Illusions

I love Illusions. Kellie De La Vega cuts and colors my hair and does a fantastic job. I have been going there for years and it is like a family to me. Everyone there is friendly and overall, I enjoy going there.

I have been going to Illusions for about 4 or 5 months and would like to share a couple of things. First, my hairdresser Kellie is absolutely FABULOUS! Her rates are incredibly fair considering what a pain in the ass my hair is and how picky and opinionated I am. I am not an easy person to please (ask my husband –Ugg!) Secondly, incredible facials, quick and easy nails, deep wonderful massages — all in the same place. Plenty of easy parking which is never a hassle.
All I can tell you is that I walk in looking like a truck hit me and come out looking like royalty. I have lived in MB for a few years and found that there are very few places that treat you right, charge an incredibly fair price and make you feel comfortable.
Guess what — this is that place. 5 Stars!
See you Saturday ladies!
Emily W.

So pleased with the way I was treated and how the hair turned out. Rodney looked at my hair and knew exactly what to do. He made my old, tired, box colored hair look fresh and vibrant. He knows what he is doing! Thank you Rodney!

This is the best hair salon I have been to and I am very picky. My stylist was professional, on time, incredibly friendly and did exactly what I wanted her to do. Prices are very reasonable and the best part of the experience was getting a massage after my hair cut. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this place and highly recommend it to anyone who is very particular about their hair.

Rodney Rose is a genius. I have been going to him for over 20 years and feel lucky to have had him for all of this time. He is a really nice person, an excellent hair stylist, and has a true natural feel for his craft.
Hurray for Rodney!
–Lee Goslin

Ruth is thee best manicurist in the South Bay! If you haven’t had her amazing mani & pedi you must try her! Her gels are Fabulous! They last a long time!!! Ruth is an artist at her craft! Maria the manager has a friendly disposition and is simply a sweetheart! These girls truly make you feel comfortable! Great gals!

Love this salon. And the staff is incredible:)))

Bought a facial and massage for 2 through groupons.
Was dissapointed in the place. It’s in a really old building. The spa section was very unappealing. Extremly small rooms, almost clausterpbobic. Poorly decorated. Not a good atmosphere for a spa. The treatments were good but I’ll never go again or recommend this place to anyone.

This place is great. Have never been tempted by the nail services, but Cheong is an amazing hair stylist and colorist, and I’ve gone to him for years here. Location is a little tricky, just plan on leaving early the first time so you can find it. Everyone in here has been lovely with me, but I have had to reschedule for being late. They get busy! But everyone is very talented.

I bought 2 livingsocial deals to have a relaxing mom and me time. I read the Unilocal reviews before I came so I knew I was coming to a no-​frills type of place.
My mom and I really liked the massage. The masseuse worked out all the knots in my shoulder and upper back. I was fully relaxed and felt great leaving the massage. I would recommend the masseuse. I believe her name was Dana.
Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the facial. I felt the esthetician was a bit unprofessional and I could tell she would rather be doing something else. She was definitely hurrying through the facial.

My sister got me a livingsocial voucher for a massage + facial and like most voucher holders, i called a week before it expired and had to sweet talk for a reschedule… they are full during saturdays and closed on sundays and mondays. they were quick to accomodate me — after i told them i was 12mi away and worked 9−6/M-F — they scheduled me on a Saturday 10 days after voucher expiration.
OVERVIEW: i’ve had quite a few massages in different parts of the globe and my experience at Illusions was probably one of the top 5, mainly because the ambiance, music, scent.
Just for a moment, once you go past the front room of hair dryers, mani-​pedi rooms, you find a quaint little changing room where they supply you with a fuzzy little robe and towels, in case you need a shower (in case you come after work).
Then you cross over to their quiet room, where they have a lovely faux fireplace table (heater?) and two lounge chairs with pillows, magazines and trader joe’s tea. mmm. good.
Dana comes and lets me go into another room with the massage table, and it smells like my favorite smells in the world: lemon grass, lavender, bergamot, something woodsy. incredible. The music transports you somewhere else.
i’ve had swedish and shiatsus and combos with stretching… sometimes i feel like my back always needed more work… but Dana is quite intuitive. She seemed to know how stressed how i am, and put more time in massaging my back and neck.
A wee bit after my facial, I fell asleep. I left the salon feeling great, my back no longer ached, my face felt soft and tight, and i smelled like my favorite smells ;)
It was the start of a very good day ;)
***
I think the massage + facial package may be too pricey for me to do too often, but you DO get your money’s worth. Come here if you want to treat yourself. Ask for Dana ;)

