for the prices!), I personally wouldn’t take my kid for an expensive haircut when you can go to the Haircuttery (or somewhere comparable) and pay a lot less and get the exact same result, minus the fairy dust.

I bought a Living Social coupon for Rock Candy because I am always on the lookout for a salon that can give my son a decent haircut. Also, it’s a neighborhood business, and I wanted to support that.
As already stated in the other two reviews, the space is beautiful. It’s not your typical kids’ salon with balloons and toys all over the place. It’s a grown-​up version of a kids’ hair salon. They do have monitors and will put on a video for your child to watch while getting their haircut. That’s always a bonus.
The girl who cut my son’s hair was very nice. He has long, stick-​straight hair, and I explained to her how I wanted it cut. She did what I think was her best, but it was really a bad cut. It was uneven all over; the front, the sides, and the back. We have had this problem in the past at other salons. His hair is so straight that any unevenness just jumps right out at you. I don’t expect perfection, and actually, have come to expect his haircuts to not be just right, but this was way beyond okay. I didn’t say anything when we left because his hair was still wet, and I wanted to wait and see what it looked like when it was dry. It was actually worse when it dried.
I took him back the next day and the same girl was there. I told her that it was very uneven and asked her to fix it. Even as she was fixing it, I had to ask her several times to straighten out certain parts. Again, she was very nice and accommodating, and I think she did the best she could. She was able to fix it to my satisfaction, but I will not go back.
I was hoping that along with the upscale look we would get an upscale haircut.