Lisa Power
Owner,Lisa Power Salon
536 Fifth Ave W, Lower Queen Anne, 206-216-2900; lisapowersalon.com
STARTINGPRICES $122 for cuts; $98 for color
HOWLONGYOU’LL WAIT TO GET IN 4 weeks
TRAINEDWITH Gary Manuel, but her real training might have been as a small-town cowgirl. Power learned to love all things sleek and well-groomed during her horse show days.
YEARS IN THEINDUSTRY 26
SPECIALTY Color, especially red
Christophe Soltane
Creative Director, Gene Juarez Salons and Spas
Visit genejuarez.com for locations
STARTINGPRICES $150 for cuts
HOWLONGYOU’LL WAIT TO GET IN About 1 week
TRAINEDWITH Bigwigs Jean Louis David and Jacques Dessange in his native France; he later joined Bruno Dessange, the noteworthy New York salon.
YEARS IN THEINDUSTRY Since he was 14; way longer than you’ve been trying to grow out your bangs.
PRICETOORICHFORYOURBLOOD? Soltane suggests Leigh Dawson or Charlie Perritt for haircuts and Dylan Lynch for color; all work alongside him in the downtown salon.
Gary Howse
Co-owner, Gary Manuel Salon
2127 First Ave, Belltown, 206-728-1234; garymanuel.com
STARTING PRICESs $175 for cuts; $200 for color
HOWLONGYOU’LL WAIT TO GET IN Clients book a year ahead, and if you’re not already on his books for 2013, you’re out of luck. Howse isn’t taking new clients.
YEARS IN THEINDUSTRY 36
SPECIALTY Complicated color. “Redheads are kind of a favorite. I love the color and the personality.”
WANT TO GET IN, IN THISLIFETIME? Howse’ll steer you toward colleagues Jeff Carlson for cuts and Tsofia Richter for color.
David Cheung
Co-owner,Margi David Salon
2723 Eastlake Ave E, Eastlake, 206-328-2052; margidavid.com
STARTING PRICESs $88 for cuts and color
HOWLONGYOU’LL WAIT TO GET IN About 1 week
TRAINEDWITH Toni and Guy, those supercool Brits with franchise salons the world over.
YEARS IN THEINDUSTRY 30
SPECIALTY Razor cuts.
NEXT IN LINE Jason Ledingham’s excellent blowout skills make him Cheung’s second in command.
Gary Bocz
Founder and Former Owner,Bocz Salon
1523 Sixth Ave, Downtown, 206-624-9134; boczsalon.com
STARTINGPRICES $75 for cuts
HOWLONGYOU’LL WAIT TO GET IN About 2 weeks
YEARS IN THEINDUSTRY 48. He and Gene Juarez came to Seattle from Yakima in 1964 and became roommates. They were so broke that one day Juarez burnt his toast and Bocz, who then considered himself an artist, used the charred remains to sketch. His art teacher turned him on to beauty school; by 1973 he had his own salon.
SPECIALTY Fine hair. “People with this hair type don’t have to struggle. The difference is in the cut.”
Victoria Ptak
Owner, Vain Salon
Visit vain.com for locations
STARTINGPRICES You’d have to make her a really good deal; Ptak stopped cutting hair about six years ago.
YEARS IN THEINDUSTRY 16. She came here in 1996 because the gritty underground of New York that she loved so much was going mainstream. Seattle was, at the time, pretty long on hair, grit, and weirdos. The former punk rocker cut hair out of her apartment and then opened Vain, originally a beauty product store.
SPECIALTY All three salons—there’s a new one in West Seattle—are “art supply stores for personal style.”
ON ACTIVEDUTY Ptak entrusts downtown stylists like Samantha Brown to carry on her vision.
Marco Farmer
Owner,Marco Two Union Square
601 Union St, Ste 220, Downtown, 206-628-8881; marcotwounionsquare.com
STARTINGPRICES $200 for cuts
HOWLONGYOU’LL WAIT TO GET IN About 1 week
TRAINEDWITH Comes from a family of stylists and barbers in Naples, Italy. He studied philosophy but couldn’t escape the family business.
YEARS IN THEINDUSTRY Started as Gene Juarez’s personal assistant and eventually became his artistic director. Fourteen years ago he opened his own salon.
LOOKING TO SPEND A LITTLELESS? Farmer declined to play favorites, but we know several well-presented Seattleites who trust Dyane Ng and Katherine Logan.
Laura Anderson
Co-owner,Halo Salon
1919 Third Ave, Downtown, 206-256-0715; halosalon.com
STARTINGPRICES $80 for cuts; $95 for color
HOWLONGYOU’LL WAIT TO GET IN 2 weeks
TRAINEDWITH Gary Manuel, then moved to San Francisco and worked at that city’s hair institution, diPietro Todd.
YEARS IN THEINDUSTRY 25. Opened Halo with Sinclair Malcolm in 1996.
SPECIALTY Updos and color—all colors, from young, fun trends to covering gray.
NEED A QUICKFIX? Anderson points to Erica Hampton’s chair; she’s especially great with men’s hair.
Stacie Bowie
Owner,Bowie Salon and Spa
1507 Belmont Ave, Capitol Hill, 206-568-3300; bowiesalonandspa.com
STARTINGPRICES $105 for cuts; $120 for color
HOWLONGYOU’LL WAIT TO GET IN 3 weeks
TRAINEDWITH After an apprenticeship in Miami, she studied at L’Oréal’s school in Paris, did time at Vidal Sassoon in London, and trained other stylists for Redken.
YEARS IN THEINDUSTRY 26
SPECIALTY Did someone do you wrong? Bowie’s an ace at color correcting.
CAN’T STANDTHEWAIT? Bowie says comrade Sarah Corpus is tops.
Joseph Abolafia
Owner,Salon Joseph
600 W McGraw St, Queen Anne, 206-285-1113; salonjoseph.com
STARTINGPRICESS $85 for cuts and color
HOWLONGYOU’LL WAIT TO GET IN 2 weeks
TRAINED AT Renon’s Beauty School in Lake City (RIP), and later worked under Wendy Amdal and Yuki Ohno, father of Olympic speed skater Apolo Ohno and founder of Yuki’s Diffusion in Belltown.
YEARS IN THEINDUSTRY 35
CELEBRITYCLIENTS Kathi Goertzen and Jean Enersen
YOUMIGHTALSOTRY Ashley Alhadeff and Jonathan Flint—Abolafia’s former apprentices have mad skills.
Wendy Amdal
Owner,Wendy Amdal Salon
4120 E Madison St, Madison Park, 206-324-2800; wendyamdalsalon.com
STARTINGPRICES $75 for cuts
HOWLONGYOU’LL WAIT TO GET IN 2 or 3 weeks
TRAINEDWITH After beauty school—which she attended while in her teens—she worked at Gene Juarez. At the age of 20, she opened her salon. Two years later, she was the youngest person to ever be inducted into Intercoiffure, the prestigious professional organization for hairstylists.
YEARS IN THEINDUSTRY 40
Jerome Charles
Creative Director, Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa
700 110th Ave NE, Bellevue, 425-455-3700;
reddoorspas.com
STARTINGPRICES for cuts $85
HOWLONGYOU’LL WAIT TO GET IN 1 or 2 weeks
TRAINEDWITH Esteemed Paris-based coiffeur Christian Lavergne; Charles returns to his native France to work with Lavergne once a year.
YEARS IN THEINDUSTRY 22.He worked all across the states before settling in at Pro Sports Club in Bellevue in December of 2010. Six months later, he walked through the Red Door at the Bravern.