I was another Groupon customer. I started calling about a week and a half before the expiration date, and I couldn’t get in at a time that worked for me, and they extended the deadline a couple of times and honored my coupon.
It IS an odd place to get to, and I never noticed how crazy the numbering is on Sepulveda/​PCH — I just rarely go to MB, I guess.
So I was late. 8 min? 12 min? and the receptionist, who was always pleasant, told me I had to reschedule. Not exactly sure how late I was, but probably late enough. By the time we were done discussing it, it was 15 min after my appointment time. She gave me an early appointment the next day, and at least I knew exactly where I was going! I live about 20 minutes away, not an hour like some people who posted here. I wouldn’t buy a groupon that was too far away unless it was something really unusual!
I had a wonderful time hanging out with Ruth, we had a lot to chat about. I like her a lot. But there wasn’t much cuticle work done, none of those nice spa touches like a hand massage or deep moisturizing. Ruth helped me choose a great color using two different shades of shellac, and I LOVE how tough and long wearing it is! I’m hard on my nail polish and haven’t been able to damage this at all.
The «express pedi» was a little soak, a bit of trim/​file, and some OPI polish — a really cute color. No big deal.
So I’m totally sold on shellac, and think spending an hour + with Ruth would be fine anytime. I’m glad Groupon got me to take the time and $$ to give it a try.

My friend and I bought a deal on Groupon, so we decided to come here before my trip to Hawaii.
Unlike the other Unilocalers, we made appointments easily. However, we had to wait at least 20 minutes after our appointment time to actually start the manicure. There was also only one manicurist so once I was done, then it was my friend’s turn. Our manicurist was nice, but a bit quirky. She did just an okay job on the Shellac mani, but did a sloppy job on the pedi. I think I could have done a better job on the mani if I just spent more time on it.
This was my first time in a nail salon and it wasn’t the best experience. I don’t plan on coming back and frankly, I don’t want to have others do my nails!

This is a perfect example of a business not prepared to execute a Groupon properly. Purchased their $ 37 Groupon as well for the manicure/​pedicure. Every few weeks I could call trying to schedule a Saturday or Evening appointment. First of all the receptionist’s definition of evening is 3:30pm. The only times available in the next month were 4 times mid-​day. She said they had over 400 purchases of the offer, why then didn’t you cap it, have additional staff on hand, or open Sunday for a few weeks. She then suggested I just use the Groupon towards a full price service. Way to build up negative equity for yourself Illusion’s, I’ll make sure I never go to your salon now.

I really trully hate writing bad reviews… but service here was so bad that I must this time. This is my first below 2 stars review on Unilocal and I’ve written over 50…
I’ve purchased a Groupon for $ 37 which was advertised as a manicure + Shellac nail polish + «express» pedicure. Here is Groupon description: «During the approximately 30-​minute spa manicure, dulling digits are revamped with help from CND Shellac polish – a gel-​like polish that dries effortlessly and keeps nails beautiful and chalkboards in a state of constant fear longer than traditional polish. After tidily trimming cuticles and sloughing off dead skin cells to prevent them from turning into undead skin cells, the Illusions technician prepares each plate for its veneer with a thorough cleansing and shaping… A 10– to 15-​minute express pedicure quickly cleans up toes with a choice of regular nail polish.»
What I got is summarized in my complaint filed with Groupon:
«The worst manicure/​pedicure experience I’ve ever had and not worth the advertized value. First of all, it’s impossible to schedule an appointment and when I did, they almost cancelled on me the day before my appointment. When I walked into salon, I was seated with the salon manager for a Shellac manicure, at which point I was informed that the actual manicure wasn’t included in the Groupon and only polish change was included. I told her that this wasn’t true; Groupon description specifically mentioned full manicure + Shellac polish and express pedicure. At which point she seemed to be bothered by me challlenging her statement, went to the back and brought out tools for a manicure, but essantially ended up washing my hands. Express pedicure was a polish change as well, and a sloppy one at that. After she was done, she left immediately without checking on me and after waiting 15 min for my polish to dry, it still wasn’t dry and I had to scramble to find someone in the salon, because pedicure room is in the back, behind the hair salon. I get my nails done twice a week and I can honestly say I’ve never been so disappointed. And to advertize that these services were worth $ 75 is simply outrageous. I go to a nicer spa in Manhattan Beach and for $ 60 I get full manicure/​pedicure with gel nail polish. I felt this was a total rip off. I am not sure what procedure Groupon employs to verify merchants, but this merchant should never be featured again! For $ 37 I could have gotten the services I was provided with much better quality and at a full price. «
1 star goes to the reception person, who tried to offer me to come back and redo my nails, but I was so dissapointed with service recieved that I will never be back there, not even for free. I went ahead and got my nails done again at a different salon a week later. So much for saving money!
And the sad part of this story… my boyfriend proposed to me the next day and I had to show off my ring and hands to friends and family. Would have been nice to have perfectly manicured fingers… Oh well, I didn’t let that ruin my happy day!

