Patch Picks: Salons in the Suburbs

Are you still schlepping into the city to get your hair done because that’s what you’ve been doing since you graduated from college in 19___ and got your first job in mid-town? Newsflash: those credit limitless, single, Sex and the City days are long gone. Yes, there’s no Sex in the Suburbs (ahem), but there are plenty of great Salons in the Suburbs that not only provide the same high-quality service that city salons provide, but they do so at a fraction of the cost.

In our quest to find the best salons, we put the question to Bergen County women and were inundated by their enthusiastic responses. Although many salons were mentioned, here are the ones that received numerous votes from our readers:

(now 5 Salon & Spa), 1643 Schlosser Avenue, Fort Lee 201-944-8011     

• Hours: Tues, 12 – 6 p.m.; Wed, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.; Thurs, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Fri, 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.; Sat 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sun 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
• Services: Cuts, coloring, highlights, blow-outs, bridal consultations, waxing, facials, massages, spray tanning
• Costs: Cuts $50+; coloring $70+; highlights $145+; blowouts $35+; waxing $15+; facials $110+; massages $90+; spray tan $55+
• Why Go:   Full service salon that is very rooted in the community. Tuesday’s are “model” day, when from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. you can get a free haircut from junior hair stylists who get an opportunity to practice on “real” talking heads. You must call to put your name on the list for this. Also, they’re open Sundays!

Han’s, 325 Broad Avenue, Leonia 201-944-3461

• Hours: Tues, Wed, Fri and Sat, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Thurs 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m – 5 p.m.
• Services: Cut, color, blow-outs.
• Costs: Cuts $35+; color $60+; blowouts $25.
• Why Go: Hello? $25 blowouts and they’re open on Sundays. This is the secret blow-out palace of many women in Bergen County. And for $25, we get it. At least we will after we make an appointment for Saturday!

Transformations Salon, 394 Cedar Lane, Teaneck 201-692-1313

• Hours: Daily by appointment
• Services: Cuts, color, highlights, lowlights, perms, styles, waxing, threading.
• Costs: Call for pricing.
• Why Go: Owner and entrepreneur Mary Ann Echemendia is constantly thinking about her clients, which is why she’s developed her own product line designed for her clients' special needs.  

Blu Salon, 19 Edgewater Town Center, Edgewater 201-941-5400

• Hours: Tues, Thurs and Fri, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Wed, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Sat, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Sun, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Services: Cuts, color, highlights, blow-outs, perms, treatments, extensions, waxing, spray tanning, manicure, pedicure, facials, massage.
• Costs: Cuts $65+, color $65+, highlights $125+, blow-out $40+, perms $150+, treatments $350+, extensions (call for pricing), waxing $10+, spray tanning $25+, manicure $20+, pedicure $40+, facials $65+, massage $55+.
• Why Go: Because each hair treatment begins with a stress-relieving shoulder, neck and scalp massage. And the spa’s serene aesthetic screams (oops, whispers) calm.

Parisian Hair Academy, 362 State Street, Hackensack 201-487-2203

• Hours: Tues – Fri, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.; Tues – Thurs, 7:15 p.m. – 9 p.m.; Sat 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
• Services: Cut, color, blow-outs, wash and set, style, manicures, pedicures, waxing, facials.
• Costs: Shampoo, cut & blow dry $12, color 20+, blow out $10, manicures/pedicure special $18, waxing $8+, facials $25+.
• Why Go: Parisian Academy is so cheap because students-in-training work on your hair under the direct supervision of a seasoned instructor. They use only Paul Mitchell products, including color—for $20 you can get your hair colored? Why would you ever do it yourself again?

 Salon Luba, The Shops at Riverside, Hackensack 201-343-5575

• Hours: Call for consultation.
• Services: Cuts, color, highlights, blow-outs, straightening, treatments, manicures, pedicures, facials, make-up, packages.
• Costs: Cuts $65+, color $70+, highlights $135+, blowouts $40+, treatments $50+, manicures $22+, pedicures $50+, facials $100+, make-up $75+, packages $60+.
• Why Go: Can you say uber-luxe? If you really want a lift (the emotional kind, not the surgical kind) then this is the place to go. The client is pampered and indulged. You’ll love Luba so much that they’ll have to luba your manicured talons off the door to get you to leave.

Haruo Noro, 7 West Ridgewood Ave, Ridgewood, 201-389-3521

• Hours: Call for appointment.
• Services: Cut, blow-out, color, texture, treatment, bridal, make-up, facials, waxing.
• Costs: Cuts $70+, blow-out $45+, color $65+, texture (perm/straightening) $85+, treatment $65+, bridal $75+, make-up $85+, facials $60+, waxing $12+.
• Why Go: Move over Tabitha; there’s a new star stylist in town. Haruo Noro is a celebrity who’s a cut above the best. Trained at the Sassoon Academy in London before working for top stylists in NYC, Noro came to Ridgewood to open a high-quality, full-service salon. Here’s the twist—the ladies from Manhattan travel to Bergen County to have Noro care for their hair, skin and nails.   

The Best Little Hairhouse in Westwood, 234 Westwood Ave, Westwood 201-666-2284

• Hours: Tues, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Wed – Thurs, 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Fri 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Sat 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
• Services: Cuts, blow-outs, color, highlights, perms, treatments, brides, waxing.
• Costs: Cuts $40+, blow-outs $30+, color $45+, highlights $75+, perms $70+, treatments $300+, brides $70+, waxing $8+.
• Why Go: Because it has a great name! But manely because it has a deep social conscience. The Best Little Hairhouse in Westwood is participating in Project Ladybug’s Lucky Locks program that raises money to benefit seriously ill children who are being treated at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital and their families. They’re asking the community to come out and buy $10 red hair extensions that the staff has volunteered to install. 100 percent of the proceeds go toward helping these children. In October, the salon participated in the Pink Hair for Hope campaign that raised $4,500 for breast cancer research. The red-hair extension project is going on until June 7.