This guide to New York beauty salons has been compiled by the Wallpaper* editors for residents and visitors alike.
From nail bars combining manicures with video art, and hair salons specialising in androgynous, editorial cuts, to skin studios with bespoke facial services, those on the hunt for design-led hotspots to indulge in some much-needed self-care should look no further.
Hair
Vacancy Project
If you’ve been hanging around the Lower East Side recently and wondered where everyone is getting their choppy, androgynous mullets, the answer is Vacancy Project.
The small, East Village space, which was founded by Masami Hosono, is cool but unassuming with painted brick walls and a smattering of flea market-style furnishings. Mullets are Vacancy Project’s speciality and they tailor the style to fit your face shape and personal style, whether that means a subtle shag style or more of a Keith Richards circa 1970 look. In the name of inclusiveness, all haircuts cost the same price, no matter hair type, length, or gender.
Vacancy Project, 627 E 6th St, NY 10009, vacancyproject.com
Whiteroom
Whiteroom is ‘dedicated to fostering community, providing an exceptional client experience and the craft of beauty’, says founder Elisabeth Leary who opened the Brooklyn salon seven years ago. The team, as passionate about hair and scalp health as the quality of the products they use, she says, ‘strategically apply and combine specific masques, scalp oils, and cleansing creams; we utilise heat and massage for thorough penetration’.
The space – designed by Leary and fabricated with the help of a local carpenter – was conceived to provide ‘a blank canvas for the work the stylists create. Uncluttered and unimposing, minimal and calming. I keep this in mind with every addition I make to the space,’ she says.
113 6th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11249, whiteroombrooklyn.com
Takamichi Hair
If you can manage to snag an appointment with Takamichi Saeki himself, you’ll find yourself with a razor-sharp cut that lasts and lasts. Something of a hairdressing legend, Saeki has clients who fly from all over the world to sit beneath his scissors. A former gallery owner, his love of art shapes not just his chic haircuts but also the look of his second-floor Bowery salon. Designed in collaboration with architect Sandra van Rolleghem in 2012, the space features a wealth of contemporary artworks, including murals by Barcelona-born artist Santi Moix.
Takamichi hair products (which you’ll also find in the bathrooms of buzzy new hotel Nine Orchard, as well as Saeki’s own Gramercy Park retail store Takamichi Beauty Room) are displayed like a cabinet of objets d’art. Book in for the salon’s cutting-edge and deeply rejuvenating Infrared Therapy Deep Conditioning treatment, designed to infuse conditioners deeper into the hair’s cortex using infrared lights and vibrations.
Takamichi Hair, 263 Bowery, 2nd floor, NY 10002, takamichihair.com
Minor Rose
Bradley Scott Rosen has achieved what could have been impossible with his Gramercy Park salon, Minor Rose. Opening in fall 2020 was a brave move. The salon’s success is perhaps due in part to its intimacy: tucked quietly away on a neighborhood street with chairs for just two clients at a time, Minor Rose is without the chaotic chatter and commotion of your usual salon.
Its signature service? A really good haircut, trimmed in peace. This gem of a space was designed by Evan Erlebacher of Also Office. ‘I wanted the space to function as a hair salon without necessarily looking or feeling like one,’ says Rosen. ‘I wanted my guests to feel a sense of belonging in the space, confident they would be safe, seen, centred and celebrated,’ he adds of his mid-pandemic opening. ‘As basic forms of social intimacy are renegotiated, the salon can be a sanctuary for human connection.’
125 East 17th Street, NY 10003, minorrose.com
Suite Caroline
Suite Caroline-founder Lena Ott had worked on catwalk shows in Paris, New York and Milan, for designers from Rick Owens to Sies Marjan, before opening her 2,000 sq ft SoHo salon. The loft-style space was created by architect Jorge Peña and designed in collaboration with Uhuru Design, which specialises in American-made furniture.
An installation of three fuzzy neon stalactites – commissioned by Ott in 2020 from Icelandic artist Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir, better known as Shoplifter – hang in contrast to the exposed brick surroundings, while also nodding to the daring colours and cuts for which Suite Caroline has become known. Ott will celebrate a decade of the New York salon’s avant-garde style in 2023.
65 Greene St #2F, NY 10012, suitecaroline.com
Baja Studio
‘Being from California originally and with Mexican native roots, I wanted to create a space that felt reminiscent of the desert coastal landscapes by way of Baja, Mexico and California in the 1970s,’ says Baja Studio owner Angela Soto. She opened her tranquil space in May 2019, after working for hair legend Guido Palau for five years, and has become known as a specialist in curly and highly textured hair, frizz-free keratin treatments and ‘natural, sunkissed, effortless hair achieved with balayage and our signature textured haircuts’.
