Waltham Hairstylist Wins Best Of Boston 2020

WALTHAM, MA— Boston Magazine named Maricruz Hairstyles the best wedding hairstylist of 2020 in the magazine's latest issue of the Best of Boston.

"It's wonderful, it's definitely an honor," said Maricruz Polito, the woman behind the award, who first found out about it through a friend. "The magazine is an icon, and everybody knows it. It's just so impressive to me when a business makes it to that point."

Polito spent 10 years learning, working and experiencing life as a hairstylist on Newbury Street in Boston. For the past five years she's been working on creating her own path in the bridal industry. In 2019 she opened her shop in Waltham near the corner of Moody and Main streets.

Polito describes her self as a very "girly-girl" type of woman that has always loved weddings, the dresses, the flowers. And while she was accomplished with haircutting and highlighting and had trained in Paris, London and Spain, it was when she was working under a master hairstylist at L'Elegance Coiffure on Newbury Street, her love and passion for hairstyling became obvious, she said.

"Victor told me if you really want to set yourself apart you need to find a specialty," she said.

Polito is a one woman show and has brides visit her Waltham shop for practice dos, but travels to the weddings for the Big Day. And each year she sees between 60 and 75 weddings per year. For the bigger parties of up to 20 she has helpers, she said. This year, as with most businesses, she's been impacted by the pandemic with plenty of brides calling to postpone or cancel. But she remains optimistic.

For the past five years she's won the Couples Choice award from the magazine Wedding Wire.

From Boston's Best of Boston 2020:

Entrusting someone with the most photographed hairstyle of your life is no small decision—unless, of course, that someone is Maricruz Polito. With years of experience behind every tendril she curls, pins, or spritzes into place, the savvy stylist doesn’t just create memorable ’dos for clients preparing to walk down the aisle. Polito—who recently debuted a shiny new studio in Waltham—brings peace of mind to brides looking for a stress-free (and decidedly elegant) wedding day, write the Boston Magazine judges.

Each year the magazine’s team of judges search the city, the 'burbs and the the Cape and the Islands to find the top businesses.

Also in Waltham, the Cuban restaurant Gustazo won a Best Of Boston recognition and Waltham's Wolfers Lighting got best lighting in the home section. The magazine named the Habitat Education Center & Wildlife Sanctuary in Belmont as the best outdoor space west of Boston, LuxCouture in Newton the best boutique with curbside west of Boston and Kimball Farm in Westford the best family friendly activity west of Boston.

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