Dermal Science International Aesthetics Academy Salon

Fabulous facial appointment with Audra – wow – 6 hours later I still feel relaxed!

I’m still going here pretty regularly for my peels, brow tint and facials. I’m still absolutely in love with this place! Sure it’s a bit of a hike for me, but it’s totally worth it! Every student here has seemed VERY on top of what they are doing, which I think is a real testament to how spectacular this school really is. It’s still my dream to go here some day. The school is very organized, and clean, and I always can tell the student has looked at my file before seeing me (bonus points!). I’ve been to many, many high end med spas over the years and can-​not stand when my technician forgets to ask me about my at home regimen. It can prove disastrous if you are on an aggressive at home regimen and then going in for a peel. But that never happens here. They always ask about my current regimen, and how long ago my last peel was. They always give me post procedure instruction. My interactions with the front desk personnel and the owner have always been a delight. Zero complaints. I only have love for this place.

The staff and ease of making appointments are great. Each aesthetician takes the time to explain the procedure and ensures you are comfortable.
I had a great experience with Sara who was very knowledgeable on the various procedures available and took time and care to ensure I would be getting the proper treatment.

I love this place!!! I always get great deals here on skincare services. When you are on their email list you get even better deals.

I came here for the first time today and had a facial. I found the facial pretty average. The student did a fair job but I felt they used very minimal products. The mask was very basic and I don’t see any difference in my skin after the facial. I will not recommend this place for facials for sure.

I’m so happy I discovered this place. For those of us who can’t afford the spa treatments we deserve this is a great option.
I came here for a back facial. It was sort of like getting a group massage with a bunch of strangers. The room is filled with tables without partitions. Each client works with a student, but there are several teachers overseeing things.
My technician checked in regularly with the instructor and did a wonderful job. It didn’t take long to get used to the lack of privacy. After all, everyone else was enjoying their treatment — not paying attention to me.
She did a few extractions, but everything else was very relaxing. I was also given a product suggestion and with the discount they were running it was a reasonable price.
I will definitely be coming back!

Great school with great teachers and students! I’m learning lots of valuable things and meeting amazing people. I can’t wait to get a job in the future and be apart of this wonderful industry :)

I was unhappy at first with a misunderstanding but these things happen they are nice people and it’s worth it to check them out

I had a great facial by a student who was finishing in a few weeks. Very professional and a great facial. The room is clean and pleasant.

I too found the customer service to be aloof. I went there to make a serious inquire about services and I felt like they really didn’t need my business. I have a little bit of psoriasis and I know that look I get from places when they just don’t want to have anything to do with you. Sorry but I’ll try someplace else.

I bought my coupon from Groupon for 3 facials and am so glad that I did! From the first phone call to schedule an appointment (and rescheduling a number of times) to my last appointment I had stellar treatment. Every person that I encountered throughout my experience were extremely kind and accommodating. I have had a number of facials in the past but was not near as pleased as I was with DSI. Joyce did all my facials and could not have done a better job. She took her time, was very friendly and did not seem to mind answering all of my questions during my appointments. I will definitely be going there again!

Got a facial from an online voucher deal. My sister and I went in to get the basic signature one-​hour facials together. Natalie did my facial. It was perfect.

I have been to this location many times in the past ten months. Place is nice and instructors are experienced professionals. Owners are very understanding and trying their best o accommodate clients. I bought a package for microdermabrasion but didn’t realize I needed something else to treat my acne deep down. The owner was kind enough to upgrade my package to a more expensive PCA peel package for no extra charge at all. Easy to make appts there and really enjoy my treatments. Looking forward to purchasing a laser hair removal package next;)

