R Studio by Meo Salon, Shaw Blvd Branch Review

I saw this new salon that just opened along Shaw Blvd, right across Jollibee and Mang Inasal Acacia Lane in Mandaluyong. It’s right below White Palace Spa. It is called R Studio by Meo and in big letters, it offered a haircut at P48! Of course, I was intrigued.

My hair had been been looking dry lately and was long overdue for a trim. So I took this opportunity to try this new salon.

The salon is new, with glass walls so you can see inside. It just opened about a month ago. All their chairs, equipment, etc… are new, of course, and looked nice for an inexpensive salon. Overall, the salon looks nice, considering the prices they were charging. The salon is well-lighted.

Here are the prices and packages:

I initially just came in for a haircut (P48) but the staff were friendly and helpful, without being too aggressive in upselling their other services, so I ended up getting a haircut, as well as a P550 haircolor + keratin treatment package. At the time, I didn’t realize the keratin treatment was only P238, so I should have just gotten a P250 + P238 keratin treatment, for a total of only P488 instead of P550 🙁 Anyway, I didn’t know what kind of keratin treatment they were going to use on my hair (the P238 keratin treatment or the P500 creatic keratin treatment), so I just let it go.

They were offering hair coloring (any length) for only P250! They use their own in-house brand hair color. The hairdresser I talked to, who is called Miss Joan, seemed experienced and knowledgeable about hair. He explained why I would probably not get the exact shade that I chose because of the previous shampoo colorings that I have done on my hair. He said it would be difficult for the new color to go on top of the old color, something about different coloring ingredients used by different types of hair coloring products. He could even tell until where along the length of my hair it was colored. I chose a light brown color.

Anyway, he cut my hair. I then got a shampoo from Miss Christy, who was very attentive. After that was a quick blow-dry and then she started applying the hair color. On a positive note, they had ear covers which they put over my ears to protect them from being tinted with the hair color.

The hair color stings though 🙁 it also has a strong chemical smell. They did not put any cap or covering over my hair and the chemical fumes were strong. We needed to let the hair color do its thing for 30 minutes.

Miss Joan periodically checked on my hair and even made adjustments/ strengthened the dosage, to ensure that the color really went into my hair.

After the color has set into my hair, it was rinsed off and the keratin treatment was applied (with head massage included).  My head/hair was then wrapped in cling wrap to help the keratin treatment set in.

After about 15 minutes, the keratin treatment was rinsed off. My hair was blow-dried and final touches were made on my haircut. Everything took about 2-3 hours, which is one of the reasons why I seldom get these services.

RESULTS

I’m generally happy with the service and the results of the coloring, although as explained, the color did not set in too much on the parts where I had previously dyed at home – yes, even though it’s been several months since I dyed my hair at home, apparently “hindi mapatungan”. The “new hair” near the roots was able to absorb the color very well though. In the meantime, I’m going to stop doing “at-home” coloring so my hair can absorb more of the color next time, especially when I grow out and cut off the “old hair”. At P250 per coloring every 2 months, I think it’s a reasonable expense for this little luxury. I really want to color my hair with shades other than black or dark brown.

The salon color was not able to completely cover white hair, I could still tell where they were because they were lighter than the rest of my hair (they look very blonde). This has always been a problem every time I pick colors lighter than dark brown, and I hoped that it would be different this time.

I would probably skip the keratin treatment next time because I didn’t feel any major wow when it came to my hair’s smoothness after the keratin treatment. They were trying to sell me on the Brazilian Blowout but I had not planned to spend too much (remember, I only wanted to get a haircut at P48!). Maybe I’ll just go for the P80 hot oil next time. However, for hair coloring, at P250 for any length, I would probably give it another try in 2 months (or when white hair start showing again).

My haircut was just a simple trim, at P48, it was okay. Miss Joan listened while I explained what I wanted, and also gave advice on what length looked good yet avoided being prone to “flyaways”. He was nice and not insulting (yes, I hate hairdressers who tell customers that this or that haircut would look better on them because their face is round/ they are short/ they are fat/ their face is long, etc…). I usually keep my hair up due to the Manila heat, so complex haircuts would just be a waste. I am also not big on hair products aside from shampoo and conditioner (and occasionally, some hairshine), so high-maintenance haircuts are out of the question. Miss Joan understood and gave me an appropriate, simple haircut. 

R Studio by Meo
318 Shaw Blvd., Mandaluyong City
(near Acacia Lane, in front of Mang Inasal)
Contact #: 0943-430-0600
HOURS: 9 AM – 9 PM, Mon – Sun (cut-off for some services is 5pm)