Profile

Tennessee native Meredith Chesney gave Williamsburg its first salon for the hipster set when she opened shop there in the late nineties. When her client base grew too big for the Bedford Avenue location, she converted the space into a retro barbershop/candy store for kids and moved Mousey Brown eastward to a light-filled corner shop across from McCarren Park. Chesney keeps the setting here simple with stained wood floors and styling stations, comforting forties tunes, and an unpretentious attitude. She and three other stylists perform the cuts, coloring, and blowouts, encouraging curly-haired customers to keep their tresses natural and shaped but honoring requests if clients prefer to be styled straight. The salon also provides scalp treatments and has a 11211 (the zipcode in which it resides) exclusive on L'Oréal's Series Expert products like the Power Dose, a spray-in, three-minute treatment that effectively smoothes the hair cuticle and leaves dry hair looking shiny. Velvet hair bands and other accessories are sold at the front desk, but the atmosphere isn't overly embellished—part of what attracts men as a third of the clientele. — Karen Hudes

Chesney also styles hair for weddings and has a makeup artist available by appointment.