• Patrick Melville Salon

  45 Rockefeller Plaza, nr. 51st St., third fl.; 212-218-8650

  The color team here, led by Rick Wellman, eschews the usual foil and baliage (freestyle highlights) for biodegradable cotton pads. Wellman’s pioneering technique, called Bio-Lights, is less aggressive and more flexible than rigid foil, and color can be applied closer to the roots; therefore, the highlights last longer. “Putting color on the roots buys you an extra week or two,” says Melville colorist Jeffrey Pearce. The results are golden, never brassy, and remarkably soft. A head of highlights with a staffer is $226, or $296 with Wellman.

From the 2009 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine