Olivia Todd Salon & Spa

If your looking for Melissa, she has moved to The Colour Bar.
770−628−0328 She will be happy to see you there.

I went to the Roswell Road location recently with a Groupon. The moved over the summer, apparently, and google has the wrong address. Going to the shop, I thought it was a very unconventional place for a salon. It’s old apartments turned into businesses. When I got in, my impression did not get much better but it’s not about the location, it’s about the service. I sat down in Melissa’s chair and kind of rambled off what I didn’t like about my hair and how I wanted it. She took those comments and offered suggestions and I told her to go with her expert opinion. She did a great cut and color and was very professional. We had good conversation and I walked out of there feeling great, exactly how you should when you leave a salon. I would definitely recommend Melissa and use her again!

I’m very displeased with the service here, first off I purchased a deal through loclly for a man/​pedi and mimosa. When I called to initially schedule appt, I was told to contact
Loclly because funds were an issue, so I went back to loclly they stated the issue had been resolved and to reach back out to merchant, so I did about two weeks later and finally an appt schedule, great! Not,
Received a call the day before my appt to reschedule because no one was in to do nails, ok issues come up but the day before you need to make sure someone is there to accommodate ppl, so u rescheduled no worries, now I receive a call the day of my appt, 45 mins before from Jessie’s she’s sick and doesn’t want to give anyone anything! Ok it’s 4pm and you didn’t notice you were sick all day, like thank goodness I wasn’t in my car already in route! I mean if you do a groupon, living social or loclly DEAL be the merchant to follow through with the discount, dnt short hand ppl because you know it’s a deal, but as the saying goes you get what you pay for!

Note: The Buckhead location moved two weeks ago. It is now located about 1 mile north of Chastain Park on Roswell Rd. In an apartment complex. It is disguised as a «commercial office park,» but once you drive past the front building, it is a maze of run down old apartment/​town home buildings. Some are filled with businesses, some are vacant, and some appear to still have residents (there were clothes hanging in windows, etc.). There were stray cats, it was very difficult to find (it’s building D, «unit» 303). BUT, the stylist did let me know that they are saving 50% on rent vs their old location further south on Roswell Rd., so good for them. Downside: nobody will EVER find the place without a Groupon (which is still printing the old address). So good luck, folks.
Okay, besides the ghettofabulous location, the salon itself leaves a lot to be desired. The downstairs has the reception desk & «spa» room for mani/​pedis. Don’t get too excited though. Then the upstairs has the «salon» in the front bedroom (yes, it’s totally an old apartment. sketch), and the back bedroom is rigged up with sinks to wash your hair. The sinks don’t have (any) hot water & they also don’t drain, but that’s no biggie, right? #detailsdetails
My stylist was Mark. He was out front smoking when I arrived, then came inside to greet me. He was the only one working, and I have to admit that having him lead me up the steps to a bedroom to get my hair cut was amongst the stupidest things I’ve done to save a buck on a haircut. We were the only people in the building for the first 30 minutes I was there. I texted my husband with a pin of where I was in case I got killed. No joke. The haircut itself didn’t turn out too terrible (you know, since having the back shorter in some chunks than others is sort of my thing!), but the overall experience was frightening & I am now going to my old stylist to get my haircut fixed. Also — a big thing that bothered me was the cleanliness of the combs/​brushes. Mark said that they only clean them periodically, because the chemicals cause the bristles to break down. Frankly, I would prefer broken down bristles and/​or they shell out a few dollars to buy new supplies periodically than the fact that they don’t keep their stuff clean. I asked if they’ve ever had lice spread (I know. I had lost my sense of political correctness at that point), and he gave me a 10 minute story about the lice he has seen at various salons in his career. Gross.
This salon apparently sold $ 80k worth of Groupons for mani/​pedis a few months ago and had to open another salon in Smyrna just to attempt to fulfill them. They are clearly just out to make money in a desperate fashion, which I can’t knock them for, but it doesn’t seem to be going smoothly. I called & made the appointment before I bought the Groupon to avoid the 3 month wait that other people have mentioned on here. I really cannot imagine why anyone would actually go here to pay the $ 65 full price for a hair cut when there are SO many other salons in the area that are less in price and MUCH better in atmosphere /​experience /​safety.
I love a great deal on a haircut as much as the next girl, but this was one bargain that was not worth the sketchiness factor!

