Fountain of Youth Aveda Salon Spa

I have been going to Cheri at Fountain of Youth for over a year now. Initially it was because it was close to my job but I changed job locations recently and would not think of going anywhere else for my hair.
Cheri is kind, creative and accommodating! Appointments are effortless, parking is easy and free. The salon is beautiful, relaxing and smells amazing! I am pampered and feel like the Goddess that I am every time I visit. Delicious hot tea and water are offered upon arrival. Hot towels and soothing hand massages are given in between treatments.
Cheri is an expert stylist. Her cuts are amazing and will last for months. I love change and trying new things and Cheri has obliged. I’m a brunette but we have tried different shades, reds which I didn’t think would work but I love! And Recently, we’ve delved into some blonde highlights. Cheri is honest about what she thinks will work and I trust her judgement. My hair always looks amazing when I leave and then I can’t wait to go back.
Also, the Aveda products are wonderful and my hair is in great condition despite coloring and highlights. When I first started going to Cheri, I had recurring bald patches for several years, I think from stress but have not had one since frequenting Fountain of Youth!
Another thing that really impressed me about Cheri is when she does highlights, she checks them and since my hair is long and it may take some time to paint them all, she would wash some of the first ones out before finishing my whole head so that the highlights are even… To me this is someone who is an experienced professional. Most stylists will finish all the highlights and rinse all at the same time even though half of your head had much more developing time.
I would definitely recommend giving Fountain of Youth Aveda Salon a try!

Poorly organized business, disrespectful towards clients and their time. They never answer their phone and never return the calls. First time it took me a week to schedule an appointment via txt messages. When I came it turned out they booked me on a different day, even though they confirmed the day I showed up. They took me in though. Second time again it took several days to schedule an appointment, I had it confirmed, and when I showed up they were closed! I called and waited for about 30 minutes at the coffee shop across the street but no one showed up. Amazing these people. I have a 3 month old at home and to go out like that I have to arrange for baby care that adds to the cost of the salon visit.
Certainly avoid. I live a couple of blocks away and would have been happy to support the neighborhood salon, but now I’d rather take my money somewhere else.
P. S. After reading reviews here and in Google it seems to me that inability to organize the very basic tasks may be pathological and whoever runs this business should consider seeking professional medical help.

Cheri the owner is a HUSTLER! She is deceiving and money grubbing. Save yourself the aggravation and stress of dealing with this unprofessional, unsanitary, and deceitful place. I specifically booked 5 full body massages and 5 facials for a party of 5 women, my sisters, mom and mother in law. Cheri LIED saying she has a fully staffed spa and salon. I was specific in requesting that we all get our services at the same time. She confirmed that would happen and said she has a fully staffed spa and then made me prepay a partial payment for services of $ 700 in advance!!! When we got to the salon, we were shocked to realize that only ONE person, the owner Cheri was going to be doing All of our massages and facials — which NO ONE even got. The owner kept avoiding our questions when we asked who is doing our massages and facials and she just kept saying in a very rude manner, «I have a plan, you’ll all be taken care of.» How can One person handle all of that??? Needless to say, the entire experience was absolutely horrible. Cheri lied over and over stating over the phone when I booked services, that she had a fully staffed team of people. Our so-​called facials lasted no more than 10 minutes and consisted of a hot towel and some kind of peel that we never agreed to or asked for. Talk about unsanitary — she went back and forth between my sister and I without washing her hands!!! When Cheri asked me in her exact words to «square up with her for the remainder of my bill» I simply said I think it is only fair to pay for what we received which was 5 face washes and some polish changes, a couple hair washes — And 5 brow waxes — (after which I had to pull my tweezers out of my purse to finish plucking what she missed). Cheri disagreed after I tried to be fair with her, after she LIED and SCAMMED us all. I SUED HER and WON. I took her to JUDGE JUDY and The Judge called her a HUSTLER on national TV — Judge Judy also said she runs her business in a unsatisfactory way!!! There are many salons and spas — DO NOT GIVE THIS WOMAN THE TIME OF DAY! Never once did she even attempt to make the situation right by apologizing and being professional — she is completely unprofessional and her two other employees are not even certified and she has them performing services!!!

