The earliest salons were informal gatherings where B-list philosophers gibbered away so they couldn't hear themselves dying of plague. Get an earful of the modern salon’s soothing hair-dryer purrs and scissor chop-chops instead with today's deal: for $20, you get $40 worth of salon services at L Designs in Simsbury.

Named Best Hair Salon in Hartford by the Hartford Advocate, L Designs cuts, colors, and styles hairs to the height of follicle fashion. Shape up with a shampoo, haircut, and blow-dry ($40 and up), tame wild locks with a straightening treatment ($100 and up), or get long enough hair to be used as climbing rope with extensions (pricing varies). Friendly, experienced colorists can change tone ($72 and up), selectively shade ($100 and up), or hold hands with a first-time coloree ($90 and up).

Owner Linda Weiss-Gelineau's work has been published in catalogs and beauty magazines throughout the world. She specializes in foiling, having developed a few new application techniques that she perfected by practicing on cantaloupe heads covered in Twizzler hair. Call ahead to make an appointment.

Reviews

Though the reviews for L Designs are still growing, it was recently named Best Hair Salon in 2010 by the Hartford Advocate:

• Owner and founder Linda Weiss-Gelineau (the L in "L Designs" is for Linda) says the salon is in its fourth year. In that time she and her crew have not only styled the hair of promqueens and brides, but they've also regularly staged photo shoots, the photos from which have been published in the hair fashion magazine Inspire…But, of course, L Designs is principally a hair salon (with some spa and waxing services). Weiss-Gelineau says the stylists there can do all kinds of cool things with hair: colors, extensions, cuts. Also, perms, obviously! Poof! – Hartford Advocate