Fusion Salon Spa Gallery

I was not expecting to find this wonderful spa on Montgomery Road in Norwood. When you approach the building it looks like an old warehouse. When you walk in though, you definitely feel like you are not even in Ohio! Almost feels like a New York or Chicago. Very urban décor and colorful. While the space is open, every station (hair cutting, pedicure, manicure ect) has its own distinct area. Walls (cubicles almost) were placed to make it private. Yet, you still are very much part of the environment. Bethany the only nail and hair tech is an energetic and lively person. I went for a pedicure. The massages chairs are a wonderful part of the pedicure. I sure felt relaxed after the week I had. I already told several of my friends. I will be going back!!!

I wanted to get a partial foil highlight on a Friday night– not an easy task to undertake. Most salons close at 6 and I needed someplace that was open at least until 8. That’s why I’m rating Fusion as highly as I am… evening availability is always a plus for a working girl!
BUT I was pretty disappointed in the service I received. If I were ranking the hairdresser and not the salon, I would have given this place one star. I feel terrible because she mentioned how tough it was for her to build a consistent client base. However, after I was done, it was pretty plain to see why she was having such a rough time.
I don’t like to name names in negative reviews, so I’ll call her Shirley. Shirley didn’t engage me in conversation *at all* while she put in my foils. After she was finished, she apologized for not talking, saying that she was «concentrating.» It was just awkward and a little offensive.
Then, as she was rinsing me out, a grave look passed over her face. «Great, she messed it up,» I thought. True enough, she returned moments later with the bowl of bleach and proceeded to apply it directly to my scalp. I would be exaggerating if I said it burned, but it was an unpleasant sensation and once again, she didn’t tell me what was going on. After a tense five minutes, she rinses me out completely and lamely mentions that she’s going to have to charge me more since we did something a bit different than a partial foil. I had wondered if there was a price change but that’s something that should be mentioned during the consultation, not once you’ve completed the service.
And then, of course, I didn’t like it. Shirley spent a good amount of time in the consultation talking me into beige low lights. They weren’t beige, they were brass. Ick.
Then she begins raving about a product called «It’s a 10» that’s supposedly really great for long hair with bleach in it. I asked if that’s why she was using in my hair and she laughed, «No way, it’s pretty expensive!» What.
Anyway, I looked at Fusion’s menu of services and they seem like a decent salon. Funky interior, great jams, and a 50% manicure Monday deal that may tempt me back in. But I’ll never get my hair done there, desperate on a Friday night or not.

I’m always looking to save a few bucks and, in doing so, accidentally turned my brown hair a flat, gothic, black disaster after a failed at-​home dyed job. I knew enough to seek professional help to fix the mess. Being relatively new to cincinnati, I use Unilocal,living social, cincysavers, etc to discover new places and to find good deals in the area. I found Fusion on Unilocal and made an appt because 1) they could get me in the same day, 2) Unilocal was offering a $ 50 gift certificate for $ 25 to Fusion, and 3) the reviews were decent.
Within 30 minutes of scheduling the appt online (super-​convenient), I received a call from Cherie asking me what I wanted done. She was even able to get me in 2 hrs earlier than my scheduled appt (which would mean a lot to you if you were walking around looking like I did!). There was plenty of on-​street parking (on waverly, not montgomery). The salon décor was awesome– colorful, artsy, relaxing, good loud music playing– felt more like a gallery than a hair/​nail salon.
I told Cherie I wanted my hair lightened, re-​dyed, and with some highlights. I was skeptical as to whether Cherie would be able to fix my do, especially when she said she would be using a peroxide-​mixture to lift the black off (sorry, but when I picture peroxide in hair I think orange tones and fried frizz). But I was desperate and don’t know enough about professional hair coloring to argue, so I went along. I’m glad I did, because her little cocktail brought my hair back pretty darned close to my natural color, minus the greys which is what I was trying to cover up in the first place. She then highlighted my whole head with dark red/​copperish highlights– again I was nervous that I’d look like ronald mcdonald, but it turned out WAY better than I could’ve anticipated. Oh, and she trimmed the ends, too. She spent almost 3 hrs on my hair and was easy to talk to. When I mentioned I was getting hungry, she ran across the street to grab a pizza while my color set! Talk about service!
During those 3 hrs, I mentioned I was interested in trying a shellac manicure and Bethany, the salon owner, was able to squeeze me in after her last client. I’ve never gotten gel nails before, so I can’t compare to other salons, but Bethany was quick, my hands are smooth, and my nails look great. Next I’m going to try the ‘champagne pedicure’ :)
I know they’re a new salon and I imagine their client base will grow quickly. I would highly recommend Fusion based on my experience today.

