Capello Salon & Day Spa

I went to Capello’s a year ago for a highlight and trim after I bought a Groupon deal.
Imagine you’re in high school sitting with a bunch of strangers at a lunch table. That’s how it felt to be at Capello’s. The stylists were wildly unprofessional. gossiping and bantering back and forth with inside jokes and juvenile sex-​related conversation that made me feel really uncomfortable. It was like I wasn’t even there. just a wig head at a beauty school in one of their classes. They were dressed sloppy, were really immature, and really loud and annoying. My stylist kept taking breaks highlighting my hair to text someone on his iPhone.
The salon was filthy. Hair all over the floor, laundry baskets inexplicably strewn about with dirty or clean towels in them, not sure which.
I was given no consultation to speak of. This was another red flag… he just began highlighting my hair.
I was offered no coffee or water as I waited, and I waited for the longest time I’ve ever had to wait for my highlights to develop. There was no music playing or anything. I wasn’t asked if I wanted a magazine, and I didn’t see any to pick up.
End result: my hair was fried with really bad zebra stripes. I’ve never received worse highlights. When I got home and looked at the back of my head in a mirror and saw the GLOBS and circles (???) of highlights inches away from my scalp, I basically cried. He also cut about 4 inches off of my hair when I asked him for just a trim. I had spent a long time growing out my hair and the stylist chopping it all off was a real bummer.
To explain just how bad my experience was… I’ve been getting my hair cut and highlighted at various salons for over 5 years. I’ve had so-​so and great experiences in that time, but nothing like this. To convey how bad this experience was… I HAVE NOT BEEN TO A SALON FOR COLOR SINCE. I was basically traumatized by this experience. I went back to my natural shade, I freshen my color at home, and I just go to supercuts to trim my ends. I am THAT afraid of salons now.
So yeah. Avoid this place. It needs to be closed down. which is probably happening soon since I was the only customer there on a Thursday afternoon.

I get my hair done by Chris Mansi and it always looks amazing! He is great at what he does. My color, cuts and extensions are always fabulous and I get so many compliments! Simply amazing at what he does its a real talent

Booking an appointment at this salon was difficult. I bought the groupon for 2 manicures and pedicures in the first week of July. Their first available appointment was in August. Do not buy the groupon unless you want to wait at least a month. There are plenty of other salons and spas in Branford that can make appointments in a timely fashion.

I will be going here with my bridesmaids to get our hair done on my wedding day and I’m very happy with them so far. I have had 2 hair trials (I changed my mind a few weeks after the first one about how I wanted my hair, so went back to try something else!) and both times my hair came out great and exactly what I asked for, so I am not worried at all about going there on my wedding day. The prices are very very reasonable — pretty much the best I could find in the area — so I feel good about bringing my bridesmaids here too, knowing they’ll get nice updos at a very fair price. I found all of the staff including Mike (who is at the front desk and I believe is the manager?) to be really friendly and helpful.
I will update after my wedding but for now, very happy with this place and wanted to recommend since I had a hard time finding wedding-​related reviews for them!
**UPDATE** — I was married about a month and a half ago, and just wanted to confirm that these guys did a WONDERFUL job! We had so much fun getting our hair done together that morning, the staff is so friendly and kind, and most importantly everyone’s hair came out looking fabulous. My bridesmaids looked awesome, they got all of our hair done in the time frame we’d planned on, and my hair came out exactly how I wanted. I’ll be back again in the future!

This place was so rude to me over the phone, he actually hung up on me! Thank goodness I did not take my chances using the groupon on my wedding day there. They are very unprofessional. He told me they only have one pedi chair available, but because it was in a private room I couldn’t use it.

I had a really great experience when I came here for a facial. Mike was very helpful in working around my busy schedule and greeted me by name when I arrived.
Cheryl, the esthetician, was super friendly and made me very comfortable. She did a lot of massage, so the relaxing moments outnumbered the painful ones, but I feel like she did a really thorough job.
I left with glowing skin and a blissful mindset. I must do this more often!

I had a Groupon for a facial here. The esthetician was friendly. She uses more manual hand pressure to express blackheads – not a special tool – so be warned. My skin looked much improved after the experience. They even gave me a 10% postcard for a return service.