I’m very pleased by the cut I received by Melissa. She knew exactly what length would look good on me and was very friendly. We had a great chat and I was able to get a lot of info about the keratin trratments they offer which I was interested in. This is my second time at Olivia Todd’s and I was happy with the final product both times. If I wasn’t moving soon I would probably be a regular customer here.

I went and saw Melissa today for a hair cut. She did exactly what I wanted and was extremely personable! I will definitely be back!

My Nov & Mar 2012 facials were both at Olivia Todd. There is never a wait & the estheticians are very friendly. Great spot for a basic facial.

Bought a deal on
for the Smyrna location. They had a last minute change and asked me to come to the Buckhead location or reschedule for a different day. Not a good start but all’s well that ends well.
Hope (normally the esthetician) did my main-​pedi and she was AWESOME! Great service and nice personality and I love my nails.
Have already booked facial for the hubby!

I bought a groupon «now» for a haircut + blowout here. First off, they said they were completely booked for the day. I was a little confused as to why they were selling a «now» deal given their completely booked schedule, but they said I could use redeem it any other day. So I recently rescheduled.
First off, the salon was running behind that day but the receptionist gave me a call to let me know they were running behind. Really appreciated that, and I ended up running some other errands and so I only had to wait 5 min upon arrival.
The salon is in a great location at the heart of n buckhead/​roswell rd area. Its charming and has a clean appearance too. The shampoo products smelled great, i love the way my hair smells since. The ambiance is quiet, no clanky bustle of the typical hair shop. They ve got the radio playing and the stylists seem to pretty much be independent contractors doing their own thing.
The trim was straighforward, and the blowout was satisfactory. Not like drybar where they give u pictures to choose from. She just blew it out with a brush nice and slowly; honestly i felt like i couldve done the same thing, i was hoping for some curls or crazy volume. I asked her to pin it up a few strands with bobby pins afterwards and I could tell she hadnt done that much –had to go looking for the pins and then wasnt quite sure what i meant.
Overall-​20 dollars for a good wash, trim and blowdry. You cant beat that deal! Unpretentious, courteous, quiet salon in the heart of buckhead. I totally respect that philosophy. I probably wont go back, but if youre looking for a straightforward service, you can get a good job there.

If I told you all the details of this visit, you wouldn’t believe me. Let’s just say the customer service was absolutely laughable.
Starting off, the «mimosa» my mom received was only champagne because «the boys» next door in the barber shop had drank all the orange juice that morning. On my last visit, I tipped Victoria but on this visit, all of a sudden, an 18% gratuity fee had been put in place. I didn’t appreciate this not being mentioned BEFORE getting there since they don’t have a debit/​credit card machine. She uses her phone– I’m not a fan of that.
Their ATM charges an arm and a leg, so after I’d already taken out a tip, I was unhappy with her announcing the new tip amount. She was so rude and condescending; if you had heard her tone while she was reading off the paperwork, some of you probably would have walked out. My mom’s pretty reserved, but when Victoria got up to get the «mimosa», my mom asked if she was so unfriendly last time I visited. That’s how bad she was coming off.
She became argumentative after I asked why she hadn’t told us about this charge beforehand, she began mentioning her personal life and how she needed the money, etc. She even made a claim that people were not appreciating her services, so now she had to charge more for the tip amount. She stated that the new receptionist could not work the phone systems, and that we could have seen the new charge taped on her booths… ?? I just found her arguing and trying to prove her point so extremely unprofessional– and she’s the shop manager? Wow.
Well, all in all, I had to stop her as she continued to yap about the new fee, and asked my mom if she was still comfortable getting the services. She said no. We left. I received a refund for this.
I tried to vouch for this place and give them an ok review last time, but after this? Hell nah.