I used a living social deal to go to this salon. I was immediately told they would not be running any more specials because of the «bad experiences» they had with grupon. I felt judged and found guilty of some crime they were sure I was going to commit. Not exactly the welcome I expected. I assured the girl behind the counter that I tip based on the actual cost of the service and she said «well your not like most people «
I got a manicure from a very nice young girl unfortunately it lasted 3 days. I won’t be going back. They treated me poorly and the service was subpar.

Rude on the phone and rude in person. I do not recommend this place at all to anyone. Service was nothing special either, definitely not worth the price.

I loved loved the Aveda salon and spa I went to in Arlington, so when I moved back to the Burgh and saw these groupon deals for pedis/​manis and massage I thought it was perfect for me to try it out.
Well, after calling several times and only getting voicemail at Fountain of Youth Aveda Salon and Spa, and leaving two messages, I finally got a call back. I had mentioned my groupon deal in the first message, which is why I think they hadn’t bothered calling me back. When I told the woman who finally called me back that I had groupon deals I wanted to use, she immediately began telling me that I couldn’t use more than one per visit (ok, never mentioned wanting to) and then told me that they were booked «for months.» Now, whether that means they’re booked for manicures for months, or just those with a groupon, I don’t know. My impression was that if this is how they treat prospective clients, why would I want to be a client ever? And if these places can’t handle the volume of groupon deals they sell, don’t sell them; exactly who or what do you think you are to ask someone to book a manicure months in advance? Nobody has time for any of this nonsense. I returned my groupons. I’ll never go to this salon and spa.

I got a groupon for an hour massage with Joe. I was able to find street parking right outside their store. They have late night and weekend hours which are great. The receptionist is nice, you fill out a page survey about yourself and they off you tea or water. Joe came out and greeted me. He is great and totally the type of person that won’t chat you up if you want to just relax. There is a great aromatherapy scent in the room with calming music. The massage was great and Joe really focused on the parts that I wanted. My massage ended with a hot towel and a glass of water. I can’t wait to go back! On my way out I learned that they have specials for massages and other facial services. I will definitely go to Joe again.

I’ve never had a professional massage before so when the deal popped up on Groupon, I decided to try it. It was more than worth my while. They are a high quality salon so it took a few weeks to get me in, but that is understandable. The staff was really nice and Joe was a great masseuse! I felt extremely relaxed the entire time. He used a few different techniques, as well as hot oil and hot towels. Bottom line, I cannot wait to go back. It was a 60-​minute massage but I wish it was longer. As a college student on a budget, it was definitely a great experience!

I moved to Pittsburgh a few months ago and am on a budget, so I went on Groupon and purchased a haircut, blow-​dry, and deep conditioning treatment for $ 30. I was a bit hesitant at first because I had read some iffy reviews but decided to go for it anyway, and I am so happy I did. Everyone was very polite and professional. Upon entering they offered me water and tea (the tea is delicious!). It wasn’t very busy at all.
Melissa cut my hair and did an amazing job. I am EXTREMELY picky and anxious whenever someone cuts my hair– they always somehow manage to do something wrong. She was GREAT. The best haircut I have ever had. She really knows what she is doing and listened carefully to what I wanted. She was very nice and worked with me to make sure I was happy. The deep conditioning treatment was also fantastic, my hair has been really shiny since I had it done. All of their products smell soo good. Trust me on this one– if you need a haircut, I highly recommend Melissa, she will not disappoint you.

I, too, bought a Groupon for a 60-​minute massage. The salon was clean and very much like most Aveda salons. I should preface my review with the fact that this isn’t my first massage. The male masseuse was not the best at making me feel comfortable (e.g. turning over, he did not put the cover over my back like most do, instead I just had to try to awkwardly do it myself while he stood there and watched). I wrote on the paper that I’d like medium pressure, and what I got was excruciating. It is one thing to apply a lot of pressure, but when you see me violently spasming (even mentioning that my body was «reacting» to it) and I finally say «can you apply less pressure» and continue to keep doing the same thing, something is wrong. I was cringing the whole time. Finally towards the end when he was violently rubbing slightly under my arms and I asked him to stop, he did, but only to continue in that same spot with the same amount of pressure. He must be used to brawny men who need physical therapy. If you’re a 110 – 120 lb. female, I’d avoid coming here. Also, he spent 60 minutes doing my neck and back but never touched my legs or feet. He told me to drink a lot of water, because I might be sore. The next day, I felt like I had completed a marathon + boot camp! Long story short: if you want to feel like you had an intense workout, go here. If you want to be able to turn your neck the next day, avoid.