When I made an appointment, I was pleased to find out I could book it online. It was nice to see a menu with all the available services with a price attached. It was advertised as a multicultural salon so I was excited to get a bit of a dose of funkiness and gain some knowledge from other stylists who knew how to do all kinds of hair since I’m half white and half Latina. My hair needed help!
As my sister and I came to the location, we had a hard time finding it. It didn’t have a sign or a vinyl doorway roof signage to say this was Fusion. It doesn’t face Montgomery Rd at all. The entrance is on Waverly Ave and we ended up being late for our appointment. We came in and I was surprised that the space was very spacious. I liked the modern loft feel. It was different than what most «artsy» salons looked.
We both were getting a partial highlight, color and cut. Three hours were set aside to do both of us. I let my sister go first since she knew what she wanted and it was simple and straightforward — touch up her highlights and update her base color to be less blond-​ish to more towards her natural color which was brown. My sister explained in detail what she wanted. Dena seemed to understand and got the color mixed. As the highlighting went on, I soon realized that Dena was completely into coloring my sister’s hair and seemed to forget that she was supposed to work on me at the same time. To gently remind her, I explained what I wanted in my vision of what my hair should look like. We eventually found out there wasn’t enough time to do mine so we continued to do my sister’s hair for the entire duration. When the highlights were done, Dena didn’t do the base color at all. When the color was washed out and the hair moisturized, she didn’t cut my sister’s hair either and finished up by flat ironing. When the reveal came, my sister was a bit unsure if it was bright or not. She decided to wait until she saw it in a different light. Her hair looked almost completely blonde instead of some blonde strands here and there. Dena said to come next week and get additional highlights for free since she missed some. We weren’t sure why she felt she missed some when it was completely blonde without any brown in between to break it up. We paid and left at around 9:20pm. We were exhausted. She looked at the visor mirror worrying a bit about her hair. When she got home, she decided it was too bright for her liking under a regular lighting and didn’t fit her personality.
In short, Dena needs to listen to people more about what they want. Maybe she needs some more consultation practice. The salon just started their business a year ago by Bethanny, who’s been making beauty her business for 20 years. It has room to grow and despite how people may see it in the website, it’s not three different areas with individual services, but an eclectic mix of all three in a melting pot of Fusion. I hope see it grow bigger and become even more of an awesome place for women to relax and be pampered.
As a side note, Bethanny and I spoke about my experience over the phone, she had offered to rectify the experience we had with my sister’s hair and explained that the outdoor signage will be put up very soon. I decided to edit my previous review on here and not to get our money back because Dena worked so hard my sister’s hair and I know any stylist starting out in the business needs the experience and develop the skills to become a great stylist. From my experience being the daughter of a hairdresser, I can understand that very well. Good luck to Bethanny and the ladies of Fusion! Hope to see you guys around here for many years to come.

Fusion is the BEST!!! I have never experienced quality and quality in a one stop, shop. Bethanny has been my stylist for over 6 years. Fusion is my get a way escape. I go there every week to relax and be pampered by not only my stylist but a loving friend. The atmosphere is the awesome. I would HIGHLY recommend this salon and spa gallery to everyone.
Lady K

I completely surprised that I am the first person to review this place.
I have been here twice for the Champagne pedicure, which is truly one of the best experienced ever and I highly recommend it!
I found this place through a Groupon for a deal on a champagne mani/​pedi, so I figured I would try it out.
At first site, I wasn’t sure what to think. I put the address into my GPS and ended up having to turn around. There were no signs on the building with the name and parking was on a side street, complete with some empty glass beer bottles. I found a door I was hoping was the right one and to my surprise, I walked into an upbeat, contemporary atmosphere, much different than the outside.
Still not quite sure what to expect, I sat down for a pedicure with Bethany. It started out with a pastry and my choice of a mimosa or plain rose champagne. I opted for the plain champagne. With a glass of champagne in hand, I sat for a while just relaxing with my feet in a warm champagne infused spa bath. This was a plus, as most pedicure places are ready to get you in and out as quickly as possible.
The entire experience was great, probably the best pedicure I have ever had!
I went back about 4 weeks later, for another champagne pedicure and it was just as good as the first! This is now the only place I’ll go for a pedicure!
This is truly a hidden gem!