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Even the coat check at John Barrett’s eponymous salon on Bergdorf Goodman’s ninth floor boasts a bird’s-eye view of Fifth Avenue and Central Park. But it’s not just knockout vistas and can’t-beat-it convenience (it’s a quick elevator ride up from the Manolos on two) that lure socialites and the odd Hilton sister to be blonded where the verb was coined. Barrett, who succeeded Frédéric Fekkai as salon director atop the venerable department store in 1997 when Fekkai moved over to Chanel, has a rags-to-riches story that begins in Limerick, Ireland, and ends up here, in the 6,000-square-foot, former Goodman family penthouse. He oversees a staff of 100, many among the best in the biz—all the better to maintain the 2000 clients who bustle in and out weekly. Some enter the airy, lilac-painted lobby with only thirty minutes, but that’s ample time for Barrett’s cutting crew to perform quick everyday blowouts or updos for galas at the Met. Others slink in behind big sunglasses to get the works, from long-lasting haircuts to eyebrow shaping (not too thin), eyelash tinting, and an hour-long makeup application with Trish McEvoy products. Worth noting: book your Brazilian elsewhere; estheticians here don’t wax below the chin. — Rose Reis

Clients check in to this bright, glossy salon for classic updos (from $250) and expertly applied makeup (from $250). On-location styling the day of starts at $350 an hour.