Soto entrusted her friend Mark Silvestri of Silvestri Millwork and Painting to fabricate her own interior design and filled the space with succulents, palm leaves, cacti, hair products from Oribe and Reverie, and coffee table books. ‘We serve Negronis, burn Byredo candles, offer Aesop hand soap and keep organic tampons on hand. It’s important to me that clients feel pampered like they are a guest in my home,’ she says.
20 Thompson Street, #1C, NY 10013, bajastudionyc.com
Nails
Jinsoon Hand & Foot Spa
Jinsoon Hand & Foot Spa was founded in the 1990s by Jin Soon Choi. Choi hails from South Korea, but moved to New York City three decades ago, and began working the salon circuit. Soon after, she was offered a job as an editorial manicurist, collaborating with the likes of Steven Meisel and Irving Penn, before opening up shop in the East Village.
Today, Jin Soon Choi remains one of the best nail bars in NYC, with three Manhattan locations: Tribeca, the West Village and the Upper East Side. Choi, who knows every aspect of the nail industry now also has a namesake vegan nail polish brand, JinSoon, which is used in manicures and pedicures alongside a wealth of other products. The atmosphere is soothing and unfussy, and the treatment menu has a range of unique options at a great value. The ‘Breath of Milk and Honey’ treatment is a must, with feet and hands dunked in warm milk, exfoliated with honey sugar and given a massage, before finally being wrapped in a hot steamed towel.
Jinsoon Hand & Foot Spa, Tribeca – 37 Walker St, NY 10013; West Village – 23 Jones St, NY 10014; Upper East Side – 421 East 73rd St, NY 10021, jinsoon.com
Sundays
Sundays’ founder Amy Lin has dedicated her practice to being soft on the senses in every way. Lin worked with a chemist for a year after graduating from Columbia University with an MBA to formulate the perfect non-toxic polish, now Sundays’ signature product. ‘Our signature treatment is the Guided Meditation Manicure; we are the first to create the wellness experience in a nail salon setting,’ she says.
‘Sundays was designed like a home,’ she adds. Rather than ‘surgical bright lighting, we use warm lighting and have wooden floors with comfy warm grey chairs to create the Scandinavian-inspired home feeling.’ She assigned designer Andrew Weigand with the job of designing her New York salons, in NoMad and Hudson Yards – ‘He didn't have experience in commercial real estate, which I thought was perfect, as it can help create a one-of-a-kind design, versus a copy-and-paste design,’ she says.
Sundays, NoMad – 51 E 25th St, New York, NY 10010; Hudson Yards – 20 Hudson Yards, 500 West 33rd Street, Floor 3, New York, NY 10001; 1481 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10028, dearsundays.com
Vanity Projects
When curator Rita de Alencar Pinto launched Vanity Projects in 2008, it existed as a series of pop-ups in art spaces, including the homes and studios of artists and creative friends, as well as renowned institutions such as MoMA PS1. When she moved into her permanent spaces – in New York in 2013, followed by Miami in 2015 – the curation of video art was central to her concept.
‘Vanity Projects’ vision is to reshape the way patrons perceive and experience video art by placing it in an engaging environment,’ she says. ‘We specialise in innovative gel nail-art manicures from the most sought-after nail artists in the world,’ she continues, having hosted over 100 nail ‘artists in residence’ between her Miami and New York salons.
99 Chrystie Street, 2nd Floor, NY 10002, vanityprojectsnyc.com
Skin
Sofie Pavitt Skincare Studio
Another aesthetician you’re going to want to book in with is Sofie Pavitt a.k.a. ‘the acne whisperer’. It’s a nickname she’s been given for her ability to transform problematic skin types, with her bespoke non-nonsense and results-driven approach. (She also has her own line of non-comedogenic products, Sofie Pavitt Face, formulated for this very purpose).
Alongside offering bespoke acne and ‘skin overhaul’ programmes for clients, signature in-studio treatments include the Sofie Pavitt Peel, which focuses on evening out sun damage, fine lines and skin texture.
