Wellness Day at Hair Philosophy

About a month-ish or so ago, I went to a hair salon in NYC, Hair Philosophy! If you’ve known me for a while, you might be aware that I cut my hair about once a year. I’ve also had roughly the same hairstyle since junior high…

So what was I doing at a fancy salon, you ask? :O I was offered one free service in exchange for an honest review on Yelp (aka the review here on my blog is entirely voluntary!). Twas time for a change!

Hair Philosophy NYC

(Beginning of the scalp treatment!)

I was coming in from Central Jersey (which I still whole-heartedly believe is different from North Jersey + South Jersey). My preferred form of transportation into the city is usually NJ Transit since it’s so convenient, but on that particular day, the train got delayed by half an hour. By the time I got through the subway and powerwalked my way to Hair Philosophy, I was a vague total mess.

This is the “before” photo, m’friends.

The staff greeted me when I came in and offered me water–Nico was my stylist! He offered me some hot (but thankfully not burn-your-tongue-hot) green tea, which was perfect for the drearily grey day we were having.

“What are you looking to do with your hair and how much upkeep do you want to have to do?”

“Lowest of the low.” (In terms of maintenance. Old habits die hard.)

Nico’s suggestions:

• Scalp treatment
• Rounding out the v-cut I’d gotten as those tend to be damaging to hair longevity
• Adding face-framing layers so it’d fit into a high ponytail but would automatically frame my face in a low ponytail

He was great about explaining everything he was doing, and also gave me a bunch of great suggestions for cool restaurants to check out nearby + lots of great hair health tips!

The scalp treatment started off with a scalp analysis where he put a scope to my scalp to analyze whether it was healthy, dry, oily, or sensitive, and if it had any dry/oily/sensitive pore blockage. (Mine was dry + sensitive.) The scalp photos may be a little terrifying since they’re so close-up, but I figured I’d share anyway.

Top photo = before treatment
Bottom photo = after treatment!

The treatment was a 3-part process! He painted exfoliating gel in, gave me a scalp massage, and left the gel to chill there for 10 minutes. After that, he added hydrating gel, repeated the process, and rinsed that out before applying the anti-sensitive hair serum. The whole process was super relaxing, and the serum had a really pleasant cooling sensation. My hair felt lighter and the best word I can use to describe how my scalp felt = clarified!

All done with the scalp treatment!

Nico also gave me a mini blow drying lesson for if I want to change things up! When he heard that I was heading off to a reunion dinner with my friends from residency, he fancied up my hair and the curls actually held for a pretty long while(!!!). (For reference, I usually have to braid, hairspray, sleep in braids, and hairspray some more for my hair to hold any semblance of a curl.)

I was super happy with the results! I’ve never dyed my hair, but the work they do looks super super pretty, so maybe one day I’ll get to go back for a balayage?

Location: 192 Elizabeth Street, New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 226-6472
Hours: M-Sat 11a – 8p, Sun 11a – 7p

Check Hair Philosophy out on social media!
instagram | facebook | yelp

nico’s instagram!

• How often do you cut your hair/change up your hairstyle?