Posted Saturday, February 18, 2012 by Grace Gold,

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ABOUT 

Angelo David Salon touts itself as New York City’s only salon for couture hair extensions and couture hair color. Eponymously named after the owner Angelo David, whose own perfectly-coiffed hair might be the salon’s best advertisement, the salon feels like one of Midtown’s best kept secrets. Known for offering customized options that suit each customer’s needs, Angelo and his staff are dedicated to not only personalized results, but privacy – something hard to come by on an island of eight million. Whether you want hair extensions or a full-blown wig, highlights or corrective hair color, a keratin treatment or a completely new ‘do, you can get it in the salon’s relaxing main area or discreet boudoir-like private rooms.

“I deal with both cancer patients who want to create a new look and women who’ve had the worst hair-cut ever and want to turn back time,” says the charismatic owner. “All women can come here and leave with not only a look, but hair, that’s designed just for them.”

AMBIENCE

Peering over the hustle and bustle of Grand Central Station, Angelo David Salon is a small urban oasis, clad with a cappuccino bar and a dangerously stocked pastry table. The minimalist but stylish space is chock-full of plush leather furniture, rich wood accents, and elegantly appointed private rooms. The result is a warm easy balance between chi-chi style and low-key living room comfort.

EXPERIENCE

I decided to drop by the salon before a morning speaking engagement in the area – I needed something quick yet professional, an expertly sleek blow-out with a fresh manicure to match. After offering me a steaming espresso, stylist Rita Graci gave me a thorough shampoo and condition with Angelo David’s signature products. After a quick rough dry, she ran the salon’s popular heat protectant through my hair and quickly followed up with Angelo David’s new volumizing spray to prep me for a big blowout. The spray has a flexible-conditioning formula that combines silk and wheat proteins, panthenol and avocado for extra strength and hydration. It was a rainy Manhattan morning, with lingering and stubborn winter humidity, so she topped the prep off with the salon’s Zero Frizz Control, a fast-drying hair cream, to calm my unruly strands and to tame pesky frizzies and flyaways.

The Albanian-born stylist expertly wielded Angelo David’s hand-crafted paddle brushes through my tresses. As she worked her wrist-twirling magic, the nail technician went to town quickly, but meticulously, on my nails, gliding on a deep maroon from the CND Shellac line, which promises two weeks of glossy, chip-free color. This busy city girl appreciated the services happening at the same time, to save those precious minutes.

After my hair was smoothly teased, Angelo David took me on a tour down the salon’s cozy corridors where the “hair surgeon” Gloria, who has worked with extensions for nearly a decade, sits with a row of mannequin faces, delicately weaving wigs for Angelo’s clients.

Angelo himself pops in and out of the private rooms with a mayorial-like ease and friendliness, visiting clients and making sure they’re “comfortable.” That’s the key word around here. Whether you have fine or thinning hair, too-short hair, hair loss or chemical damage, Angelo – who has fashioned himself “The Vera Wang of hair” says there’s a Couture Hair solution for you. Each set of extension and wigs, made-to-order and are designed to be natural-looking, instantly adding length and volume to your hair.

Having grown up in salons, Angelo says an impersonal atmosphere void of customizing each client’s experience always frustrated him. To this end, he brings each new extension client into what he calls “the dream room” – a spacious consultative area – and spends thirty minutes with them, discussing both practical and ideal results, and even producing sketches of options.

IN CROWD

A diverse mix of midtown locals, many women hitting the scene quickly before work or various engagements, and loyal regulars. David has managed to create a chic but low-frills, nonjudgmental space where “getting more added to your scalp isn’t taboo.”

WALLET WATCH

Simple blowouts begin at $55 and color at $75. Manicures range from $20-40. Per Angelo’s “customization” mantra, all extensions and wig services are just that – customized, but can start in the hundreds, and cost up to thousands.  Angelo’s products don’t break the bank, with his detangler priced at $17.50 and his Zero Frizz Control at $19.50. And $1.00 of every purchase goes to the Lupus Foundation. For a complete list of services and prices, which you can also book online, visit  www,angelodavid.com

NEED TO KNOW

Angelo David Salon, 48 East 43^RD Street (between Madison and Park Ave), 2^nd Floor, New York, NY 10017 212.883.6620; www,angelodavid.com