AVA Pro Studios

I have been meaning to leave a review for some time but just getting around to it after my wedding. I had a great experience at AVA Pro. I had two different trial runs prior to AVA Pro that were terribly disappointing. One of my friends referred me to AVA Pro and I was so relieved to finally find people who understood exactly what I was looking for on my wedding day. Both my bridal portraits and wedding day photos turned out beautifully.

AVA Pro Studios is a place where people can rent rooms to provide various beauty needs. I went to get my hair done by Hair by Kaci M in room #3. I wanted ombré hair leaving my black hair at the roots and leading to a grey ash tone. I also wanted an A-​line cut. Even though I met Kaci at her hair school and she’s a recent graduate, I was motivated that she said she could cut and color and she boasts a lot of confidence. I texted her 4 pictures and told her what I liked about each one. When I came in, she told me it would take 2 processes. She quoted me $ 250 for the color and $ 45 for the cut. She suggested an additional conditioning for $ 15. After the first process, my ends reached a level 10 (my ends had been processed back in January). The rest of my hair was an orangy brown. She processed again. I couldn’t tell a difference so I asked Kaci if it was light enough. She said I was good. She put toner in my hair for a few minutes, washed it, dried it, and then added a platinum color to my hair. It was left in for about 30 minutes. In the end, it was grey at the bottom and light brown at the top.
Disappointed with the color, I tried to talk to her about what we can do. Instead of recognizing problems with the process, she blamed my hair. She told me that the hair does what it wants to do, this has not happened to her before, etc. I just knew I couldn’t leave with the current state of my hair so I asked her what my options were. Before making decisions, she wanted to finish because she said hair looks different wet and dry. So, she cut my hair (for less than 5 minutes) and dried it. It didn’t look better. In near tears, I was at a loss for words. She said I could change to a caramel color or go through another process. Another process meant another $ 60. I couldn’t believe she wanted to charge me more than she already quoted. I brought up how much she had mentioned it would be to color my hair when I first met her. She said that’s how much she would charge before she finished school. Now that she’s graduated, she charges more. Are you even allowed to have real clients before finishing school or having a license? This should have been a red flag for me but I was motivated by her confidence and back story.
I knew I didn’t want caramel and another process didn’t guarantee my hair would get lighter. As she was getting frustrated with my delay in decision-​making, she chose to process it again. This time, she kept me under the heat lamp for 50 minutes, checking every once in awhile to see what my hair was doing. Then, she rinsed my hair and put a stronger toner solution in my hair. My scalp and eyes were burning. I wanted to say something but, at this point, I felt helpless. I just wanted to call out to the people at the studio to save me. She washed it, dried it, and applied the hair color again. I think she may have used double amount this time. She kept me facing away from the mirror so I couldn’t really see what was going on. I saw her set up her curling iron which I told her it wasn’t necessary but she wanted to do it for an Instagram picture. She rinsed, dried, and curled my hair. Now I could see it and still was not what I wanted. My roots were now dark brown, the middle was a light brown, and my ends were grey. In certain light, the middle has a green tone. I asked about the cut and she said she cut my hair. Maybe I’m wrong but an a-​line cut requires more than 5 minutes and a whole lot of precision.
After she took a picture of my hair, I tried to talk to her. But there was no use. She got technical with a list of all the work she did to my hair. No matter how much work she did, she messed up. That’s just the end of the story.
Before I left, she told me her name is on my hair, she wants me to be happy, she’s never had an unhappy client, she said (with no sincerity) that I could come back in a few weeks, and that I had her number. She put the picture she took of my hair on Instagram. She left a comment calling me the client from hell and wrote never again (she removed the comment within a day). Another red flag– don’t rely on Instagram to judge the quality of a colorist’s work. Instagram is known to make the worst picture look amazing with its filters. How does the green foliage used in many of her pictures turn to different shades of green?

I am writing a long overdue review on my favorite makeup product — Avasiare Cosmetics (AVA Pro)! I have been using them for about 6 years now. Before finding Avasiare, foundations were hit or miss for me. Many were pink undertones and just didn’t match my skin tone, and they also didn’t transform for professional uses, such as stage, video or photo shoots. Avasiare changed all that for me. I found a foundation shade that works for my skin shade during the summer when I’m a little darker, winter when I’m a little lighter, as well as an in-​between seasons shade. The foundation also can be applied light enough for a great day coverage, and a little heavier for night time, and a professional look for stage, video or photo shoots, which is what I need on a regular basis due to my profession as a singer and entertainer. Also the eyeshadows, lip colors, blush, and bronzers are all fabulous. I have used a lot of lashes over the years for photo shoots, etc. ranging from $ 40 to store-​bought and I tell you, my favorite is by far Avasiare’s. If you apply and remove the lashes the proper way I’ve found they actually can last up to 5 or 6 additional applications. I also use their mascara, liquid eyeliner for my brows, and all the makeup application brushes. A couple of my favorite products by Avasiare is their Green Tea Serum, the Brightening Dust in «White Gold», and for a great red lip their High Impact Lipstick in «Pomegranate». Bonnie and Tonya of Avaisare are very professional and personable and know what they’re doing! They eagerly await to help you find the best colors for your skin, and products that will help you look your best!