how to get GREAT hair for less

Say cheese! Selfie with Serge.

Brides! I'm not sure if you know, but weddings are expensive. And everyone knows that saving money is suuuuch a drag. The word recessionista? Cute. The act of being a recessionista? Not.

But, nevertheless, here we are. And as someone with the dubious honor of being engaged for over a year, I am here to help guide you plebes into nuptial bliss without forcing you to sell your hair on the street like in that sad French story we all had to read in high school. Remember? And then her husband had bought her the brush as a present but she had ALREADY CUT HER HAIR? Tragic. Or, tragique.

Anyway, speaking of hair! I found one of the best deals in Manhattan and I'm nice enough to share it with you. Huge shout out to fellow bride-to-be and the ever-so-lovely and look-I'm-still-hyphenating Jane, who passed along the information.

If the world were perfect and there were no lines to get into Red Farm or Rosemary's, one of the other perfect things that would also be happening would be master stylists who cut my hair for free. I could have someone like Serge Normant on speed dial and he'd come over and whisper funny French things in my ear and then we'd go dancing at Indochine, but it would magically be 1987, because that's when Indochine was more fun (food is still decent though! Right, Kara, Alex and Jill?).

Serge Normant's Meatpacking salon

I still don't have a time machine, but I DO have a way to get $40 haircuts from Serge himself. Are you absolutely agog yet? Lemme break it down for you:

Every Wednesday night at one of Serge's salons in the city, they hold classes for their newest stylists to get hands-on experience with clients. Stylist assistants assist (duh) the master stylists, so often times during normal hours they're relegated to just aiding rather than doing the cutting of the hair. This is how the haircutting pyramid works though, so don't feel too sad for them. In 10 years they'll be on Jessica Simpson's private plane giving her voluminous waves and everyone will go to sleep happy. Until that point though, they need to get the hours in, which is where I come in.

Through Jane, I  met the lovely Liana, who is one of Serge's newest haircutters. She sent out a blast email looking for willing clients and luckily it made its way into my inbox. Liana trained at Aveda and started at Serge Normant a few months ago and she is absolutely spectacular. Now, I know some of you brides are wondering how ballsy it was to trust my locks to a newbie when my wedding is just a few months away. But guys, she's not an intern, she works at one of the fanciest-pants salons in the city. She's just fresh, which, honestly, probably means she's 100 times more careful than most of the people that cut your hair. And if case you're wondering, either Serge or his right-hand man DJ were watching and giving her tips the entire time.

Now, here's the kicker. Once Liana was through with the haircut, Serge himself assesses the hair and trims and shapes where necessary (DJ also pitched in, meaning I had three people working on my hair, NBD). A haircut with Serge normally starts at $500 and I have a lot of of hair. The year is still young, but this is by far my biggest discount find.

If anyone is interested in putting their locks in the very capable hands of Liana (with a little help from Serge himself), drop me a line and I'll put everyone in touch. FYI, you can pick whatever hairstyle you want, so I told her I just wanted a trim and that's exactly what I got. One of the best blowouts in the city, too!

I'm silly and didn't get a picture of the finished product, but trust, I looked, like, super hot.

PS: In girl math, I believe the following is true: Since I got a $500 haircut for $40, does that mean I have license to spend $460 dollars on something else? Say, truffles and patent leather shoes? Thoughts?