Bought a coupon from Hal​fOffDe​pot​.Com. They said they were booked out three times when I called to get my wife an appointment. The coupon expired. What a disappointing experience. They should really honor their offers.

I had heard about the amazing stylist, Mark, and decided to give him a try. He impressed me from the moment he greeted me. He actually listened to my concerns and desires for my hair, and then made excellent suggestions. I have never had a better cut and color in my life! Mark King is a master stylist who can work magic! I will never go to anyone else. I highly recommend him, truly the greatest talent Atlanta has in hair.

I read all the negative reviews last night, and I went in *wanting* to write a good review. I’m a laid-​back spa-​goer, not picky, and don’t expect high-​end services at the prices I can get with daily deals (I used an Eversave voucher). I figured someone who just wanted the basics would probably be happy as a client. Well… you see my star rating. It didn’t go well at all.
I’ll start with the small number of compliments I can muster — the young man at the desk was very pleasant and courteous. Also, I had no trouble getting an appointment the day after I called (although I was looking for a weekday — I heard him over the phone say that they were currently scheduling Saturday mani/​pedis out to September!).
Okay, for the bad:
My mani/​pedi was scheduled for 10 am, when the salon opens. The nail staff wasn’t there yet. When they did show, they took a while to get set up. Apparently the regular person was at a doctor appt, so someone from the Smyrna location came in on short notice. She did a good job on the mani, but the nail room was so disorganized (and frankly, not that clean *ugh*) that she spent a fair amount of time refilling bottles and cleaning things and looking for basics like sanitizers and soap.
Nail services happen in a *very* small room, with 1 mani station and 1 pedi station. The person scheduled after me showed up late, but they started on her pedi anyway, so when I was done with my mani I had to wait 30 mins or so before they could start on my pedi. I was there for about 2.5 HOURS, and at least half of that time was spent waiting.
So, the lack of supplies and scheduling issues and small room where people constantly bang into each other was frustrating, but what really put this experience into the «unpleasant» column was the presence of a new nail tech (she said many times that it was only her third day) who spent every breath she had complaining about the spa and her schedule and how she wanted to be doing hair not nails, and talking crap about the manager. She was relentlessly unpleasant and miserable and I wish I had had the cojones to just ask her to leave the room when she wasn’t working on someone. Instead, I just kept my head down and tried not to draw her ire. Also, although she did not work on me, thank god, I watched as she botched someone’s manicure so badly that the woman had to finish clipping and filing her nails herself. This tech was really, really, unprofessional.
So… sorry, Salon Olivia Todd. I wanted to root for you, but I cannot tell a lie. I would never go back.

Just got my nails done at Olivia Todd’s and am it was surprisingly pleasant considering the horrible reviews. It was a very up and down event…
Our group of 3 arrived 5 minutes min. early of our 10 a.m. appointment which was made over 2 months ago using an online voucher (and this was the earliest they could fit us in).
The male receptionist was nice, offering us water as soon as we signed in. He then told us that only 1 of the nail techs were in, and that a temporary person would be here until then, but the temp was also running about 30 min. behind.
We said that was fine because we had cleared our morning schedule for some girl time and mimosas.
We all then managed to squeeze into a teeny tiny room for our mani/​pedis. The room was seriously small as a closet and yet was filled with a table for your mani, 2 stools for the techs, an armchair and a portable foot tub took up the entire room so whichever girl wasn’t getting a service was forced to stand and hover the mani station.
The polish options was decent, all OPI or Essie. The nail techs were ok, however none of them actually introduced themselves to us. My nail tech touched me as if I were made of glass, so there wasn’t much of the customary massage, however, my nails do look pretty nice and the polish looks awesome.
Now for another con: while the temp nail tech was doing a pedi, the esthetician comes barging in and starts hugging her and shouting loudly, Oh My God! I haven’t seen you in FOREVER!” Nevermind that the room was filled to over capacity already, or that she just barged into a middle of a conversation or the fact that she as an employee could have waited until the nail tech was finished. It was absolutely rude and unprofessional.
At this point, I decided we need our mimosas, which were pretty decent. I was glad that I was halfway through before the actual nail tech who was supposed to be there earlier rushed in and mumbled an I’m sorry! She then proceeded to tell my nail tech that the owner had requested her to go to the Smyrna location. Obviously that upset my nail tech and she started mumbling how the boss didn’t know what they were doing. Nice ladies… remember, this is a spa and I’m supposed to relax?
We were finally finished with our services and the techs left the room. Like, seriously left the room and didn’t return. We waited for 10 minutes even since we wanted to make sure that they received their tips. Finally, we just left the tip with the receptionist.
Long story short, would I come back? Probably not. Was the mani/​pedi worth it? Nope. The only reason I enjoyed my visit was because of my friends’ company.

