Ten Salon and Spa, reviewed here in January, was featured on the series premiere of Tabatha’s Salon Takeover on Bravo last night. (The show’s premise is that former Shear Genius fan favorite and booked-for-three-months-out stylist Tabatha Coffey preys on hapless salons, Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares-style and turns them around toward fabulousity.)

While I much enjoyed my visit to Ten last January—especially its day spa portion, what with the Moor mud cocoon and detangling deep-tissue massage—I must confess that I wasn’t too surprised at what was captured on last night’s episode (with the exception of the eviction notices and million dollar debt and OH MY GOD THE RIDICULOUS EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK!). At the culmination of my eight hours spent at the spa/salon, you see, one stylist left an unfortunate lasting impression of Ten—one that I ommited from my article, since, well, The District isn’t quite the same as Yelp.com.

It began when his first words to me were “What do you hate about your hair?” (Answer: Nothing, dude.), which was followed by him noticing my un-colored hair and assuring me that “We’ll have to fix that.” (Really? I’m not so sure.) Finally, there was an upsell pitch on a lipstick that would take away “all those lines” on my lips. I walked out of Ten feeling fine on the outside, but on the inside I felt as though I’d just survived an hour of the most insulting conversation I’d ever had with a stranger.

By the end of the hour-long takeover (look for prime shots of Second Street and downtown) everything appears to be fixed with the salon, and I have to strongly agree with Tabatha’s remodel of the place, which was always gorgeous, but now seems more inviting. Chris and Kwanna appear to be genuinely committed folks, and I’m interested in returning to Ten to check out the remodel in person (and maybe splurge for another cocoon). As for a haircut, I’m not quite there yet, but of course that also might have something to do with the fact that most days I can’t decide if I want to keep growing my hair out or shaving it all off. (Today, it’s the latter.)

Tags: BRAVO TV, Long Beach, TABATHA'S SALON TAKEOVER, TEN SALON, TEN SPA AND SALON