When did hair salons become galleries?

I'm lucky, my sister in law owns a hair salon (Servilles Ponsonby), so I never have to think about where I'm going to go. Whenever I visit I always feel comfortable and welcome and there is plenty of smiles. Before I met Libby I had been into my fair share of hair salons - some were uber cool and some more friendly. I guess we all look for something different in a hairdresser. I certainly look for value for money and service. Sure I don't want to go into a dive but I'm not sure about going to somewhere that looks like it stepped out of a magazine. Check some of these out:

This place is actually a hair treatment centre - gone are the days of being called a hair salon...It's not a treatment centre. I sure hope they can turn the lights up in this space to check out the colour. This space happens to be in Jakarta and uses clean and simple lines, with translucent material used as dividers. Sounds great - but colourists please do not touch the curtains with your dirty hands!!

What a cool way to make a boring space interesting. I have a love hate relationship with the hair washing stage. As much as every salon tries, those sinks are not comfortable! But then again the shear pleasure of the massage... its worth it every time!!
This salon is Cristiano Cora hair salon in New York. I like this, nice and bright, fun fun fun!

This is also Cristiano Cora hair salon in New York... Are we sure this isn't a gallery? Sure doesn't look like a hair dressers. They must have a great cleaner/sweeper, because every colour is going to show up on this floor. However given this is New York, this is perfect, slick and gorgeous!!!

This is a barbers in Israel. This concept was designed by Lion Vaknin and Sabi Aroch and was based on the fact that hair has a particular geometry and it's dynamics are derived from natural law. The strand geometry is curved, in accordance with natural or designed hair growth of different people - hence the end design result.

Glamourous - lovely. It may only be black and white but it's a great balance of textures, sheens and finishes, I love it.

These types of salon are not for everyone but I'd try these out just to see if they are as good in all the other areas - service and not to mention hair style, can they cut it?

Ciao,
Lizzi

Photo credits:
www.besthousedesign.com
www.interiordesignroom.blogspot.com
www.modresdes.com
www.momoy.com