Salon Tonic Named Top 100 Salons In America

I've never been much of a girly girl. I've had a pedicure once in my entire life, I'm not big on anything where there's a required dress code, and I like to think I'm pretty low maintenance (for better or for worse), but there are certain things I love...getting a facial at The Undercarriage or a massage at a day spa... and then I become all girl. On the rare occasion I go to a salon, I'm all about Salon Tonic (which I wrote about here). So I know it's not music related, but since Salon Tonic is amazing (and pumps local music through their speakers!!) I thought I'd take a second to congratulate them on being named one of the Top 100 Salons In America by Elle Magazine.

There's a reason why certain businesses thrive even in hard economic times. Salon Tonic is more than just a salon, it's a philosophy lived by everyone who works there and in typical fashion, the salon is being honored and what do they do? They give right back to their community.

It's not everyday an independent salon in San Diego gets this recognition so in honor we're throwing a party at one of our favorite hangouts, Starlite. We hope you and all your friends will join us on September 20th at 7PM. We'll be donating 10% of drink proceeds to The Museum School in San Diego. So not only are you having a good time, you're also being a philanthropist.

So there ya go. Mark the date and help celebrate with one of San Diego's thriving businesses.

My Day At The Salon: Salon Tonic

I had quite the treat on Tuesday because I was invited back for a follow up haircut. I was long overdue, since the last cut was way back in November before I started the new (old) day job.

The beautiful thing, especially if you're salon averse as I am, is the beer or wine starter offered when you enter the salon. I don't know what it is about me...I tend to be the pamperer and not the pampered, so letting someone take care of me, the way they do at Salon Tonic, is foreign, but once I let go, I get right into the treatment.


While I was waiting for my cut, I checked out all the product and I was thinking, man, I'm not wealthy by any means, but perhaps I should invest a little more in products that take care of my skin, and in this case, my hair.

Salon Tonic is right in the heart of Little Italy and there are plenty of stylists with various talents to get you the cut and color you need. Personally, I like walking in and trusting myself with Leslie. "Make me look better than I did when I walked in." And that's not hard to do, but some stylists wanna blow dry and make me have big hair which just isn't me. I need a haircut where I can wash and go. I don't even own a blowdryer. Or curling iron. Some product but nothing great. I need low maintenance, and Salon Tonic provides.

So I went in for my cut, and I got all lost in the feeling of being taken care of. I particularly the shampoo that really is a full on neck and scalp massage, and the tingling of tea tree oil made me close my eyes and get lost. It was funny to me that the two guys getting shampooed next to me were so chatty with their stylists, because when I'm there, it's full on spa day and I don't wanna talk. Then I started thinking I was rude because I wasn't chatty, so I broke of my trance and talked a little, but I really wanted the experience.

Anyway, as much as I hate posting pictures of myself, my hair was looking good after all was said and done, so here it is.


Anyway, I can't recommend Salon Tonic enough. The ladies treat you right, and there's a constant soundtrack of awesome music. Not to mention the beer to chill you out. Honestly, I didn't wanna leave. I'll for sure be back when this mop gets outta control once again.

My Day At Salon Tonic

I am trying to pump out the posts today, while I can. I wanted to go more into my new haircut because it was a great experience. My friend Jamie works at the salon and called me a few weeks ago to ask if I wanted to be a "hair model" for one of the stylists there. "Hair model" does not imply I'm a model or that pictures would be taken for any professional use, just that I was donating my hair to the stylist to practice a new haircut on a real head of hair.



Salon Tonic is located in Little Italy, right next to Indigo Grill on India St. between Beech and Cedar. I had no idea how big it was going to be on the inside. The salon is normally closed on Mondays, but this was an exception for the stylists to practice a razor cut bob that they were learning from a DVD from the Bumble & Bumble Institute in New York. Not only were the stylists and owners of the salon there, but a rep from Bumble & Bumble was present, too. As I waited in the lobby, I was offered a beverage...beer, wine, soda, tea. I was a little nervous and went with the beer.






Lesli, my stylist for the day, introduced herself and we did a consultation. What did I want? I told her she could pretty much do anything she wanted. I was just hoping to look better leaving than I did when I arrived, and with the mop of hair I had, that wasn't going to too hard to accomplish.

I got my hair shampooed and my head massaged before I was reseated to get my haircut underway. Since it was a learning/teaching environment, there were a lot of people touching my hair and observing my hair and my "squirrelly" hairline and whatnot, but it was ok. Lesli was great with the straight razor. This haircut was all razor, no scissors. It meant a lot of hair removal; thinning and cutting along the way. She cut a lot of hair.

I was at the salon a little over two hours, but that includes a lot of people watching and learning from each other while studying all the different girls getting cuts around the room. This is just before she blow dried my hair out. I don't know how many times I have to mention that I'm not much for salons and girly things, but Lesli kinda laughed when I told her the last time my hair was blowdried was when I got my hair done before my best friend's wedding in the summer of 2006. I don't even own a blowdryer.


Still, she blow dried my hair to show the razor cut, then we tossled it back up, sprayed heavily with some tonic and had the final result.



I had a little bounce in my step as I left with my hair shorter and feeling a lot lighter. Lesli has a magic touch. I highly recommend getting in touch with her.

Salon Tonic is located at 1532 India Street. The phone number is 619.234.9432.