Salon Peachy: Mover and Shaker Rodney Cutler's Team Continues to Impress!
Is the skill of cutting hair a gene that can only be found in the correct genetic code? If so, Rodney Cutler certainly finds the people with this ingrained in them, and even more importantly, with the inclination- and it is above and beyond the industry standard, even with the sky-high standards and expectations of Manhattan. Every two months, Peachy Deegan reviews someone new (and sometimes revisits old favorites), and although it is a risk - she could wind up with hair she hates because someone new interprets her incorrectly - we think it is well worth it because of the upside.
When we see someone with great hair walking down the street, we ask them where they get their hair done. And that is how we got to Rodney last April...at a soiree we saw a Mover and Shaker with great hair and we asked who does her hair, then someone else we know who is a Partner in a major Public Relations firm, independent of the previously mentioned Mover and Shaker, also told us we should go see Rodney. They were right.
Hands down, Rodney Cutler has given Peachy the best haircut she has ever critiqued, and it's hard to explain to someone how to give you a great haircut. It is an inherent skill we believe.
We have found the second best hair cutter/stylist in Manhattan, and her name is Jenny Balding. And of course, she works at Cutler Salon! We told Jenny just a trim; Jenny gave us a trim. Some stylists go scissor-crazy and cut off too much....not Jenny. She listens and cares. The skill it takes to shape layers that fall perfectly when your hair air-drys-and you need to let your hair air dry pretty often to make sure it is healthy inbetween coloring, blow-drys, irons, etc - the general wear and tear of life in Manhattan- is something we cannot show or communicate to stylists exactly how to do it-they are incredible and Peachy looks like a supermodel, or they are so-so and she looks like everyone else walking down Fifth Avenue....Peachy looks like a supermodel because of Jenny Balding.
Recently Peachy Deegan arrived at Cutler on West 57th Street for the standard Salon Peachy appointment: trim, highlights, eliminate grays. And absolutely no red in her hair, no warmth, just her natural color (a rich dark brown which is what most of it grows in as!) with some cool chunky stripy blond natural looking highlights. The Cutler Salon does the little things right. They say her name right when she checks in. They take her on time. They politely ask if she would like a cappuccino. All of these little things add up to a lot in our book, and they show us that a Salon is committed to excellence and they care about the person coming in, not just the hair, although that is of course the most important thing.
Jenny Balding warmly greeted Peachy (who likes warm greetings but not warm colors in her hair) and soon Ivan Vasilyevich, the colorist, joined them. This is another thing we love about Cutler. As soon as we get there, both the stylist and the colorist talk to Peachy together. This is so so so so so important that everyone is on the same page from the very start, and another indication of the commitment to quality this brand exemplifies. No matter how great a job someone does on your hair, two months later the color is not the same because of the wear and tear of life. Peachy does not live in a hole; she goes in the sun and does she always wear a hat? No! Her hair looks great and the world should see it. Her color had lost some of the depth it needed and that was discussed, as well as the exact shade she wanted (her natural) with chunky blonde highlights (no red!!!) that look natural-and very few of them as we are headed towards winter.
Ivan began with foils for the highlighted bits-he is very efficient and careful. He studied visual arts prior to hair. The Cutler Salon is so well-lit and the windows of the second floor salon on West 57th street gloriously stretch from ceiling to floor, providing the ultimate in natural lighting for all of the colorists, and clients value that. You cannot have a dark or artificially lit salon and expect to get great color. The hustle and bustle of the Cutler salon screams positive energy and you feel like you're in one of the fashion shows they constantly are part of. Music that is like sunshine plays in the background and it is such a great experience to be part of this excitement. Plus, your hair is going to look fabulous as a result. It's set up as tables with 4 huge mirrors that seem like a huge computer screen that the client looks into during the process. The foils were perfectly aligned by Ivan and he added depth and dimension underneath. The color process does of course take a long time, however the constant people-watching entertainment of 57th street doesn't end and Jenny was so nice to bring over magazines-and she doesn't just bring over random ones she actually asked what your interests were and brought over the right ones.
With her hair foiled in lightener by Redken (we love Redken), Peachy next had the brown painted in by Ivan. Lowlight was mixed to go inbetween the foil...Ivan treats everyone as people, not as a client, and engages you in upbeat conversation during the process. Shawn Kelly did a great job washing, toning and conditioning Peachy's hair in the process and he is a great conversationalist as well; we enjoyed hearing about his recent European travels. Shawn used Redken shampoo, etc. Cutler works with Redken, but they have some of their own products too as you know from our Product Alert section. We have loved everything we've tried by Cutler, including the new 2 in 1 shampoo/conditioner, especially in Olive Oil.
When the color was done we headed over to Jenny Balding's chair where she worked her magic. Not only is she an absolute goddess of hair styling, but also she is a lot of fun to chat with, especially since she has a Scottish accent. From Glasgow, Jenny, like Rodney, has shown Peachy that maybe if all of these great people didn't come to New York, Peachy should be going to Australia and the UK to get her hair done....It is no wonder that Jenny is a staple backstage for Fashion Shows. Since Jenny cut Peachy's hair, Peachy has washed her hair and let it air dry. Peachy thinks Jenny is an absolute genius as it falls perfectly with zero effort by Peachy!!! Jenny knows to work with the natural texture of the hair, and it shows. Kelly Sayers and Jenny blew Peachy's hair out and it was a gorgeous style!
You'll see magazine covers on the walls of clients of Rodney Cutler and his crew and when you leave you'll look like you can be on one too! Whom You Know highly recommends the Cutler Salon for a second consecutive time! Jenny Balding is the 2nd best Stylist in Manhattan, only behind Rodney himself.
http://www.cutlersalon.com/
