Mane Attraction Salon

Our Spa-Girl-in-the-field Olga surrendered her ponytail to the competent hands of Mane Attraction salon’s star cutter. Here’s her tale!

I have a severe case of ponytail syndrome, I have never been motivated enough to do anything with my hair aside from sticking it in a ponytail because up until yesterday, I strongly believed that my hair was utterly unmanageable. Luckily for me, Kendall Ong, owner and senior stylist at Mane Attraction Salon, was able to prove me wrong.

I arrived at Mane Attraction Salon in Phoenix with a dilemma: What to do with my unmanageable, dry, frizzy hair. I was looking for a savior or a magic hair fairy to give me beautiful locks without all of the fuss. I found him in the form of Kendall Ong, also known as the #1 person in the valley to give a “fuss-free cut.”

Upon my arrival, I was greeted by the fresh aroma of tea and coffee and to my delight, noticed that it was coming from a full stacked coffee and tea bar provide at no extra cost to the customers. I also noticed that the salon had a special lounge area, separate from the waiting area, where customers could enjoy their beverages while leafing through their favorite magazines. The third thing that struck me was the amount of awards and magazine covers with Kendall’s photos that were displayed in a very tasteful fashion throughout the salon. “When a salon has won this many awards and has received this much media coverage it can definitely be deemed trustworthy,” I thought to myself while checking “trustworthy” off of my mental checklist.

After receiving a very impressive tour of the salon I was greeted by Kendall himself, I wasn’t sure whether to shake his hand or ask for an autograph after seeing him in so many magazines!

Kendall took me back to his cushy chair, followed by his gorgeous assistant sporting the coolest faux hawk I’ve ever seen, and began his process.

Kendall’s process entailed working with my features, namely my eyes, then bone and body structure. Kendall did some very impressive measurements of my face and explained that cutting my hair at a certain angle would accentuate my features (and it sure did!). Kendall then had his assistant take me back to the washing area – boy was I in for a pleasant surprise! Kendall’s assistant massaged my back with a special massage wand and while I was melting in my chair she began explaining the products that she would be using – Bumble and Bumble Curl Conscious Smoothing Shampoo and Conditioner.

When I looked in the mirror after my luxurious shampoo and conditioning session, I was amazed to find that in place of my frizzy, dried-out head of hair I was looking at smooth, silky, golden locks. It was as though she had replaced my sad excuse for a head of hair with that of a movie star.

Now the cutting process began. I felt so at ease in the hands of my fuss-free cut master that I was willing to let him do his magic without a second thought. “We work with the hair, not against it” Kendall said while performing his artistry. He then explained why Mane Attraction’s hair cutting process differs from the techniques used at other salons. Kendall looks at hair like a painting – every good painting needs depth and texture and so does hair.

Mane Attraction’s goal is to provide customers with a hair style that they can manage on their own as well as the skills and tools needed to do so. Kendall explained that since there is not enough time in the day for him to personally work on every single customer, all of his stylists must go through a year and a half long training program (on top of their original training and regardless of past salon experience) in order to learn Kendall’s philosophies. All Mane Attraction stylists have to pass vigorous testing before Kendall will even consider allowing them to work on a client – now that’s a darn good customer satisfaction guarantee as far as I’m concerned!

I was so lost in conversation that I barely noticed a stylish brunette headed my way. “Would you like to place a lunch order” she asked. “A lunch order?” I repeated and quizzically looked at my hair master. Kendall explained that Mane Attraction places lunch and dinner orders for their customers so that, one, they don’t go hungry, and two, they can kill two birds with one stone if they’re getting their hair done during their lunch hour. “How fabulous” I thought. What an ingenious service! I made a mental note to myself that if I was ever hungry and looking for fabulous hair, Mane Attraction would be my first stop.

When Kendall finished with the cut he began styling my hair, teaching me every move along the way. He used Bumble and Bumble pre-styling tonic first, explaining that using tonic helps the other products find their way evenly throughout your hair, also mentioning that if you need a picker-upper, so to speak, later in the day all you have to do is spray some tonic and the other products will re-activate giving you the same effect you had that morning. He then proceeded to use Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray (gathering that I’m a Cali girl and love the fresh out of the ocean look) followed by some Bumble and Bumble Defining Creme.

The end result was astonishing. I was secretly wishing that I could do a photo shoot because I couldn’t remember the last time my hair looked so amazing, and to be quite honest, I don’t think it ever had. Ponytail, you are a thing of the past, look out world, the new, sassy me is coming your way!

When it was time to leave I had a sinking feeling in my chest, I didn’t want my day of pampering to end, I wanted an excuse to go back, and soon. Luckily I found that excuse posted on a calendar at Kendall’s station – “A Blow Out to Go Out” it read: $25 to $40 blow out every Friday and $25 makeup applications. I can’t think of a better way to get the weekend started. Mane Attraction, I’m coming back baby!