Aveda El Coco International

I’ve been to this salon a handful of times and the cuts are decent, but the customer service is so terrible that I’ve finally cut the cord and won’t be going back. I scheduled a wash/​cut/​dry for 5:45 on a weekday in March and arrived at 5:40. The receptionist told me that it would be just a minute. «Just a minute» turned into 25 minutes. When I asked how much longer it would be, she checked with the stylist and told me that it would be another 15 minutes. A 40 minute wait for a scheduled haircut? My haircuts themselves typically take less than 40 minutes. They clearly overbooked and didn’t have the courtesy to call to reschedule. At that point, I left. She asked me if I wanted to reschedule and I said no — there are plenty of other great salons in the area (particularly in the north end and waterfront) that there’s no reason to deal with this horrible service. I should note also that neither the receptionist nor the stylist apologized for overbooking or for keeping me waiting. The only response was to ask if I wanted to reschedule.
After I left, I emailed the business and sent them a private Unilocal message to give them a chance to respond before writing a negative review. Not a peep.

El Coco International Aveda is the place to go if you want color in your hair or a simple wash and blow dry. It’s in the heart of the city of Boston, not too far from Faneuil Hall. I’ve got the pleasure of getting my hair colored by Rene. She was very sweet and catered to my needs, even though my hair is thick and very tightly coiled. She was patient and willing to give me the desired look that I wanted. She also suggested some Aveda products that help aided in preserving my color and keeping my naturally dry hair quenched with moisture. They also do waxing services and much more. If you want waxing see Erma, she was being doing waxing for over 15 years and gets the job done in 15 minutes! All the staff is friendly and the receptionist are welcoming. For a great blow dry be sure to see Jennifer or Rene! You can do no wrong coming here. Be sure to take advantage of their new customer discount of 15%

One of the worst haircuts I’ve ever received. Too short, bad shape, texturizing that looks like frizz in my fine hair. Will never return.

I’ve been getting Brazilian waxes with Erma at Aveda El Coco for over a year now and it’s by far the best waxing place I’ve found in Boston. Erma uses organic hard wax which is way better than the strips used elsewhere at pulling from the root and not tearing hairs. I’ve done waxing at many places in Boston. Can you find for cheaper? Yes. Can you find ones that are less painful? Yup. But you will never get a smoother (no ingrown hairs), and long lasting wax than this one.
Plus, Erma’s just awesome, as is her her life advice. ;)

Bad Brazilian wax. Period. This is my second time writing about my Brazilian wax experience. This one, although not as disastrous as the last one I had at Town’s Nails on Newbury, was just bad. Wax was extremely hot, to the point I screamed a couple of times. Very painful, even for a seasoned waxer like me.
Lady claimed she has been doing this for 16 years and insisted her way was the right way of doing it. True, she did get the job done, but instead of minimizing pain and discomfort for the customer, her goal seemed to be getting everything off in as few patches as possible, regardless of how the customer might feel about that. If the waxing therapist was trained that way, I really am not sure what to say.
I also wonder, is it so hard to find a place that actually has licensed waxing therapists and does decent Brazilian waxes? If any of you guys know any place that is capable of doing a proper B wax, please let me know.

Thank god for Marcia! I usually stop by Aveda for a side bang trim every couple of weeks as a walk-​in but I would have had to wait a few minutes and I was in a rush so went to another salon down the street. HUGE mistake. My trim instructions are very straight forward, but I got a HACK job and I’ve never been so upset about my hair in my life. I tried to wait a little while for it to grow out before attempting to get it fixed. As soon as I sat down in Marcia’s chair, she immediately made me feel better. She said she could see all of the wrongness (validating that it was a hack job) — she talked to me the whole time about how she was going to fix it little by little without taking any length off (which I could afford to lose any more), she explained that not everyone knows how to cut bangs (which is enlightening), made me feel a million times better and told me to come back in a few weeks so she could chip away at fixing them. I’ll never go to anyone else again. Thank god for Marcia!

I have afro-​textured hair. It’s kinky curly and thick. I originally chatted with an AVEDA rep online and she gave me a list of products to try. She was so helpful and knowledgeable about ethnic hair that I felt confident that I would get great customer service at one of their locations.
I walked into the salon to try to purchase products. There were two blonde women sitting down at the reception desk. They both had too much makeup, but one had very very bleached dry looking blonde hair. One of them says hi, and that was the extent of her interaction with me. They spoke to each other. After a good fifteen minutes walking from shelf to shelf, not really sure what I should looking for, the one with heavy makeup and dry blonde hair says can I help you. I said yes, I’m looking for a product that is like an anti-humectant.something for frizz. One of the women looked at me like I had an alien coming out of my head. Borderline disgusted/​no idea how to respond to «Black people hair» The other got up and said, I can recommend this. I have very very curly hair. She gives me the one product and walks away. Never saw her again. This was the face of the company. I walked away with this message, don’t come into our salon unless you have bone straight European hair. I was so offended!
AVEDA prides itself on having products that respond to all types of ethnic hair. These people selling their products are giving a different message.
Don’t go there unless you look like the people behind the counter! Disgusted! I wish ZERO stars was possible.

