Like everything else in Manhattan, there are endless options when it comes to hair salons too.  As the fashion and beauty mecca of America, every hot hairstylist has an outlet in New York.

Red carpet hairstyling veterans Sally Hershberger, John Frieda, Ted Gibson, and Frederic Fekkai all have chic salons in the city.  As a beauty blogger living in Manhattan, it is hard to resist the call of those uber-posh salons.

Thankfully I was able to quell the call of the celebrity-stylist driven salons and check out a more down-to-earth one in midtown Manhattan called Sassoon Salon.

Yes, Sassoon Salon is affiliated with Vidal Sassoon and the professional line of hair care products found in drugstores.  But fortunately, unlike other celebrity stylist centric salons, the Sassoon Salon is free of pretentiousness and instead is just a sleek 3,000 square foot space staffed by a friendly, inviting and professional styling team.

A few weeks ago, on a late Thursday afternoon (after gracefully accommodating my many rescheduling requests), I popped into the salon for a cut and some highlights.

I started with highlights with Color Director Greg Miller.  Miller is a charming bi-coastal Brit who spends time in my hometown of Los Angeles (so of course I was immediately into him) and I knew I was in good hands when I learned that he’d been with Sassoon for over 33 years between the Los Angeles, London and New York locations.

After a 15 minute color consultation, Miller and I decided on natural, easy to maintain honey and redwood tones for my hair.  Using colors from the Wella Koleston Perfect professional line and a giant handful of foils, my naturally dark hair was brightened with warm highlights after just 20 minutes under the heater finished off with a gloss for megawatt shine.

Afterward coloring, Miller prescribed one of the luxurious Kerastase in-salon treatments to rehab my chemically processed hair.  An in-sink Kerastase Nutritive Aqua-Oleum express treatment resuscitated my freshly colored hair before I was whisked to another salon chair for my cut.

Creative Director Clint Wilson, like Miller is warm and easy to talk to, whose casual yet genuine banter can only be the product of years of styling chair chats.  That must be why I was not shy in sharing my preferred cutting techniques (no razors!) and desired texture (layered by not like a two tiered wedding cake).

Wilson, a native of Canada, is a 10 year veteran of Sassoon having paid his dues in the Atlanta and New York locations.  After a brief consultation, Wilson and I decide on a ready-to-wear, weightless style that would be easy to maintain throughout the winter months.

For almost 45 minutes, Wilson meticulously trimmed here and there until he achieved the shape he envisioned.  On top of the initial labor-intensive cutting process, Wilson proceeded to dry cut after blowing drying and flat ironing my hair to ensure not a single strand was off kilter.

After nearly three hours in the salon, I emerged as a new, better styled version of myself.  Though it wasn’t Extreme Makeover dramatic, the cut and color was just what I wanted.  Both stylist listened to what I wanted and took into consideration my commitment for style upkeep.

I confessed that I’ve never been one to make appointments at exactly six weeks later so both Miller and Wilson co-created an overall style that allows me to sneak away with a few more weeks before a follow-up visit (very important in these trying economic times).  Even my blowout from Wilson was more than expected – it lasted four days instead of the usual two.

For precision styling in a modern, warm and effortlessly elegant environment, I highly recommend a visit to the Sassoon Salon.  Color services start at $75 and cuts start at $98 with rates increasing according to the level of expertise of your stylist.  Blowouts start at $60 and custom treatments start at $30.

The Sassoon Salon is located at 7 West 56^th Street, right around the corner from the famed Fifth Avenue.  The salon is conveniently open seven days a week.  There are over 30 salons across the US, Canada, United Kingdom and Germany.  Click here if you’d like to find a Sassoon Salon near you.

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