Salon Pure, voted best salon by New Jersey magazine readers

Two weekends ago, we exhibited at the Nassau Inn’s Bridal Show in Princeton. All the models in the fashion show at the event were styled by a team from Salon Pure, a local salon that just won New Jersey magazine’s reader poll as the best salon in New Jersey. On Tuesday we visited the salon to find out more.

Heather Rizzo, one of Salon Pure’s owners, is tall, glamorous, and as down-to-earth as can be.

It’s easy to understand why she’s been so successful in such a short amount of time. She and her business partner, Amy Kaczowski (who was at a Paul Mitchell hair show when we visited the salon), opened the salon 4 years ago with no employees.  Now, a short 4 years later, the salon has 17 employees and hundreds of loyal customers.

“How would you describe your business philosophy?” I asked her.

“There’s one word I want customers to think of when they think of our business: comfortable,” Heather said, without losing a beat. “I want them to come into our salon and feel like they can kick off their shoes, hang out, and enjoy themselves.”

What struck us about Salon Pure is that it somehow managed to combine comfort with high style, two qualities that don’t seem like they’d go together easily. The receptionist greeted us with a big smile and immediately offered us a drink, and brought us over to a cozy seating area where the coffee table held a big platter of cookies and a stack of fashion magazines.

Heather and her team do hair and makeup for numerous weddings throughout the year. I asked her what kind of professional advice she had for brides.

“Your wedding is a very special day,” she answered. “If you’re going to pick one day to splurge on yourself, that’s the day to do it!”

“My advice would be, always get a trial before your wedding. You don’t want to try a new look on the day of your wedding and find out it doesn’t look good. If you’re going to get your hair highlighted, do it at least a week before the wedding. Don’t wash or flat iron your hair on the day of your wedding. Let your stylist take care of all of that for you. And if you’re wearing a veil, be careful when you’re hugging people!”

Heather called over one of her makeup artists, Ashley Turek, to offer specific advice about makeup. “My number one suggestion would be fake eyelashes,” Ashley said. “They are great for bringing out your eyes in pictures.”

“I’d also say, choose a style that is ‘you,’” Ashley added. “You want to feel totally comfortable with what you’re wearing.”

We all laughed when discussing our own weddings. Heather said she did her own hair and makeup at her wedding, and we admitted that we did not hire a photographer to shoot our wedding party. Now, we speak from personal experience when we advise people not to do what we did!