Don’t bother buying their $ 20 for $ 40 Spa Manicure on Groupon Now.
You’ll only be turned away and told to come back another day (with kind of a crappy attitude, too!).
I’m sorry… it’s called Groupon NOW, and not Groupon «waste an hour driving here for nothing».
Come back tomorrow? How about never? :)

So, location is a bit weird — I tried 3 door until I found the right one. The front is a hair salon, then a «spa» in the back. Not the greatest setup that the bathroom is outside of the «spa» area, so you walk into the salon in bathrobe.
Got a facial and a massage — both were good.

I sure do miss this place. Cheong, my stylist is Awesome!!! To bad I no longer live in the area!!!
If you’re looking for someone who does great coloring, then Chong is the person to go to! As well as his haircuts… I have such thick, wild hair that he knows how to get it under control!!!
Well, one day, when I’m back, you bet I’ll be back with Cheong!!!

First of all let me start off this review by saying it had been a year and a half since my last haircut. Why? Because I finally have grown it out very long but was PARANOID about going to a hairdresser who would mess it up. I called around and read good reviews but was still super nervous. I went to Rodney a couple of years ago to get a hair color and loved it. But I was being lazy and was trying to find something close in LB.
Well, I ended up making an appointment with Rodney Rose and decided I would trust my long locks with him. OMG! He is INCREDIBLE! I love love love my hair. He actually listened when I asked to cut only two inches off. He also actually listened when I told him I wanted long layers like the Penelope Cruz photo I showed him. It came out just like the photo (now if he could only give me her figure too!).
Seriously, he did a great job and I get compliments all the time. It was worth the $ 65, every penny. And I’m super cheap so that means a lot! I highly recommend Rodney Rose, he gave the best cut/​style this long hair has seen in a super long time!

Pros: convenient location, reasonable prices, technician was efficient
Cons: scheduling wasn’t the best, no real waiting area, technician wasn’t very personable
I went to Illusions to get silk (fiberglass) wraps for me and a friend of mine. I made appointments for us a few days ahead of time. We couldn’t get side-​by-​side appointments, so I waited while she had her service and she waited while I had mine (hers at 10a, mine at 11a). If there was a waiting area with comfy seats and magazines, I wasn’t directed to it. I stood at the bench while my friend had her fingers worked on, then she stood at the bench while waiting for me and mine. Also, when I called to see about adding a pedicure, I was told I couldn’t have that done until after (12p). I ended up going elsewhere for a pedicure at 9a.
The technician who did the work was very efficient and did a good job. I don’t know if it was just an off day for her, but she wasn’t very personable. Other technicians were chatting warmly with their clients, and even with us, but ours must have been either not in a chatty mood or so focused on her work that we weren’t talking much.
The location was easy to find, on the eastern side of Sepulveda just south of Marine. Parking was free and plentiful in the building’s lot, and getting out of there was easy, since the lot goes through to a back street that ends at a light at Marine.
As a place to get my nails done well and in a timely way at a good price, Illusions was spot on. As a place that I’d go back to regularly … not so much.