Had my hair done did by Harry… and of course a massage by Autumn. Best haircut ever. EVER! YOU SHOULD SEE IT! I wear hard hat every day and my hair breaks… and gets all cranky for lack of love in the work space. If it’s not in a ponytail it’s a braid. Harry managed to cut and tame the mane. Oh fabulous Harry, I will see you again.
As for my angel massage specialist. .read my other reviews for Autmn. She is the best. DONT FORGET… NO TIPS ON THE CREDIT CARD. But there is an ATM two doors down.

We were staying next door at the Millennium Bostonian (as we do every year) and my Mom decided she wanted to check out Aveda to have her hair colored since we had some down time. They accept walk-​ins so it was perfect for a Friday afternoon. Pricing seemed a little high, but then again it’s Quincy Market and Boston. I just think a basic haircut shouldn’t be $ 40. I let my husband cut my hair and that’s fine for me. However, they do offer a 10% discount for first time customers. A wash and color was $ 115 — minus the 10%.
The hair dressers were all very nice and seemed knowledgeable. They helped us choose products that would help our hair type and even showed us how to use them before we bought them. My Mom loved her new color and thought it was better than the girl she normally goes to back home. They are young and they seem to really enjoy what they are doing so they want to make sure it’s right!
I wouldn’t go here for a cut, but for color or styling I think it would be worth it.
The cashier did not apply the 10% discount so we had to go back and get reimbursed and she wasn’t sure how to do it. I think there needs to be something in the system so that is done automatically. They keep customer information in the computer for future visits.

I go here for my cuts and dyes and let me say since Jen has been doing my hair it’s been healthier than ever! I’ve never had such healthy hair before and I can’t believe with all the crazy stuff Jen does with my hair it’s so soft and growing so quick! Jen does amazing work, she’s the best!

My GF went here and paid $ 200 for a coloring by George. The color didn’t change at all. In normal light it doesn’t look like anything was done. He was rude, arrogant and refused to help her when she went back to speak with him. She’s a college student who wanted to try something new for once and his pride was clearly above his desire to help make his client happy.
There are plenty of options in Boston, I suggest that you go somewhere that puts you before their Ego.

I never write reviews but I am just so upset over this… Soooo really long story but here goes. My issues with this salon began before I even walked in. I called the salon to ask the price for full color and was quoted 115. I then asked if there would be an extra fee for long thick hair and I was told there was not. As soon as I sit down, my stylist (who also happened to be the owner) tells me the price will be 115 and an additional 20 per tube extra that he would have to used on me and said that he would probably have to use 3 – 4 extra tubes ($ 175 – 195). I am undecided at this point whether to pay the extra money since it is so much more than I expected to pay. He tells me that he can do a partial highlight on me and that I would get results close to a picture that I had shown him. He told me it wouldn’t be as vibrant but it would be close. He quotes the partial highlights at 150. I decide to go ahead with this price as it is middle ground and I was expecting to get something close to what I wanted even if it wasn’t exact. So as he’s working on my hair, and washing the color out, he repeatedly jokingly complained about/​complimented my long thick hair. It got the point that I just offered to flat iron my hair at home to cut him a bit of slack if he would blow it a little straight. He promptly agreed to that but instead of even trying to straighten my hair a bit he just stuck me under the hair dryer and said I could leave whenever I was ready. When I got to the register I was charged 165 instead of the 150 he quoted me but I just let it go as it was only a bit extra. After his 20% tip my bill came to $ 197. When I straightened my hair at home I was so disappointed! My color was so subtle and nothing at all like the picture I brought in. I called him the next day and told him that I was not really satisfied with my results and he immediately got rude, defensive, did not once empathize with my dissatisfaction and proceeded to tell me «his» color and application was perfect. He told me to come in to see him.
I went to see him today (a week after I got my hair done) and asked him what could be done about the fact that I am not happy with my results and he tells me he can add more highlights but he would have to charge me. I have never heard of a salon that charges customers when they are not satisfied. I then told him that if I knew the color would be so subtle I would have just paid the extra 30 bucks to just dye my whole hair that color. He then proceeded to tell me that dying my entire head would have cost me around $ 300 (which is not what he told me when I was sitting in his chair!!) At this point I knew he would lie through his teeth just to «win» this argument. So I went to another aveda salon (escape salon in the prudential) and asked how much they would have charged me for full color on my long thick hair, she said no more than 175. She also said there is no way my color would have come to $ 300. I’m so enraged by his lack of professionalism and dishonesty.
Do yourself a favor, avoid this location. Yes you may end up with wonderful color but if you are not satisfied for whatever reason the owner will not work with you, he will not budge and will clearly say anything in order to come out on top.

