Salon & Barber Hairisma

Was down in the SD area for the holiday and wanted a new hairstyle for the new year. I called, and Don was free to do it on ¹²⁄₃₁^st so I booked it, mainly off of Unilocal reviews.
The shop did not instill a lot of confidence. The store was a bit old and his salon mates aren’t the most comforting. Nor is the sign for guy haircuts for 9 $ and wash for 2 $. But since I was already there I decided to give it a shot. I’m very glad I did. Don was great! He and his helper (didn’t get her name) were super professional and did a great job. Digital perms usually takes 5 hours, so it was a lot of work. My hair is super long and thick so that didn’t help the process go any faster. While I was there a lot of guys came in as walk ins and the other staff was pretty impressive with their scissor work. $ 11 seemed like a great deal. Anyways, after a lot of careful fussing and about forever under the heated rollers, I got the new curls I wanted. It looks great, and the price was only $ 140! Gonna see how long this perm lasts and give an update later. But if you want a perm go to Hairisma — Don knows what he’s doing.

I came in for a digital perm and Don completely destroyed my hair. I wanted loose curls and I came out looking like a poodle. When I followed up with Don to see if there was anything he could do, he blamed the problem on my hair being dry. If that was the case, why didn’t he say anything before ruining my hair?! This will take years to grow out.

I’ve been going to hairstylist Lynda for many years. She does a beautiful job with color as well as cutting my hair. I would never trust anyone else. A true professional in every way.

I take my grandpa here for his haircuts since he’s too old to drive and he absolutely loves it here. I offered to take him to a more modern-​americanized salon but he insists this place. The workers here remember him and are really friendly, which I appreciate. They take their time even when they have walk-​ins waiting.
I pay $ 8 for his cut + $ 5 tip, so $ 13 isn’t bad at all. Considering that his hair style isn’t just a buzz and is actually medium-​styled, the price is fair.
Will be back whenever gramps needs another cut :-)

I had the worst experience here. I asked my hairstylist to take off an inch– he ended up taking off three inches, ruining my layers, and cutting my hair straight across with dull scissors. I asked him if he could emulate a picture I showed him on my phone and the end result was NOWHERE similar to what I gave him. The left half of my hair was considerably thinner than my right. He didn’t shampoo my hair nor did he properly blow dry (my hair was still wet after the cut) or did he put any product in it. What should have been a simple trim took 45 minutes. It literally looked as if a nine year old cut my hair.
DON’T GO HERE TO GET YOUR HAIR CUT. I don’t know what I was thinking by trusting the Unilocal reviews here — I’m sure he’s great for male military cuts and digiperms but never trust them with your hair. EVER. GOING HERE WAS A WASTE OF MY MONEY, TIME, AND HAIR.
I ended up going to Samuel Van Hair to get my hair fixed and he was a THOUSAND times better than this place. Ladies, next time you think about skimping out on your hair. don’t. Or just don’t even go here to get your hair cut.
What a waste of money and hair.

This is a super late review on the digital perm I got from Don and his wife a few years ago (I know, but better late than never). I was absolutely terrified of getting this done because my friend talked me into it and I’m one of those people who doesn’t let anybody touch my hair and «get cut once every 2 years» kind of gal. But I was super happy and super impressed how it turned out and how long it lasted.
They are the sweetest couple I have ever met. Mind you, this place is busy because it’s essentially a barber shop as well (used to take my hubby here every Sunday for his haircut when he was in the military). My friend and I had our digiperm the same day and we were there for about 6 – 7 hours (and past closing time). This is not normal. They had to do A LOT with her hair because it was so damaged from multiple colorings and her hair was very fine. Mine would have taken 2 – 3 hours if I had gone by myself — they were explaining that this works best if you have not treated your hair before because the strands will be stronger to hold the curls. They shampooed, did a deep condition treatment (I think? I sat there with stuff on my head for about half an hour), cut, styled, and then put the octopus on my head. They were very careful to make sure nothing was burning me and when I let them know a spot was getting hot, they were quick to put extra stuff in my hair. They also choose the best set of curls for you depending on your hair type. I had medium curls put in and my friend had the smaller, tighter curls. I followed all their after care instructions– waited 48 hours to wet my hair, I purchased a Korean leave in curl product they recommended (this helped a lot) and I wore my hair in a bun when I slept (they sent me home with a set of curlers to wear at night but, my hair kept bouncing out of them). This perm lasted me over a year. I finally cut the curls off last year. For about $ 140/​$ 160 (after tip and the product I bought), this was well worth it.
Sorry for the novel and lack of pictures. The only pic I have is from when I cut the curls off and they were still impressively curly to me. I highly recommend a digital perm here if you’re in San Diego, if you’re not looking for a snobby, high end salon and are willing to take care of your perm afterwards. It was a lot of work for me, because I’m lazy, but again, was worth it. Had tons of compliments on it.