Similar to the girl who wrote a review about a massage below, I was given a groupon as a gift for one 60-​minute massage. I was given the same masseuse, Joe, who was unbelievably strange and creepy. He made me feel uncomfortable during the entire hour and did not do a great job, to boot.
Furthermore, the women who worked there never asked me how my experience was when I was leaving. It appears this salon is good with doing hair and anything other than giving a massage. I would not recommend it to anyone, unless you can specifically not have Joe touch you.

Don’t even bother buying the Groupon. It started off that they could not schedule my services together. I ended up having to schedule them 3 weeks apart. They were running 30 minutes late for my evening appointment. No apologies. Then the hair stylist admitted she was not an esthetician midway through my facial. It did minimal effort. My hour facial was really 45 minutes. She used extraction tools despite the fact i asked her several times not too. I had to stop and sit up when she continued to ignore my requests. I cancelled the massage.

Best hair salon I’ve ever been to hands down. my hair looks and feels awesome and I can’t wait to book my next appointment!

My first experience at this spa for a massage was actually fantastic. I had gotten a groupon, and the masseuse was one of the best I ever had. As such, I kept an eye out for future groupons, and 2 years later, was able to jump on one. This second groupon was for a package of 3 massages, all of which I scheduled when I first called in. The masseuse this time was different, a middle aged man named Jim or Joe (I forget exactly). Anyhow, I had no problems with him until after the 2^nd massage, when he called my cell phone to ask if I had wanted to join him to the Symphony that Saturday.
I was shocked and really bothered. There was nothing in my interaction with him that suggested anything. Conversation had been minimal and polite (I hate talking during massages). He must have looked up my number in the appointment records, and for whatever reason thought it was ok to call me. NOT OK. AT ALL. It is creepy, disturbing and highly unprofessional.
I did call the salon to formally complain, and was told that they would speak to him.

I originally bought a groupon for a 3-​pack of massages but after reading reviews and trouble scheduling (they want the groupon # when scheduling), I returned the first groupon. But after continuously seeing offers for this salon on groupon, I decided to give it another go. I bought the 60min facial/​60min massage. When making my appointment, I was met with weeks before the first available (FRUSTRATING!) and ended scheduling the facial and massage separately (both weeks out from my call).
But that is where the frustration ends. This is a true Aveda Spa! The smell upon entering is heavenly! They serve the fantastic Aveda tea (I LOVE THIS TEA!!) The salon itself is very elegant, light & spacious.
My facial with was Daria. She did a delightful job. Aromatherapy & massage incorporated into the facial. Nothing too harsh or painful. She did a great job minimizing and clearing the pores on/​around my nose.
I would certainly come again for a facial. Stay tuned for my massage review in a few weeks.

I gave this business one star, because of the way that they run their business. The salon has terrible customer service. I am so disappointed. After driving 45 minutes to make it to my appointment this morning, I came to a locked door at 10:30am. Their business hours are from 9 – 9. After calling all morning, I finally got ahold of a human being on the phone. There was no apology, just a sleepy and unenthusiastic sounding receptionist with a response, «Oh…we open later today.» When I asked about my appointment, she sheepishly told me that no one was working over the weekend. Wowzers. After, going through the other Unilocal FILTERED reviews, I was surprised to see that there were more disappointments. It’s a bit of a surprise that the overall rating is so high. I’ll stick to my other Aveda salons in Robinson.

I’ve been fortunate to snag several Groupons/​Living Social deals for different massage specials all around Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, I hadn’t had my dream massage until this morning when I went to Fountain of Youth Aveda Salon Spa.
I called on a Friday for a 60-​minute massage and was able to book for the following Tuesday. The location is perfect, and parking is free. The staff was super polite and offered coffee or water (no thanks, x 2) and I filled out a form with a few strange requests (how was my energy today? do I get irritable or frustrated or anxious?) and so on. My masseuse was Jim, and he said right up that if the pressure was too much to let him know.
Wow. There were fleeting points during the massage where I thought, is this supposed to be feeling like this? But that’s all they were-​short little bursts followed by total relaxation. It was amazing. I especially liked that he offered water during the massage as I flipped over (again, no thanks). Everyone was super polite. I am really hoping for another Groupon or special so I can head back and get another massage!