Do not go here as the staff will ripp you off!
Unilocal has a 20% Discount check in voucher, when i mentioned this they said that its not valid and they could offer me 5% only.
I noticed that they had 10% first time costumer promotion on a board outside so instead of offering me 10% at least they offered me 5%. So i did not book anything for the time being. I returned back and spoke to another person and explained the situation. She said that 20% is fine and male haircut is $ 45 so i booked in a haircut for the day after… After completing my hair they charged me $ 45, and i said that i have 20% but then she said that the stylist is not junior and she cost $ 55 instead even tough they confirmed $ 45 the day before!
A total rippoff and very bad customer service…

Ok it’s been 4 months and I’m only now feeling like I can talk about my experience at el coco without bursting into tears.
I had the absolute worst haircut of my life at this salon. Brief summary: I had a bruise on the back of my head from the washing sink, the stylist literally *yelled* at me when I realized we were not on the same page with what should be done with my hair, and I left –crying hysterically — with the worst haircut of my life a week before my sister’s wedding.
This is mainly a warning not to call and make an appointment with a random stylist.
The manager obviously heard this person yelling at me and then saw me tearfully refuse to pay for verbal abuse and an awful haircut, and insisted I let them make it right with a re-​cut from another (much better) stylist. A week before my sister’s wedding I really didn’t have any other options and figured my cut couldn’t get WORSE so I made the appointment.
IF YOU GO TO THIS SALON PLEASE GOD GO TO HANNAH SHE IS THE BEST EVER
Hannah miraculously salvaged a choppy mess on my head and did it with incredible professionalism and compassion for how traumatizing a bad haircut can be. That girl is a saint and I hope you all give her lots of business and tips.
If you want to get your hair cut there and don’t have a recommendation on stylist — here it is: Hannah. She’s amazing. Anyone else is totally at your own risk.

If you’re looking for an amazing hair cut or color, go to Tony!
He’s incredible. I’ve gone to many salons around the city (Newbury Street, Back Bay, Financial District), and he’s the one I keep going back to.
I’ve been seeing him for hair cuts, highlights, and color treatments for over five years, if not longer. I discovered him at Salon Marc Harris, where he worked for many years.
He never disappoints. He is a master at the dry cut method, which I personally love, because I have thick hair, and it’s great for thinning out my hair so I don’t look like a big shaggy dog.
HIS COLOR IS TO-​DIE-​FOR.
I went from the darkest shade of chocolate brown, almost black last fall into this winter to a sexy, fun dark wtih caramel highlights. My hair always looks flawless. And anytime I have questions about hair care, I ask him. He knows everything there is to know about hair. He’s given me some great tips over the years.
He’s up to date on all the latest hair trends, and he knows what looks great on his clients. He’s so wonderful that I have my mom go to him for all her hair cuts as well. We both love him.
Call ahead because his appointment book fills up fast.
They also validate parking.

Not impressed.
For $ 55 for a pedicure, I would have expected a much better experience than this. My daughter and I came here as it was close to Fanieul hall. The first thing in the 50 minute pedicure that they had me do was to soak. For ten minutes. ?? I feel bad saying this but I felt that the lady who was doing my feet was over-​vigourously massaging them (hurridly) to get us out the door. Nothing relaxing at all about this experience. The paint job was mediocre at best and the nails were shaped all wrong. She literally cut my nail half way in, and left it like that. I am just waiting to stub my toe and have that break off.
Plus, they only tip in cash (would have been good to know when making the appointment) and there are no ATMs that close by.
For over $ 100 for two pedicures, I would never return here for this level of service. I have had $ 20 pedicures that were better than this.

I went to El Coco for an hour massage, I am no way a massage expert, I have had several in the past few years, but the massage I got from Autumn was the deepest massage I’ve had. She uses her skilled hands and found every knot and stressed areas of my back and legs and worked them out. It was a relaxing experience and I really didn’t know how deep she got until an hour after, dealing with Boston traffic. I just didn’t tense up as I usually would. I will be going back!

The worst thing on earth, I got a groupon for my bday and I called to set an appointment, they gave it to me for some day on the next week and then they called me on the same day to cancel it. After some weeks I called again to set it adn they said they where overbook and I should call groupon so they can give me a refund, when I ask for the manager they said he wasn’t there.
I decide to call from a dif phone to book a non groupon massage and they had plenty of dates

I would discourage other Unilocalers from using El Coco. My wife got a Gilt City coupon for this venue and booked an appointment. En route to the venue, they canceled the appointment on her by calling her phone. Frustrated, but willing give the venue a second chance, she booked a second appointment, and they did the same thing: called and canceled the appointment while enroute.
This is poor customer experience, and this venue should be avoided.

I just happen to stroll into this shop when I had noticed how close it was was down by Quincy Market. I was trying to see if they had any closeout products or sales. I like the smell of their Confixor and considered buying a bottle until one of the ladies there offered me a hand massage with their new product called ‘Stress Fix’ body lotion. This stuff is AWESOMMMEEEEE!
Not only was this Aveda rep. good in working out the kinks in my hands, she was very knowledgeable about their product line. The Stress Fix smelled fantastic… all natural products and rubs on very smooth. It was over $ 24 and change but worth every dime. I’m practically bathing myself in it. MMM MMM I just love Aveda for their Aroma Therapy products. They smell fresh and clean and to me with all the horrible smells out there, their products are all winners.
LOVE LOVE LOVE AVEDA!