Salons in West Hartford

The decor at Top Level Salon may be simple, but its treatments are anything but. A flash of color at the ends gives hair a trendy ombre effect. Eyelash extensions take the place of mascara for a bold, dramatic look. And instead of being done with traditional brushes, makeup is airbrushed on to ensure a flawless application.

Clients stepping into any one of Connecticut's six Kennedy's locations are transported to a simpler time when men were gentlemen and a trip to the barber was a relaxing social experience. The polished wood-trimmed décor and vintage leather furnishings echo that bygone era, and the smell of after-shave and sounds of scissors clipping away locks complete the portrait. Barbers offer cold beverages and hand-selected music before trimming hair or cleaning away stubble with the almost-forgotten art of the straight razor.

To render this atmosphere social, most locations sport a lounge with saloon tables, billiards, and more modern appurtenances such as flat-screen TVs and butler robots. This spirit of old-school personal service showcased amid elegant, throwback décor has helped Kennedy’s win a number of accolades, including the Best Barber Shop award from Orlando Magazine five times, most recently in 2011.

Nail tailors at the posh Off Center Salon & Spa console neglected feet with luxurious pedicures and transform hands into mobile fashion accessories with long-lasting polish. Hybrid CND Shellac polish cures under UV light, creating 10 chip-resistant shields that rebuff palms' attempts to absorb fingers for up to two weeks. T-spa pedicures begin with a fragrant lavender salt soak, which softens soles for exfoliation through a three-step green-tea mask. After scrubbing away calluses by holding them against an even rougher foot, gentle hands dispel lingering tension with an aromatherapy hot-stone massage and deftly paint digits in Chanel hues.

• For $50, you get a T-spa pedicure with a Shellac gel manicure (a $103 value). • For $45, you get an executive manicure and pedicure with a facial wax for the upper lip, chin, and eyebrows (a $98 value). • For $35, you get a T-spa manicure and executive pedicure (a $77 value.

Salon Glo's nail designers lacquer lackluster reachers with long-lasting products by Shellac and OPI. Relax in a warm bath of natural light as expert technicians cover finger shields with the innovative Shellac gel-polish hybrid, whose resistance to chipping significantly reduces the need to wear thimbles while brushing pet porcupines. Shellac keeps nails shiny, colorful, and uniformly dressed for up to two weeks and usually removes at a rate of about one minute per finger. With either option for today's deal, Salon Glo treats toenails to their own round of lavishing, polishing each piggy with a selection of radiant pigments. In the basic manicure, brush wielders buff, shape and paint fingernails, leaving hands glossed and ready to elbow feet out of stylish summer sandals.

FabuLash’s aestheticians fancify eyes with fluttering extensions, purify pores with custom facials, and free restless fur with hot wax treatments. Skin wizards customize each 60-minute facial to the precise properties of the cheeks undergoing treatment, whether they require hydration, detoxification, or recovery from grandma's pinches. While the soothing surface treatment delights the sense of touch, wafting scents of aromatherapy oils suffuse nostrils with their own treat. Clients pair their freshened expression maker with either a brow and lip wax to remove fuzz. Alternatively, a full set of lash extensions provides peepers with semi-permanent frames to accentuate flirtations and distract during high-stakes staring contests.

After years spent working as an aesthetician who occasionally offered tanning services to her clients, Basia Kraul decided to fully dedicate herself to the tanning industry and founded Endless Summer Tan & Beauty Studio in August 1999. After more than a decade in business, the quaint studio offers visitors a variety of customizable UV beds, as well as spray tanning and collagen-boosting Rejuvenessence red-light therapy. A lineup of Basia skincare products keeps visages and physiques fresh, and a handful of hair and makeup services prime heads for special events or a night out on the town book clubbing.