Sofie Pavitt Skincare Studio, 297 Grand St #3A, NY 10002, sofiepavitt.com
Raquel New York
Raquel Medina-Cleghorn, founder of the skincare studio Raquel New York, has garnered a lot of attention in the past year for her fashion choices; and fair enough — who wouldn’t be impressed by an aesthetician that gives you microcurrent therapy while wearing Chopova Lowena? But what really sets Medina-Cleghorn apart, is her ability to sculpt your face through a unique blend of holistic and scientific methods, so that you’re walking out her door with smooth skin and cheekbones you didn’t even know you had.
Medina-Cleghorn, who trained under Joanna Czech after leaving her career as a stylist, is a skincare obsessive and constantly explores new technologies that can be used in the studio. These include the ‘time machine’ or Neurotris SX-4500 system, which uses various frequencies and wave patterns to lift, tone and tighten face and body muscles; as well as the Ionzyme DF Machine, which uses electrical currents and sound waves to transport vitamin molecules through the skin. These high-end technologies are paired with natural techniques for toning and lifting like intra-oral massage and Vodder Method lymphatic draining, for truly impressive results.
Raquel New York, 86 Walker St 6th Floor, NY 10013, raquelnewyork.com
Dr Barbara Sturm
Dr Barbara Sturm’s Manhattan location is a one-stop destination for the famed German doctor’s products and treatments. In contrast to her famous minimal white packaging, the new 5000 sq ft Madison Avenue location feels closer to an elegant Upper East Side townhouse: the treatment rooms are decorated in flora and fauna wallpaper, with plush carpet and velvet furnishings.
Treatments on offer include her trademarked ‘SturmGlow Facial’, a go-to for reviving tired skin, especially in event season, as well as high-impact therapies such as the ‘Exoso-Metic Growth Factor Facial’ which smoothes out fine lines by microneedling regenerative exosomes into the skin. Book the double treatment room and take a friend or partner to enjoy your facials in tandem.
Dr Sturm Spa, 1006 Madison Ave, NY 10075, drsturm.com
Wellness
Sage + Sound
Lacey Tisch and Lauren Zucker founded Sage + Sound in 2022 when they realised they couldn't find a holistic wellness destination that tended not just to external beautification, but nourishment of the soul, too.
Aiming to make self-care easier and more simplified, their 5000 Sq ft Upper East Side location is a calming one-stop offering acupuncture by Paul Kempisty, lymphatic drainage massage and facials by Tracie Martyn, as well as a comprehensive schedule of classes. A team of expert healers, speakers and practitioners leads the ‘mental fitness’ programming, which includes sound meditation by George MacPherson, clearing rituals by Valerie Oula, and a men’s class on fulfilment led by ex-Marine and super trainer Kevin Fenton.
Sage + Sound, 1481 3rd Ave, NY 10028, sage-sound.com
Practise
Kristyn Smith’s diminutive Tribeca salon is in contrast to her lengthy waiting list. Her newly opened space is intentionally designed on the smaller side among New York salons ‘so as not to overwhelm the waiting room’, she says. Interior designer Tony Fornabaio, who also worked with Smith on her former Chelsea salon, created a sanctuary in the Tribeca-Chinatown building, with curved walls that illuminate the space, a blush pink waiting room decorated with gifts from friends and clients, including glassware, crystal and a photograph by LA artist Alana O’ Herlihy.
Personalisation is her remit; whether you’re suffering from acne, hyperpigmentation, dehydration, or fatigue, Smith – who has studied reflexology, gua sha, aromatherapy and more – and her team will craft a unique treatment for you. ‘Our philosophy is both educational and state-of-the-art,’ she says, as a proponent of sculpting lymphatic drainage massage and micro-current treatments.
Smith also runs the non-profit 0303 Foundation, which ‘aims to provide specific skincare products that nurture and heal the skin to students across America who rarely have the access or means to afford them’, and provides education and training through classes and workshops with certified nutritionists, trainers and physiologists who address skin, diet, and mental wellbeing.
89 Walker Street, New York, NY 10013, practisenyc.com, the0303foundation.org
Gotham Wellness
Acupuncturist Stefanie DiLibero founded her business in 2009 and opened her private acupuncture and facial studio in SoHo in 2018. Clients queue up for a session under her needles to rid themselves of stress and maximise well-being, a sentiment that’s reflected in the blissful surroundings of her salon, designed by architect Kyle May.
‘The lobby is lined in custom wood stacked to create an experience that is stimulating, not just visually, but physically and olfactory as well. The treatment room is conceived of as an ethereal space – white sheer curtains surround the entire space even over windows, with custom millwork housing the necessary products for treatment,’ states the architect.
Gotham Wellness, 580 Broadway #711, NY 10012, gothamwellness.com
