Ricardo Rojas Hair Studio

Posted by Carolyn

on November 6, 2008

Ten minutes after I stepped into Ricardo Roja‘s new Lower East Side salon, Ricardo dug out a magazine circa 1995 from his closet and told me “I’m going to color your hair like that. I saw it in Paris. I’ll show you.” Ricardo had just gotten back from Paris a few days prior, fresh from styling the Chanel show and a private event for John Paul Gaultier. As much as I wanted to trust this guy – he was Donatella Versace’s personal stylist for more than ten years – I must’ve let my skepticism show because he had to reassure me a couple more times. “Very hip,” he says. “Very downtown.”

And so we begin. Ricardo and his assistants got to work coloring my dark brown strands. Meanwhile, I’m frantically texting Kathleen (aka joie) with the play-by-play. “He’s going to only make my ends red!” I say. “Brown roots, red ends! But he swears it will look good. Quick, google the Chanel show and see if the hair looks good.”

I should’ve known that I had nothing to worry about. Ricardo is a hair genius! In fact, we had consulted him a few weeks ago about how to recreate Blake Lively’s Gossip Girl premiere look. Surprisingly, Ricardo remembered. Emailing him for a story was fun, but now we had some serious face to face time since these red highlights would take at least a few hours to set in.

Ricardo is super friendly and down to earth. My experience with most celebrity stylists is that they are, in fact, fabulous. Ricardo is so easy to talk to – funny, honest, and has a lot to say. His hair studio, located in the Hotel on Rivington, opened within an extraordinary four month time period. Since Ricardo is an avid traveler, I wondered why he chose New York to open his first salon. “I didn’t want to open a salon,” he says. “You know how you get pregnant. It was that kind of situation.” Well, this beauty editor and his other clients sure are happy about his salon knock-up. Decorated with hot pink seats and ornate mirrors, the space is rock n’ roll meets Louis XIV meets Italian atelier. “What I did know, is that I didn’t want to open a salon on 57th and 5th” says Ricardo. And truly, I didn’t think that strip of old school luxury could handle the edginess of Ricardo’s salon either.

Ricardo works with 3 assistants and this was the first time that I’ve had more than one person work on my hair at any given time. The experience is pretty cool. Having extra hands means that everything is done efficiently and quickly. Hailing from Argentina, Ricardo communicates in a mixture of Spanish and English. I really got the vibe that his staff is like family which makes for a very warm and welcome ambiance. Most of the coloring process took place over the sink since he toned and glossed. As such, I really appreciated all the help as it probably cut the time in half.

After the color, Ricardo followed with a cut. By this time, I was already so enamored with him and his salon that I knew I’d love my color regardless of how it turned out. But I really had nothing to worry about because it was fabulous. The highlights were the perfect shade of reddish brown set against the darker brown of my hair. Ricardo has a very rock and roll style, and my hair looked much cooler than the conservative single-processes that I’ve been mostly doing in the past year. So when he picked up his shears, I completely just let him do whatever. And the result: an updated, trendier version of the long layered look I usually wear. He cut long bangs and chopped up some more layers. “Keep your hair long,” said Ricardo. “Long wavy hair is all over the runways in Paris.”

It’s obvious Ricardo loves Paris. In fact, he has plans to open his second salon there – and maybe one in Miami or Puerto Rico. “Puerto Rican women love getting coiffed,” he says. “They are so beautiful.” I’m sure that wherever Ricardo chooses his next endeavor, all the women in the know will follow him.

Ricardo’s salon in New York also offers another fantastic perk that he offered me while I was waiting for my hair to dry. The salon performs the Intraceuticals Oxygen Infusion facial, which gets your skin looking miraculous in minutes. The resident specialist is Coleen, a former model and now celebrity makeup stylist. Connie (aka thedailyobsession) had experienced the treatment out in LA a few months ago, and I felt like my facial definitely lived up to her rave. Even though I’m only in my early 20s, the thought of eventually having to get Restylane had already crossed my mind. But now I’d rather choose this Oxygen Infusion for the time being; immediately after, my face was more radiant, firmer and fine lines were diminished. The treatment itself is great, but Coleen really made it better. She is so sweet and knowledgeable. Thirty minutes of the facial felt more like 3 minutes as we chatted about her experiences in the industry. As I was the last one out of the salon tonight, I saw her giving herself the oxygen facial and laughed out loud. I’m too knowledgeable to blindl believe in celebrity endorsements, so there’s nothing like seeing your aesthetician give herself the same facial to reinforce that this really, really works.

The client experience at Ricardo Rojas is top notch and the talent is through the roof. Cuts and color at Ricardo Rojas Hair Studio start at $150 and highlights start at $350. I had such a great experience there, that I’m tagging this as one of my obsessions. If you’re looking for something really cool, check out Ricardo’s portfolio and then head on over to 107 Rivington.

Note: Many thanks to Sergio – star personality, manicurist, colorist and official photographer of the night for also fixing up these pics.