Glamour to Go

I went to Suite Tart on Broadway expecting a blowout. What I didn’t anticipate was to spend two hours both completely relaxing and getting one of the quickest makeovers known to man. Let me tell you, that was a pretty fabulous surprise.

If we’re being completely honest, I hadn’t put much planning into my Suite Tart experience. The retro-fabulous salon is owned by Lulu Locks, local vintage icon and creative force behind Providence Pin-Up (whose studio shares space with the salon). I had been in her chair before, though not in the year she’s owned her own salon, and had done a pin-up photo session a couple of years ago. So, when I told her I had an event to go to and was looking for a rock and roll look, I knew I would be in good hands.

I walked into Suite Tart to be greeted by a huge, fierce portrait of Blondie and a smiling Brandon Ward, who handles all matters of face at the salon. He informed me that I would be having a Suite Treat as a prelude to my hairstyle. “Sounds naughty,” I said. “What is it?” “An eyebrow wax and shiatsu head massage before your shampoo,” he said. Even better.

Brandon sat me down by the hairwashing sinks and took my face in both hands, asking, “How do you feel about your eyebrows?” “I like them,” I responded. “But I trust you.” He applied cream wax, a gentler version of hot wax that’s great for sensitive skin, and cleaned up the straggly bits that I hadn’t been paying close enough attention to. It took about three minutes and didn’t hurt at all. He then shampooed my hair, rinsed it and began the massage. For 20 or more blissful minutes, Brandon massaged the tension out of all of the pressure points in my head. I had come in with a sour face and a week’s worth of stress on my mind, but it all washed down the drain with my cream rinse. “I can’t believe how much better I feel,” I said to him.

Then, it was into the styling chair for my promised blowout. Lulu had promised me something ‘80s-inspired, which is just about the best promise anyone can make to me. She blew my curls straight with a blow dryer, and then used a flat iron to seal the cuticle, making for a lustrous combination of straight pieces and some bouncy sections. Then Lulu did something I haven’t seen anyone do since 1989. She took out a crimping iron. Let me repeat: I had my hair crimped in 2013.

Not all of it – just a couple of strategic pieces in the front. They were a really innovative textural change, and added a rock and roll touch to my look. It really – and I say this without any hint of exaggeration – couldn’t have been a more perfect choice.

After, I was lucky enough to wheedle a makeup touch-up out of Brandon, who’s an accomplished cosmetic artist. (In fact, he’s Hunger Games-author Suzanne Collins’s artist of choice.) I didn’t give him any direction: I just wanted to see Brandon at work. But when he put a combination of hot pink pencil and glassy gloss on my lips, it was like he had read my mind.

That night at my event I felt confident and absolutely great, which is the best you can hope for, especially at a time that’s important to you. “You crimped your hair?” a friend asked me. “That’s so wrong and so right.” “Why so wrong?” I asked. “I haven’t seen it since the ‘80s,” he said, “but you look fabulous.” That’s happening again – and soon.