Mosaic Total Body Salon

Location, location, location is nothing without talent, and as nice as they are, Mosaic is lacking in talent. Entrepreneurs are an odd breed, with varying degrees and combinations of vision, discipline, ambition, insanity and, in most cases, skill, but Mosaic seems to have been born simply of a good idea, and not of an irrepressible, palpable and/or measurable passion.

As usual, my selection of Mosaic was driven greatly by its proximity to me. I drive by it every time I head out to Wisconsin Avenue, and I walk by it every time I go into Citibank. There's parking, they're friendly, they have coffee, mango tea, water, pretzels, little cookies, Biolage, Textureline, manicures, pedicures, massage—everything, if not more, that you would expect from a local salon, except... right, talent.

I actually got two haircuts from them. The first was with their young, new talent. She cut my hair tentatively, tiny strand by tiny strand, as though it might cut back, or just get angry. Then she took the same painstaking time to dry it, tiny strand by tiny strand. Afterwards, my dissastisfaction obvious, we fussed over it for a few minutes, but when she asked me what we should do about it I decided to cut my losses (no pun(s) intended).

After a few days I just couldn't stand the stodgy shapelessness, and I called Mosaic to see what they could do about it. Seriously, they're incredibly nice, and they apologetically scheduled an appointment for me with their Senior Talent. When I saw her, she agreed that the cut didn't work and she quickly and adroitly set to work with her scissors (without any apparent trepidation). They didn't charge me a dime, save the voluntary and once-declined tip, and I did feel better when I left, but the fact is my second haircut, while undeniable better, was still unremarkable.

In my opinion, being less than 10 miles away from one of America's five most influential cities (per my own estimation), and being in one of the countries most affluent communities (per the Washington Post), it should be very easy to get a stylish and flattering haircut that has some flair and doesn't make you look prematurely, well, mature. And as much as I like Georgetown, it shouldn't take a trip to Georgetown to get it.

And so my search for a sexy urban 'do' continues. Daily Candy has made a few recommendations over the months, one of which looks very promising. I'll keep you posted.

Mosaic Total Body Salon • 8001 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda • 301.986.9151

Dissenting opinions on DowntownBethesda.com; Likewise on Backfence

Comments

[YZ]

hi, just moved to Bethesda from abroad. found your nice blog. do you happen to know where is the best place to have best quality color photo printing (from digital)? many thanks!

[b.rookie]

You know, if I'm not just printing poor-quality pics at home I tend to use Ofoto or Shutterfly, and order prints online. But there's a Ritz Camera on Elm Street if you're in the neighborhood and want to try a place you can actually walk into. I can't vouch for them tho. For quality with a capital Q, you could try L'Imagerie on Wisconsin (they're way too high brow and $$$$$ for me).

Welcome, good luck, and please let me know what you find!

[jeanne]

Rick at Elizabeth Arden, Wisc ave in friendship heights. he's hilarious, and talented! what more could a girl want?

[Michelle]

I don't want to be discouraging but I've been unsuccessfully looking for a skillful, hip haircutter in the D.C. area since I moved here in 1980! I even tried Allure mag's "best salon in D.C." recommendation, Hugo, and found it awful. A neighbor has been having good luck with Salon Prive, on Old Georgetown, but I tend to discount the judgment of straight-haired women (mine is curly). I wish you luck.