Give Your Head a Little Love, Part 1 of 3: MANE
January 8, 2012 by Hedonista · Leave a Comment
With the holidays pretty much behind us and wintertime still in full swing, it’s time for a little self-lovin’. Take your head, for instance: hair, face, and lips. Those three components make up the next 3-part series here on Heed the Hedonist. First, hair.
Cheating – specifically cheating on your hair stylist – is something many mane-maestros fixate on (personally, your Hedonista has two fav – and steady – stylists). However, when I was offered a media-comped blow job – er, I mean, “blowout” – being the good hedonist I am, I just couldn’t say no. Besides, going to a blow dry bar isn’t cheating; it merely fills the “in-between times” when you don’t need a cut and/or color from the salons. For a blow dry bar does no cut or color work, just a wash ‘n’ blow. The result: salon-styled hair without the cut and color for about a third of the price.
MANE's interior - accented with chartreuse, the signature color of Kate's grandmother and Judith's mother, the recently-deceased Marie Miller - is all about fostering a social community for women, much like the barbershops of old have done for men. Notice the TV above the jewelry "bar" where clients can enjoy a complimentary hot or cold beverage while getting blown out.
Take one of Seattle’s only blow dry bars as far as I know: MANE Blow Dry Bar. Located at 717 Pine at the Grand Hyatt in downtown Seattle, their slogans include “We’re all about the blowout” and “Wash. Style. Glow. $35.” Their soft opening took place on December 16th, 2011 and their Grand Opening took place this past Friday on January 6th, 2012.
Offering $35 for a 45-minute (or less) wash, style, and blow, this treatment is geared to make its clientele glow. MANE also offers a series of potential add-ons; for example, add another $10 and also enjoy a 10-minute head and neck massage, dubbed the “MANE Touch” (which I highly recommend). The five styles available for $35 are as follows:
1) Au Naturale – one’s usual ‘do with “extra oomph & shine.”
2) Wave To Your Fans – an extra smooth ‘d0 with loose, sexy curls.
3) Up Down Diva – a glamor-pussed part up, part down ‘do.
4) Straight To The Point - very straight, smooth, and silky soft hair (I know, ’cause this is the ‘do I had done, chosen because my hair is naturally curly).
5) Va Va Voom – high-volume curls.
They also offer a deep conditioning treatment – which includes a hand massage and hot towel wrap – for $20 (the “MANE Tame” – I tried this before they introduced the hot towel, and loved it), an up-do for $60 (the “MANE Sweep”), and a “MANE Makeover” – $35 for a full face make-up makeover or $20 for lips and eyes only). There’s even a $24 “MANE Girl” treatment: royal blowouts for girls 10 years of age and under.
Kate Winquist, business consultant-and-attorney-turned blow dry bar owner, posing with one of the artistic touches to be found throughout MANE.
Although new to the Pacific Northwest, blow dry bars are not new in the United States: they are already established on both the east (think New York) and west (think Los Angeles) coasts. MANE – with a chartreuse logo that has a blow dryer as the “A” in “mAne” – is founded by the mother-daughter team of Seattleite originals (who’ve now returned): Judith and Kate Winquist.
Says Kate of the blow dry bar concept: “… I liked the way it made the women feel more confident, ’cause your hair can be your best accessory or your worst,” Kate confided. “And for me to just look good that one time every three months when I went to the salon, you know, it wasn’t enough. And until you can take your head off and put it on the table and turn it around, you’ll never be able to get the back of your hair looking smooth.”
MANE’s premise, in Kate’s words: that “A great hair day and confidence should be within everyone’s reach.”
With aspirations to be the “best blowout in town,” MANE is a “chemical-free” bar that exclusively carries the Neuma product line – an organic beauty line conceived by Jeffery Orrell, who is the creator of Pureology, which he subsequently sold to L’Oréal. Neuma products are sold MANE’s “boutique bar” along with fab accessories from both here and abroad).
Open seven days a week (10 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday to Saturday and noon to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays), MANE covers everything from drop-ins (although appointments are a good idea) to planned parties.
But be forewarned, dear hedonists: the folks at MANE promise “head-turning, envy-enducing, habit-forming blowouts” … as one who’s recently experienced this, they may just be on to something.
Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 of my Give Your Head a Little Love series, dear hedonists….