This review does not directly pertain to the quality of the microdermabrasion facial I received last week. Instead, it’s more of a reflection of the sheer horror I experienced from my interaction with the establishment and particularly (although I am not certain the person I spoke with on the phone was indeed) the owner.
I called in mid-​late May to schedule an appointment for my facial and was told by a gentleman I could practically choose whichever date since I was looking to book almost a month ahead. We had me down for mid-​late June. A couple of weeks later I received a call from a lady (possibly the receptionist) saying I had to rebook my appointment because there had «been a mistake.» At first not sure what’d happened, I was concerned I had relayed certain wrong information when I scheduled and they had to rebook me. As the conversation went on however, I realized it was them who had made a mistake and likely double booked me and another person in the same slot. I had not thought of the possibility initially because normally I would expect an apology from the place since they’d screwed up. Nonetheless, their utterly unapologetic and statement-​of-​fact fashion of communicating to me that I had to rebook because «we have to reschedule it; there was a mistake» totally threw me off.
This time around, apparently I had very few choices left and I picked a July 20^th afternoon slot. About 30 hours prior to my appointment I called to ask if I could possibly move my slot earlier in the day or to another date. I was bluntly told by the same rudely impatient person with whom I had rebooked my appointment (probably the owner) that it was absolutely impossible to change it because my coupon had «already expired» and they were giving me «another chance» since we had to rebook. Seriously? I had to move my appointment in the first place because they had screwed me over. I did not need «another chance» to get the service I was supposed to have gotten a month ago. The only reason my coupon expired was because they had made a mistake, and I had called to book two months before the expiration date to make sure I’d utilize it. The person was extremely condescending and patronizing on the phone, keeping saying «well we can’t accept last-​minute changes like this; your coupon’s expired and we’re giving you another chance.» In the fine print on the voucher it clearly stated 24-​hour notice in terms of cancelation or rescheduling, and that’s why I called more than 24 hours ahead of time to ask if I could reschedule. The disgustingly nasty attitude of the owner had utterly shocked me as this is probably one of the worst, if not the worst, customer service experiences I have ever had to withstand. To start off, I never received an apology after they made a mistake and only notified me weeks later. Moreover, she rudely cut me off when I was still calmly stating the fact that I had had to rebook because they’d made a mistake by interjecting «oh yeah and that’s why we’re giving you another chance.» Excuse me? No thank you, but I don’t need «another chance» when you should apologize to me for making a dumb scheduling error and give me more flexibility in picking for a second time a slot that would work for my busy schedule.
A relatively much minor issue: I had purchased a 60-​minute facial, and I was in the studio for less than 50 minutes (meaning the actual treatment was even less than that since getting ready took some time), although my esthetician was pleasant.
Bottom line: the simple fact that I never even got an apology from the institution after they’d double booked me should say a lot.
My sincere advice: don’t go here (beyond the cringe-​worthy horrendous customer service, why drive all the way there — especially if you don’t live in Reston and have to pay tolls to get there — when there are plenty of spas that offer similar services).
Unless of course you enjoy being treated with a condescending attitude that makes you wonder if these people even see you as a customer without whom the foundation of their business would sink.

I have been going to DSI for 7 or 8 months and couldn’t be happier with the services I have received and the people there. Shiva and Peter (the owners) couldn’t be better at what they do here. Besides operating the school part, they offer upscale spa services, too. So far I have only had student services, but all of the students have been completely qualified and very interested in performing the services in a top notch way… they are warm, welcoming and very competent… and they take their time so I have never felt rushed. The hours of operation are great, and I have always been able to get an appointment within a few days at most. I can’t say enough good things about DSI… my friends who did not buy the Groupon are so envious. I can honestly say… and they do too… that I do look much better than I did when I started going there. It is a perfect place to be pampered! Thank you Peter and Shiva!

My review does not pertain to the quality of service, but rather the disorganization and lack of professionalism of the front desk (similar to the review given By Melissa). I purchased one of those deals for a series of facial treatments. When I called to make the appointment, the person who answered the phone (I later found out it was the owner) was VERY rude. She told me the students were «completely booked until January». Well, the whole purpose of a business to do these kind of deals is to bring in business and with an attitude like that she’s just pushing business away. I scheduled my first appointment for 1:00 PM, or so I thought. I arrived at my appointment 15 minutes earlier just for the receptionist to tell me that my appointment was at 1:30. I thought it was quite weird considering I had written it down in my calendar and two other people came in and said they too had a 1:00 appointment. The only response the receptionist could give was, «well, that’s weird. I wonder what’s going on today». Shouldn’t you offer some sort of apology considering 3 customers walked in at the same time with what they thought was the right appointment time? Nevertheless, I asked the receptionist if I could make my next appointment since it had taken me so long to get my first one. She agreed and said we would do it once I finished my paper work. Once I was done with the consultation form, I brought the it back up to the front desk at which point the owner was at the desk. She asked me «Have you been helped?» «yes» I responded, «I’m just waiting to setup up my next appointment».
Her next comment absolutely shocked me. No business owner should ever treat their clients the way she did, especially when the business consists of training students. The owner Shiva said to me «You’re going to have to call! there is way to much stuff going on up here for people to make appointments. You’re just going to have to call!» first of all, there was NO ONE at the front desk. Second of all, Talk about RUDE!!! I was shocked. I immediately asked her for her title thinking she was just a staff member and she proudly emphasized her title as the owner. No wait, it gets better. The receptionist didn’t say ONE word! She just bowed her head and looked away. No apology nothing.
My point is that this business has a TRAIN RECK of a front desk. They lack consistency, professionalism, and more importantly customer service. If it wasn’t for me purchasing a series of treatments I’d never go back. However, now that I am forced to deal with this so-​called «business» I can only pray for the best.

