Glamsquad

I've been crushing on Kate Hudson's wavy hair since Almost Famous and every moment of her perfect-hair life since then.  

Over the years, every styling tool I purchased to recreate her beautiful, beachy waves has failed me. Only recently have I come to terms with the fact that I'm the common denominator among these failed attempts. It's not you, Hot Tools advanced pulse technology curling iron with the ceramic and titanium styling surface. It's me.

After admitting I have zero hair skills, this past year I turned to blow-out salons that have lured me with their promise of mimosas, cookies, chick flicks and the perfect 'do. But when I heard about Glamsquad, a new hair service that lets me book an appointment through a phone app and the stylist comes to me, I just had to give it a try!

An upcoming conference in New York offered a perfect opportunity to test out Glamsquad for the first time. A week before my trip, I installed the app and set up my profile which includes entering my credit card information for future billing purposes. The app itself is intuitive and easy to use. You can review a menu of hair styles first (I chose the Weekender's loose, wavy locks) and then booked a time.

On the day of the appointment, I washed and towel-dried my hair, as instructed about half an hour before my scheduled time. Tatiana, the stylist arrived at my hotel a couple of minutes early with a huge back pack with all her tools as well as Oribe (surprise bonus!) styling products which I LOVE. For those of you unfamiliar with Oribe, this is expensive, quality stuff that hair stylists rave about. Anyways, after a couple of minutes of setting up, away we went!

I learned from Tatiana that the Glamsquad interview process involves having an applicant do a hands-on demo of a requested style. If an applicant passes the interview, she or he goes through several weeks of training to perfect the core menu of hair styles. While Tatiana has been with Glamsquad for only one month, she has thirteen years of experience under her belt. And it shows! After some product, a blow-dry and some curling iron action, I had a head of fabulous waves in under an hour, and I was out the door on my way to the conference.  Glamsquad emailed me an invoice within the hour for a total of $62.25 ($50 plus tax and 20% tip).

All in all, the entire experience was easy, smooth, and...did I already say easy? While blow-out salons are about $10 less, I would have spent that $10 savings on a taxi to and from the salon anyways. For me, the few extra dollars for the added convenience that Glamsquad provides will make me a repeat customer.

Currently Glamsquad is available only in New York and Brooklyn with plans to expand in Boston later this year. Check out the Glamsquad in the App Store and book an appointment next time you want to glam up your tresses.