Blech.
First of all, I bought an online deal to try this place. They over-​sold the deal, so I couldn’t get a weekend appointment for my mani/​pedi for almost THREE MONTHS (I made the appointment in March for a June service, absurd).
When I arrived, there was no one at the front desk. Someone finally came up, but she was very short with me, and I asked for the mimosa included with my service while I waited. That took 10 minutes and was a bad mimosa, too.
They have two nail techs shoved into a tiny room with a normal sitting chair (no pedicure chair with massage or anything) and a manicure station. They were running out of everything, so the manicure person and pedicure person kept having to borrow items from each other. In that cramped space, it was not easy, nor relaxing.
The techs themselves were nice and I came out with decent-​looking nails, but the whole experience felt cheap.
Also, there’s barely any parking.

Let’s just say RUDE! After reading reviews I called to confirm my appt (that I made back in march) and I wasn’t surprised when they said they couldn’t find my appointment. After a bunch of calls back and fourth to get me «rescheduled» they told me that they can only give me an appt in symrna. I told them its inconvenient and I have a flight that day so I can’t, and that they really need to make sure that they stop cancelling appointments as they are getting horrible reviews… At this point she had the nerve to tell me in such a rude tone, then why are u coming here, don’t come here,
To which I replied I have a voucher and If u refund me I’ll happily not come and she responded we will not refund you the money. So I asked if I could speak to the owner as she was being very rude, to which she says «this conversation is over and no you cannot speak to the owner»
Wow! I don’t think I have ever had a conversation like that before … The owner definitely needs to realize what kind of service he is providing and if he can’t change the staff and the quality of service then he needs to REFUND the people that feel like they should Be getting their money back.
I simply called to confirm my appointment, but when the nail tech came on the phone, she was RUDE to begin with!!!
Guys don’t buy any groupons etc for this place!!! They just want the money without providing service! I have to say if sooo many people are giving bad reviews that says a lot about the salon itself… the owner by the way, is never on site (from what the workers have informed me), so that pretty much tells you what kind of service the workers are probably providing. The owner really needs to pay attention and start coming on site and change the way the business is run…

The Olivia Todd at the Smyrna location was the worst place to get my nails done at! She didn’t file my nails to shape them correctly, she basically just file them straight across so I have sharp edges and did no difference when I told her. Also she kept painting outside my nails and having to constantly clean it up. Overall, I could have done a better job at home. It’s the worst nail salon ever-​I will not recommend this location for nail service.
*Not professional results at all!

