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Every Friday during her Brooklyn girlhood, Rita Hazan accompanied her mom to the beauty shop on Kings Highway, where, she recalls, "you felt relaxed but glamorous." Grown-up Hazan's namesake salon has the same feeling of a pampering preserve for the gals; the diff is that it's on Fifth Avenue, and the well-shod gals checking their BlackBerrys and flicking through Vogue may include Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson, and Carmen Electra. The salon has mushroomed from one chair to a full floor since 2003, possibly because "no attitude," that service cliché, is the rule here. The unpretentious staff is apt to wink back if you cross glances, and Rita is as down-to-earth as a Kings Highway bobby-pinner. Her sought-after approach to color—"sexy and sophisticated but not wild"—translates to flatteringly individual dos without stripey contrast or, as Hazan shudders, "that too-perfect, don't-touch-me look." The salon's fashionable, untrendy cuts are strong on subtle, bouncy layers that hold their shape, and endeavor to enhance, not fight, hair texture. Phyto and other high-end haircare brands are sold but not pushed, and mini-Snickers bars and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are freely offered for no-guilt noshing. This salon is as low-key as chichi gets. — Karen Tina Harrison

Linter has a high-reaching reputation in this city and abroad—she did Elizabeth Hurley’s wedding in London. After a $350 trial session, she charges $500 for bride’s makeup in the salon (on-location prices upon request).

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