I purchased a year long certificate for services to have laser hair removal in Nov 2011. Seemed like a great buy and the staff insisted the service would be available regularly. I’ve had one facial by a student which was great thus the star rating. My issue has been with the difficulty of scheduling services and the disorganized front office staff.
Unfortunately I called to be added to the waiting list for laser. I was told on 3 occasions when I called and came in person to sign up that I would be contacted 2 weeks before the next session. I called last week just to check in because I was on the waiting list and found out the first laser session in 4 months had passed, they had forgotten to call and I will «just have to wait until April or sometime around there.» Unsatisfactory. This no longer seems like a great buy and I’m frustrated that I still haven’t gotten the one service I wanted because the students seem to be very professional, well-​trained and accomodating.
I called again to ask about the next class’s waiting list and was told a waiting list would be started sometime and not to worry about calling again. Obviously, I’m skeptical.
If Reston is convenient and you just want a facial or waxing, feel free. I wouldn’t recommend for laser as those services are offered very infrequently (only when enough people register for the class and only offered in one weekend-​long session).

Great facial – can’t beat the price! Although my facial was supposed to be 40 minutes, my facialist took her time, and my appointment ended up being an hour. I really felt as if she did not rush our appointment, gave useful advice, and didn’t push useless products.
Tip– Take advantage of the specials/​deals they offer too.

So far so good. I got a Groupon for laser hair removal at Dermal Science, and I was happy with my first appointment. At a lot of places, you’ll have to wait weeks for an appointment once they sell a Groupon, but I was able to get a same-​day appointment here on a Saturday, and the location is convenient for me. Their hours are good; they’re open on Saturdays and have evening slots on weekdays. Naturally, I had to spend a few minutes filling out paperwork for my first appointment, but there was no additional wait after that.
The office is small but clean, and all the staff I encountered were very friendly, helpful, and professional, and they were pretty flexible about giving me the same coupon rate for additional services. All in all, my first laser hair removal experience was relatively quick and painless. I was in and out of the office in 45 minutes, including the consultation and treatment. For now, I highly recommend this place, but I’ll update once I’m farther along in my treatments and start to see results.

I would highly recommend this school to anyone looking for a solid education in esthetics and lasers.
The school has phenomenal instructors who are well educated with years of experience. They are encouraging and supportive while also making sure their students are focused and completing their work. I felt like every subject was clearly explained and all questions answered.
The equipment and machines are new and state of the art. Students able to gain plenty of hands on experience to help prepare for our futures in the industry.
I am proud to be a graduate of DSI and feel like I came to the school as a blossoming, hesitant Esthetician and left an educated, confident Master Esthetician ready to begin a fabulous career!

The place is chaotic, and the customer service a bit aloof, ranging from apathetic staff who will not acknowledge your presence, to sharp and abrasive. This is not the kind of interaction I want when I want I am in need of spa services
But you do get what you pay for, they are slightly less than boutique spas because they consider themselves a school but honestly, their prices aren’t that far off.
The facial I received was pretty amazing, and they answered my long list of questions and probably gave me the best advice on skincare and how to use products, without pressuring me to buy from them. I’ll definitely be back for facials.
The other services I wasn’t happy with. They SAY they did the complete area, but I know they didn’t. It is pretty evident when you get home and look in the mirror. The comparison between the treated areas versus the non treated area.
There are slight discomforts being that this place is a school, but I’m looking past it because of the Yipit deal I got. (Unlimited services for a year). I will definitely be coming back to take advantages of their facials and exploring other services. At the same time, I will make sure to be a very keen observer and vocal customer when it comes to the services I am getting.

I had a facial at DSI last week and it was phenomenal! Diane was extremely professional and very knowledgeable. I can’t wait for my next appointment in a couple of weeks!