Depew, NY Beauty and Salons

Heading down Main Street in historic Clarence Hollow, you might notice a whimsical three-story structure with a clock at the top. Salon in the Tower lives in that building, and as Kaitlin Fritz reported for metroWNY, it’s the realized vision of Roe Baran, Jennifer Ilunga, and Laura Patterson. The trio spotted the quaint, schoolhouse-like structure while scouting the area, after the salon where Ilunga and Patterson had previously worked shut down. After meeting with the building's owner, they worked around the clock and opened the redecorated salon four days later.

What began as a staff of two has now grown into a team of 14, with Ilunga and Patterson—both educated at Bumble and bumble University—holding the reins. In addition to performing the latest cutting and coloring techniques, they perform spa treatments such as massages, facials, and mani-pedis against a backdrop of dark wooden columns, trim, and wall paneling. They use Pevonia's botanical- and marine-based products for skincare services, and they carry the Olivia Garden line of bamboo brushes, which can help with home hairstyling or distract an attacking panda.

Audubon Women's Medical Associates' female nurse practitioners, licensed aesthetician, and board-certified physicians focus solely on meeting the needs of fellow women—whether examining future family members with ultrasounds, clearing away unwanted fuzz with laser hair removal, or soothing the day-to-day stress of balancing work and home life with massage. In addition to checkups and aesthetic treatments, the healers make over daily routines with their Transitions Lifestyle System, a nutrition-oriented program that incorporates meal planning, fitness and exercise, and behavior modification.

Since creating her aesthetic care center in 1984, owner Brenda Romanow has focused her attention on biochemical advancements in the skincare industry to provide her clients with the most effective anti-aging treatments. Under Brenda's watchful eye, Desired Image's trained staff employ a skin analysis to assess the client's dermal health, type, zodiac sign, and stress level before constructing a beauty blueprint that can include everything from chemical peels, targeted facials, and body-detox wraps to specialty treatments such as laser spider-vein removal. The beauty haven also stocks its shelves with a professional, chirally correct skincare line that helps combat inflammation and sensitivity with molecularly compatible solutions that can easily bond with the skin's lonely receptors.

Amid the soothing cream- and mocha-hued palette of Montage Salon, stylists wield Paul Mitchell products as they brighten locks with highlights and single-process-color services. The talented staff also customizes facials with Dermalogica products and blends conditioning treatments to best match hair type. Inside private rooms, aestheticians shape eyebrows and remove unwanted hair with wax instead of a jet-engine-powered vacuum cleaner. The staff rounds out the pampering with Gelish manicures and paraffin dips.

Dr. Jack Bertolino, Smooth Solutions Medical Aesthetics's owner and operator, employs a slew of modern technologies to combat his patients' signs of aging. He zaps wrinkles, cellulite, and stretch marks with his arsenal of medical-grade lasers. Along with lasers, Dr. Bertolino offers bariatric medicine to aid weight loss. Dr. Bertolino is also one of the area's only practitioners to offer bioidentical hormone-replacement therapy, which introduces testosterone and estrogen back into aging bodies with time-release capsules implanted in the skin, helping men and women maintain their health, youth, and love of trampolines.

Brothers Richard and Philip Samuel operate Maximum Tan, pitching in daily to maintain five levels of tanning equipment at seven salons. A computer system monitors the freshness of lamps in every lie-down and standup UV bed, tracking each bulb's hours so that it can be changed before the standard recommended time. The employees, who are trained in skincare, tanning hygiene, and equipment operation, can bronze bodies with custom airbrush tans or escort guests to self-operated VersaSpa booths. Each store is kept cool so that customers can stay comfortable after tanning sessions or long days babysitting electric blankets.