The owners of a cutting-edge beauty salon in Hillcrest are proud of showing what women, and especially immigrant women, can achieve.
“We are a women-owned business and we’re not from here – we’re from other countries – but still, we came here and did this thing so its like women empowerment. And we want people to know that its possible, women can do things!” said Nilima Shrestha, a co-owner of Omnia Salon & Spa.
She is originally from Nepal while co-owner Abhi Jaiswal is from India.
The people of Hillcrest have taken whole-heartedly to this specialized beauty salon as a way to stay current with the latest trends and keep their look fresh.
“We love being here in Hillcrest! I’ve been in the beauty industry for 15 years and this is the very first hair salon that I’ve owned,” Jaiswal said. “I’ve worked at different salons in different places like Michigan and South Carolina, but we are having so much fun here! It’s a very vibrant community here, very lovely and happy people here. All our stylists are very happy. This is like a small family; it’s less like work and more like a family!”
Shrestha and has a keen eye for fashion and high-end designer brands. She and Jaiswal bought the salon a year and a half ago, and have been going strong ever since. Shoestha studied at the Bellus Academy in Poway, then, decided to put that education to the test.
“I came here to study in college and I always wanted to work in the beauty field. After college I told myself, ‘its time to do something!’ And now I’m here running my own salon,” Shrestha said.
The duo make the perfect team in creating a salon that caters to their stylish clientele who are very familiar with the new treatments and techniques that are all over social media.
“We are the second owners of the salon, and Omnia Salon & Spa is a one-stop for all the beauty needs. We offer a full range of hair services, customized body waxing, customized facial, eyebrow laminations. Whatever is a new trend— we have it in our salon,” Jaiswal stated. “We are [a] very trendy and classy all-skills salon in Hillcrest.”
Omnia Salon & Spa offers a wide array of services including hair cut and styling, waxing, hair and lash extensions, micro-blading and eyebrow threading.
Using natural and organic products and processes is very important to both Jaiswal and Shrestha. They go the extra mile to ensure that their clients get nothing but the best.
“We even customize our own wax. We mix waxes because different skins require different waxes,” said Shrestha. “We offer eyebrow laminations, eyelash lifting and tinting. We also have very organic and natural henna brows. Those give you the tinting effect without using any harsh chemicals on the skin.”
Both women are extremely proud of the stylists they employ and like to highlight the diverse expertise they offer.
“All the stylists here, they have their own flavor and flair when it comes to doing hair,” Jaiswal pointed out. “They all have their own specialties and everyone is very passionate when they offer their services. Some of my stylists are very superb with the razor cut, and some of them are expert at color or extensions. All the stylists here in the salon are certified hair extensionists and have been at it for at least five years. We do not hire any stylists who have less than five years experience just so that we can provide the best customer service to our clients. Everyone here is like an artist!”
Shrestha is especially proud of the diversity represented in the stylists at Omnia Salon & Spa. She that is important not only for San Diego, but especially for the Hillcrest community. “We are multi-ethnic, from all different ethnicities here. We are multi-lingual people; everybody speaks two or three languages here. A couple of girls here are from Mexico and they speak Spanish, and others speak Japanese and Korean. And they all have different specialties that they offer the community. If a client is looking for a certain look, we will refer them to a stylist which specializes in that technique. We will tell them who is best fitted for that procedure.”
Jaiswal’s 15 years in the beauty industry has allowed her to create a salon that offers in-house procedures that ensure the customer satisfaction that keeps her clients coming back for more. She said that people come from all over San Diego and even Orange County to visit her salon.
Shrestha said, “This is the community we want to serve. We feel very blessed that we can serve this community and we love what we do here!”
Omina Salon & Spa
3828 Fifth Avenue in Hillcrest.
619-326-8181