The ladies here were nice enough, but… honestly, I wouldn’t come here again. I bought a Loclly voucher because I was part of a bridal party and I was hoping to book my appointment along with the rest of the girls. However, I was told rather abruptly that the whole day (a Sunday!) was booked, which I thought was rather odd. You will find out why a little later. So I made my appointment for the following Friday, at 2pm. Remember that.
Fast forward to the day before the appointment, and I get a call from the salon reminding me of my appointment on Friday at 1:30pm. Wait, what? Where did 1:30 come from? Confused, I told the caller that I thought my appointment was at 2pm. «Nope, it’s at 1:30,» I was told matter-​of-​factly. No ifs, ands or buts. I relented and told her, «Well OK, I guess it’s no big deal» and let it go. But I was rather miffed that my appointment was taken down incorrectly.
The day of the appointment, I finally make my way to the salon, right on time. Good thing I gave myself half an hour to get there from Midtown even though Google Maps said it was only 6.5 miles away. The salon was hard to find! It’s located in a house and the sign is easy to miss. It’s got a very narrow driveway, only wide enough for one car to go through at a time. So good luck if there is a car trying to leave and you’re trying to turn in.
I was greeted warmly at the front desk and was offered a drink, so I asked for water. Tyra did my mani and pedi. I was led to a very tiny room — it was about the size of my closet, no joke. It had just enough room for a small desk for a mani and then a chair for a pedi. THAT is why I was unable to secure an appointment on the Sunday that I had wanted, much less at the same time as the other girls. Only two people can get a mani/​pedi at a time! One at the mani station, one at the pedi station. Then you switch off. I realized when I got there that Olivia Todd is NOT a nail salon. It’s more of a beauty salon. From what I could see, they do hair, nails, makeup, facials, the whole gamut.
I got my manicure first. The salon uses only OPI and Essie, so that is good, I guess. Tyra was nice enough, but I have had better manicures. She cut my cuticles a little too much on some of my fingers, so it really stung when stuff was put on my nails afterwards. Some of my nails had bubbling as well. I really should have spoken up but I am a wuss. My pedicure looked a lot better. No massage chair, by the way. It was just a regular arm chair. That’s too bad, because that’s one of my favorite things about going to a nail salon. But, you have to keep in mind Olivia Todd is not a nail salon.
One day later and my thumb already had a chip :(Three days later and my index finger has a huge chip! That has never happened before. Next time, I will stick with nail salons that ONLY do nails.
P. S. I forgot to mention that the rest of the bridal party never even made it out to Olivia Todd. Apparently my friends received a call saying their appointment was cancelled since the nail tech had some sort of emergency. They didn’t bother rescheduling and went to another place instead, seeing as there was a time crunch.

First of all, don’t let the name fool you. Karen is the owner of this salon and she has infused the place with her salt-​of-​the-​earth personality. The location may be in Buckhead, but the salon is unpretentious and comfortable for anyone.
I went to Karen after researching Keratin treatments for my ridiculously frizzy, curly hair. When I found the salon, I called for an appointment and was told that they couldn’t get me in for that treatment for another month. I summoned my inner-​drama queen and told Charlotte all about my impending 20^th high school reunion and the importance of having a manageable mane. She put me on hold, came back in a sec and got me in days before the reunion.
The treatment itself is pretty amazing. If you’ve heard about it and shuddered at the price tag, I guess I would agree — yes, it’s a luxury. But DAMN, my hair is softer and more manageable than it ever has been. I’m saving my pennies now for another treatment (it lasts 3 – 6 months).
For those of you with big, curly hair that explodes into a frizzy fro in the Atlanta summer humidity, I’d say just do it. Find a way and just do it, you won’t regret it and you’ll love every minute chatting with Karen (who also has big curly hair — she gets us).

Olivia Todd is by far quite the place to go if your in need of anything from casual highlights to a complete up-​do for a special evening on the town. My husband and I each time that we came in were warmly welcomed into a comfortable home-​like setting and bright atmosphere. The service was superb and they were very prompt on their consolation with me and spent time actually talking to me and looking for what it was that I was needing for a special event coming up.
My husband was quite surprised to find that he was not actually bored while I was getting my hair done, my hair dresser had a very pleasant attitude and was very open to talking about just about anything, which made us feel very comfortable and even my husband had a great time in the two hours that it took to get my hair highlighted and styled, as we bounced from subject to subject as if we were old friends!
Not only is the service great, but the staff here really know what they are talking about and know their stuff when it comes to style and coloring. They leave a No-​Pressure comfortable feeling with their clients that they can count on through the visit.
I would highly recommend this place to my friends and understand through the conversations that we had during our visit that various different types of people come in to their seats for all sorts of various occasions which is really cool!
So, if you’re looking for a great look, great FUN, and great service, Olivia Todd is the place for you to get your do over, again and again!