"Understanding that hair is the number one fashionable accessory that we have, nourishment and preservation is the highest priority," says Carlos, the owner of Shampoo Avenue B and one its senior stylists, on his webpage. But maintenance isn't the only goal of the salon's hair artists—they're also motivated by the desire to create something original that’s at once casually elegant and urban. Utilizing coloring treatments, biosofteners, and scissor skills honed on the ‘dos of countless coifs, the team creates striking new looks for its clientele. Each cut and style draws upon experience designing hair for editorial photo shoots and for celebrities "from Jimmy Page to Chloë Sevigny" according to New York magazine.

Though services such as punk color treatments and Brazilian blowouts give a glimpse of the salon’s bent and range, the decor of the space itself is perhaps more revealing. There, a bubbling cityscape drenched in wild pinks and yellows is entangled with an homage to graffiti and urbanization. Black-and-white illustrations run up the support columns and lend the ceiling a bit of chaos to offset the crystal chandeliers that pointedly bring the eye back to the styling stations, which are as elegant and crisp as a ball gown sewn from fresh hundred-dollar bills.