Celebrity salons are a dime a dozen in Manhattan…or are they? It’s true that you can find one quite easily in this city. Flip through the pages of your most recent Vogue, Elle or Allure magazines and you’ll see a slew of them gushed about as hot spots for celebs, names of whom are dropping all over the pages like rain. So the question becomes: how does one celebrity salon set itself apart from the next? What makes such a salon worth the $500+ you’ll most likely spend there on a cut and color? What makes it worth the hype and celebs want to spend their disposable income at one vs. another? The answer is experience and talent. While some hot spot celeb salons have huge name clientele to boast, if their staff isn’t worth the same raves, the salon’s clout is little.

This is why Marie Robinson’s new salon is distinct: not only can she boast a hotbed of big name clients from Anne Hathaway to Natalie Portman to Liv Tyler, her talented staff have stayed by her and look up to her as they would any mentor or beloved parent. Together, the staff at Marie Robinson is like a family – an assortment of talented stylists and colorists who all share Marie’s passion for color and hair innovation as well as her welcoming attitude, thus creating an atmosphere that is both upscale and homey.

And that’s exactly how I would describe Marie. When I met her, she was dressed in the most effortlessly put-together punk-rock-chic style that exuded a sense of luxury as well as comfort and hominess. Let me be more specific: tie-dye tunic, army green cotton harem pants, bejeweled accessories, messily-pulled back platinum blonde hair. She donned this cacophony of objects that otherwise might have seemed mismatched but on her were the pinnacle of style.

June in New York City is typically…well…perhaps typically isn’t the right word anymore. This year, June seems to be worse than August, which doesn’t bode well for the heat and humidity the next few months will surely dump on us. And through the hot mess that is the NYC summer, our feet will be beset with flip-flop scars, our shirt pits sweaty pools, our skin a constant sheen and our hair completely irreparable.

You feel like jumping in but don’t want to ruin your hair. We know the feeling

While the concrete jungle of NYC is certainly up there on the list of hot cities, almost everywhere in the country women suffer with this dilemma: how can we muster up the strength, motivation, etc. to do our hair when by the time we arrive at our desks in the morning it looks worse than after running the half marathon? As it turns out, companies are privy to this “situation” and have tried to remedy it for us – thank goodness. In fact, there are so many products worth noting this summer that BN will bring you two parts to this story, Part II coming next month. These are the brands who have devised tools that will keep our hair in check, even through this hottest of hot summers (global warming anyone?) The irony is that in order to keep said hair in check, we must often add heat to it, which of course is the last thing we want to do in a 90+ degree apartment. Alas, this may be the only way to conquer the beast, so duck into an air conditioned room and make use of some of the following tools this summer.

If you Must BlowDry, Blow Dry Right
We understand that for some gals, the idea of NOT blowdrying before leaving the house is sacrilegious, a hair crime of epic proportions. If you are one who can’t even dream of exiting your home without perfectly and fully dried hair, consider the Paul Mitchell Pro Tools Express Ion Dry v.2. While it’s not terribly new, (launched in April of last year) it’s a real performer.

At 1875 watts, this is true professional grade, suitable for preparation to brave the humidity-soaked air. With a powerful air flow and an extra dose of Express Ion Complex™, this high-speed styling tool cuts back on your drying time to maximize healthy results. Far infrared heat protects hair from damage, and super-charged negative ions break up water molecules to infuse them into the hair shaft, restoring moisture and sealing the cuticle. The dryer is available only at professional salons, so you’ll have to do some digging, but the find will be worth your while.

Do you love to change your hair color and to experiment with different hues but are sensitive to chemicals, fumes or concerned about the health consequences of putting ammonia in your body? In this world turned green, it is not surprising that more and more eco-friendly, natural hair dyes are surfacing. But do they measure up to their chemical sisters? Susan Henry, a top colorist in Beverly Hills has developed Susan Henry’s Natural Color-Process a line of chemical-free hair color that delivers rich permanent color and holds up well to the challenge.

A hair color specialist who served A-list clients in L.A for 30 years, Henry was inspired to research plants as a basis for hair color after getting poisoined by the fumes of traditional hair dyes at work. Her line is the result of long research delving into the secrets of plants and experimenting in her kitchen for many months. The basis of her ingredients is composed of wheat germ, sea weed, flower and beet extracts. Alcohols are used instead of metals or formaldehyde.