Went back to Don a week later for some half head balayage highlights. Great work by Don again!

I’ve got to say with the large amount of reviews i expected more but 70% of them were about digital perm so why did i except a simple v shape trim would suffice. i came in during my lunch hour to get a quick shampoo & cut (i got a trim though). The had a coupon for $ 15 and additional $ 1 off Wednesday & Thursday. The guy that did my hair not only kept hitting my cartilage earring he also burnt my left ear when he was blow drying my hair… I asked for a V shape multiple times and it was just not happening. now its very ugly U shape and i’m not satisfied about it.

Absolutely not! My hubby came here because Primetime Barbers was closed. He showed them a picture of a guy with long hair but short on the sides. The people here chopped all his hair off! Let me tell you, it took him a while before his hair got long. So for them to cut it all off, makes me incredibly livid. Needless to say, he’ll never come back. By the way, this haircut was for his passport pictures. Now he’ll look terrible for the next 10 years.

Last year I got a digi perm by Don and his wife, and while they were a very nice couple, I left the salon in tears, completely upset. For a long time, I hesitated to write this review since I didn’t want to negatively affect their business, but honestly i want to give a fair portrayal of my experience because a digi perm isn’t cheap and having your hair worked on can be very personal. So take this review as you will.
First of all, the digi perm. Don took his time and set my hair up and I told him over and over I wanted very tight curls. My hair is thin and does not keep a curl well at all, and I told Don to please make sure to use the smallest rollers he could. I personally felt the rollers he used were too big but he told me that the end result would be fine. My hair ended up flat. I sat for almost 5 hours and ended up with barely wavy hair, when I wanted at least voluminous curls. Don knew he had messed up because he offered to redo the digi perm and acknowledged my hair wasn’t as curly as I wanted it. It was already 6pm at that time and I just wanted to leave, so I declined, paid and left.
Why did I want to leave in such a hurry? Because the entire time I was sitting in their chair, Don and his wife were pushing some pyramid scheme on me (NuSkin, some vitamin company out of Utah…), trying to get me to sign up as part of their «network». It was so awkward and so sad because it was so obviously a scam they were buying into and Don kept on telling me he couldn’t wait to stop cutting hair and live well with NuSkin’s $ 10,000 a month salary.
But basically for 4 hours of the 5 I was there, Don and his wife tried to sell me on their vitamin/​skincare network and I was just so uncomfortable and getting more and more upset. I just wanted to have my hair curled, I shouldn’t feel I need to be on my defenses at all time. Don showed me pictures off his phone, pitched me over and over with a presentation and seriously, I just wanted to get out of there. It’s not fair to harass your clients like that, who have no choice but to sit there and take it. They asked for my phone number and email to «follow up» and I was just beyond words. At the end of my appointment, I was upset about my hair, exhausted from their constant sales pitch and kind of peeved at the fact I still paid quite a bit for my experience.
It’s been about 10 months since I was there so perhaps things have changed. But I wanted to add a fair warning here, because I certainly would have appreciated it before going in.
Don and his wife are very nice, but they shouldn’t try to up sell their clients or rope them into their personal side pursuits. They should also be more attentive to what their clients are saying when the client is going over their hair requests.