This was the absolute worst salon experience I’ve ever had. When I arrived, the door was unlocked but the lights were off and there was no one present to greet me. I was told by another customer in the waiting area that there was a masseuse there, but he was with a client. After waiting for over half an hour, my stylist finally arrived.
I explained to my stylist exactly what I wanted and even showed him a photo. I told him that I was after the «buttery blonde» the website claims he is known for. Basically what I was looking for was an all-​over blonde with very subtle high and lowlights. I already had what I was after, but I had recently moved here and hadn’t had my hair done in a while so I had some dark blonde regrowth. I was a little apprehensive because what he was describing to me that he was going to do didn’t sound like what I wanted. When I expressed my feelings to him he told me that — and I quote — «One of the most annoying things is when people come in here and act like they know what they’re talking about. I’m the professional. People pay ME to do a service!». I was blown away by his attitude and instantly regretted my decision to go there. I should have left then, but I was desperate and I had already paid for the Groupon.
Not at all to my surprise, what I left with was pale orange hair. Literally orange at the roots and pinkish-​orange throughout the length with some blonde streaks going throughout. It was disastrous. When I asked the other employees if it looked orange, they kept assuring me it was just the lighting in the salon. When I got to the car — still orange. When I went to meet my husband for lunch, he walked right past me and said that he didn’t recognize me as a red head and the new color was not at all what he was expecting.
I was so disappointed and knew that going back to have it corrected at this salon would probably get me nowhere. I found another salon who corrected the color for me. I will never go back to this place again, or any of their other locations.

I made a hair appointment with Josh. I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted done, and once I expressed this to him, he took me through a few options for coloring and styling. I have never done anything drastic to my hair and was slightly nervous. However, he was such a pleasure to talk to and really helped make me feel confident that it was going to look great. The finished product is amazing! I couldn’t have had a better experience. Also, I went on a Tuesday evening, when they weren’t super busy. It was very relaxing and I can’t wait for my next appointment.

I delve further into the Pittsburgh Spa Scene with my latest visits to Fountain of Youth, sponsored by a Groupon for two 90 minute massages. My first experience was easily 4 stars, despite their being a minor hiccup. As I was driving in, they called to let me know they were running 20 – 30 minutes behind. Could I go grab a coffee and show up later? Sure. This was no big deal for me at all, and I really appreciated them calling instead of sitting and waiting for 30 minutes. I arrived 30 minutes later to their location on Reynold’s St, catty-​corner to Point Brugge.
When I arrived, they were all ready to go, and it went perfectly. The masseuse, Charlie, was fantastic. Knowledgeable, thorough, didn’t talk too much, and applied the right amount of pressure. Afterwards, I was told about the specials they were running for Groupon users, but wasn’t given the hard-​sell. I checked out, and booked my second appointment very specifically with Charlie (which took a good 5 minutes).
The second appointment is when things went awry. I arrived, checked in, and was greeted by another masseuse. But wait, I went through a protracted scheduling conversation at my last visit to ensure I had Charlie at this location for my second massage. Curious. In addition to being assigned a different masseuse, they were running 30 minutes late. Internally, I’m agitated at this point. I mean, they send you an abundance of reminders. I get a text message, a call and an e-​mail asking me to confirm the appointment. I reply to all of these, arrive on time, and then they get the masseuse wrong and they’re not on time. Then, they start telling me it’s not their fault they’re running late because the woman ahead of me was being a bitch and demanded a 90 minute massage, when they had her down for a 60 minute. I could not believe one of their employees was telling me this in front of, what seemed to be, the owner/​manager. What were they saying about me if they talk about other customers this way? I mean, maybe the lady was legitimately being awful, but you should keep that to yourself. Maybe, maybe even if I was going in for a haircut and they wanted to gossip a little, I could see them telling me this. But why would I want to hear about all this drama when I’m coming in for a massage, much less at all? So, at this point I explain to them that it’s not my business or my problem that they had a difficult customer. If you’re running 30 minutes late and/​or you’ve changed my masseuse, call me. Just call me. So, I reschedule.
My third visit was just fine. Everyone was on time, was polite to me, and Charlie was just as skilled. So, a 4 for Charlie, a 3 for the physical space, and 2 for that one visit, gives us an overall 3 star rating.
Parking is super convenient and free, and the location is up a winding flight of stairs. I didn’t see an elevator, so if you’re physically handicapped, you may want to call before booking an appointment.