A girl can never have too many hair products – even when she needs another closet, bureau, vanity or under-the-bed-rolling-Tupperware box for the overflow. I know that’s where I’m at. And still, I keep browsing the web and retail aisles for more, anxious to hear the latest development that will surely make my hair the pinnacle of perfection with minimal to no effort. Right. Well even if that doesn’t happen for you, these products will surely help you along the road to get there, and in the process give you a reason to buy that new bathroom vanity. Perfect hair? Maybe not today or tomorrow or ever. But pretty hair? No doubt.

Jonathan
In my mind, Jonathan products’ claim to fame was as much about the famous Dirt product as it was the founder, Jonathan Antin’s, popular TV show. He since sold the line and it has been releasing product boasting the Jonathan name and a promise of quality.

I was a bit skeptical once I found out that he was no longer with the company – but then I realized that there was nothing to fear, for the Jonathan product would endure and perhaps even surpass what it was in its former ownership.

Over the past few months, the line has released a few different products and is gearing up for a July release of its Jonathan Product Dry Shampoo in Black, an addition to the Jonathan Green Rootine Line. The new shade for dark brown and black hair gives you the ability to cleanse and refresh your hair and scalp without having to dunk your skull in the sink. Or for a more serious cleanse, condition and style treatment, there’s the Infinite Volume collection. The line was developed with Jonathan’s innovative Expansion Nanotechnology, which makes achieving lasting volume and voluptuous hair effortless. This Interpenetrating Polymer Network Delivery System utilizes chemical and electromagnetic forces to expand and strengthen the hair shaft creating volume from the inside out.

Twisted Sista
For beauty on a budget which is all too often the case these days, women can turn to a line that was originally developed in good ‘ole London town. Twisted Sista, a drugstore beauty brand from Urban Therapy for multi-cultural women, offers products for everyday styles with beneficial ingredients like Vitamin E and Panthenol.

While a quick Wikipedia search reminds us that the purpose of the hair on our head is simply to serve as a primary source of heat and insulation, a quick tally of amount-per-year spent on hair services and products begs to differ. And if you are like me, (before my trip to the curly girl safe haven, Devachan Salon, that is) reading this definition will have you logging in faster than you can plug in your flat-iron to add a curly caveat explaining hair’s secondary purpose: to make your life a living hell.

Sound overly dramatic? If you don curly locks as well, it shouldn’t. Most of us have spent the greater half of our lives searching for the remedy, be it product, tool, or stylist that would bring with it the promise to end the lifelong love/hate battle that innately comes with the territory of being curly.

A self-proclaimed former straightening addict, I felt I had tried every product on the market and visited stylist after stylist who said that their specialty was curly hair to no avail. I had given up on my curly hair and continued straightening it with blow-dryers, serums, flat-irons and chemicals – anything I could get my hands on in efforts to tame the beast that lived on top and inside my head. But growing weary in my relentless attempts to deny what nature had intended, I still longed to make peace with it in its organic state.

Boasting to “provide an inner haven of transformation for the astounding 75 percent of the population lucky enough to have a curl, wave, or swave in their hair,” Devachan Salon piqued my curiosity. After a quick glance through “Curly Girl” a book by Lorraine Massey, the salon’s co-founder and stylist, I decided to make the call.

All of my life, women have told me that they’d trade their straight tresses for my curls if only they could. To them I have always invariably replied, “Imagine waking up every single day with a do that looks like Bob Dylan.” End of discussion.

Curly hair is no walk in the park, especially on a humid day. It takes courage and solid self-esteem to resist straightening and blow-drying and come out to the world as your truest self: un-tameably curly.

Curly girls know that a bad haircut is like a failed romance: a catastrophic event that requires many, many months of recovery. And then; how to trust again? If you’ve ever had a haircut that left you looking like a) a head of cauliflower, b) a Poodle, or c) The Bride of Frankenstein, subsequent salon visits surely induced hives and hot flashes.

I am now here to tell you, relax – and I’ll tell you where: Dvir Salon in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. It’s spacious, airy and light with kind and caring people and the wonderful Leslie whose artful hair-work can do no harm.

When I visited her, I said to leave length somewhere, which she did on the top and sides. I also asked her to work with the shape of my face: long and starting to sag. Out of the wild nest I walked in with, she sculpted a chic and funky bob – tapered in the back, long and curly on top. Leslie did what all curly girls want: she got me, she got my hair, no drama, no trauma.