Loving my digital perm! This is my third time getting a digital perm done (the first two being at other salons), and I’m impressed with how it’s turned out so far. We’ll see how it is after the first wash. Don was really great and accommodating. I pushed back my appointment by an hour because I was running late, but he was nice enough to wait for me. The entire process (wash, cut, perm, and dry) took about 4 hours, but that’s normal especially for the length and amount of hair I have. He even gave me some free rollers to put in my hair at night! Definitely would come back here for another digital perm once my hair goes straight again (which should be in about 4 – 6 months).

It took 4 hours for my digital perm curls but I am happy with my lovely hair. Thank you Don again, you did a great job!

Very good place to get a hair cut

I was looking for a good salon that familiar with digital perm and affordable. I wanted to perm my hair, I have a very fine Asian straight hair, after reading a lot of reviews on Unilocal and doing some research, I called Don and set up my appointment. He was really professional and kind. The treatment took 4hrs during the process he offered me some yummy snack bars, must know that I was hungry :) My digital perm with loose curl come out beautifully it is just what I wanted. I got so many compliments on my hair. I will definitely recommend Salon Hairisma.

I went for a haircut and digital perm, and it was super beautiful. 4 hour long process in total. I had Don and another girl working on my hair, they listened to my request and the final result is actually better than expected. I wished I had it before a big event because I looked fab! They increase the price to over $ 100 but that is about average market price now. Will definitely go again.

Best digi perm I have ever gotten… Been to other spots a couple of times but this place had the best results! Why no five stars? Because I didn’t appreciate hearing about NuSkin like I was sitting through an infomercial. My skin is awesome without it and I am a 30 year old who looks like she’s 12. Don’t need any anti-​aging products, thanks. Also, Don, who did my hair, was taking the time to pitch this product with other customers instead of finishing what needed to be done with my hair. I don’t really ask for spa-​like service at a place like this… But atleast do your sales pitch to the other customer when you’re done with me, don’t have me sitting there, waiting. An extra 15 – 20 minutes might not be much for other people but it’s a lot for someone like me.
Overall, fabulous hair, awesome price… Just ditch the sales pitch please. Would’ve totally given this place five stars if it weren’t for that.

This review was done by my girlfriend* last summer went to this salon to get digipermed. I would like to be fair the stylist and his wife was really. nice, told them I was from out of town and was really excited about my treatment but I was concerned because my hair was previously bleached (9 months ago). Don the stylist did the medium size curls and assured me that the curls will be tight at first and then loosen up. 5 days after my treatment my curls just looked like frizzy damage hair; fast forward 4 months after I still have this horrible permed damage hair. Paid $ 150 to get my hair butchered. I really wish my hair was back to normal straight flat hair instead of this horse hair texture I have now and would probably cost me double to get it fixed.

I had a great experience at this barber shop; Tom was my barber. I decided to visit after the barber shop on board nearby MCAS Miramar decided yet again to raise the price for a standard haircut to $ 9.
Hairisma offers a military haircut for $ 7 ($ 8 if you pay with a Visa or MasterCard). My wait was much shorter here than at Miramar. Since there wasn’t too much of a crowd, I was able to wait in a barber chair (and not a folding chair).

I was so nervous about getting a digital perm for the first tine and decided to try it here, Don and his wife Kathy was so sweet and caring in their services and I absolutely love my perm! For people who want to get a digital perm from people who know what they are doing, definitely give this place a try: D I will definitely be coming back here in 5 months or so or for any other hair needs I will have in the future !!

Based on other Unilocaler’s review, I decided to bite the bullet and try a digital perm. My appt with Don and Kathy lasted a little over 5 hours and boy was my bottom sore… but it was worth it! As I walked out of the salon, I was totally in love with my hair. It had beautiful curls with a lively bounce with each step. It’s been 3 days since my digital perm. Of course it doesn’t look like I stepped out of the salon but I’m still loving my curls!
The cost was $ 90 (currently a half off sale) and I was charged an extra $ 10 for a wash and cut which seems a bit odd but okay. Still a great deal for $ 100. Thanks Don & Kathy for a great experience and the wonderful hair!