Today’s salon and spa design goes beyond a gorgeous backdrop for a great service, and it offers clients more than a temporary respite from a busy day. Now, salons and spas are leveraging their inherent one-on-one, human interface factor to gift clients with some invaluable connectivity in an increasingly digital world.
How does that play out in the way owners are designing their spaces? They’re actually building in architectural features that engage, comfort, tease, educate, delight and inspire.
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Today, bar concepts of every kind, including blowdry, make-up and color, are beckoning clients to gather and be part of the process. Built-in photo booths and iPads at stations invite guests to take pictures of their finished looks and print them as a keepsake or share them via social media. Colorful portraits at styling stations disappear with the flick of switch, surprising clients when they reveal the mirrors behind. And, versatile salons with mobile stations and sliding storefronts can convert into an indoor/outdoor experience on fair-weather days.
Explore each of our 20 SALONS OF THE YEAR by clicking on each salon’s name below:
GRAND-PRIZE WINNER:
6 Salon in Birmingham, Michigan, owned by Tomy Lulgjuraj, Johnny Nikollaj, George Nikollaj
FIRST RUNNER-UP:
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Shep Studio in Provo, Utah, owned by Shep and Tracy Wolsey
SECOND RUNNER-UP:
HC Studio in Brookline, Massachusetts, owned by Susan Healy
The most iconic show in international hairdressing will celebrate its 43rd edition on November 14th at LOOK Madrid, IFEMA MADRID, in a historic night that will bring together some of its legendary teams and will also host the final of the International Visionary Award across its three categories: Cut & Colour, Men’s and Avant-Garde. LOOK Madrid celebrates its next edition from November 13-15th at IFREMA MADRID.
Axel and Marc Weiss are now leading Artègo USA's distribution operations, introducing a strategy focusing on strengthening relationships with salons, distributors, educators, and sales professionals.
AI, relentless change, employee burnout, economic insecurity. Individually, each presents a challenge, but together, they create what global leadership strategies Thom Dennis calls "the perfect storm." His new book, Rewilding the Corporate Mind, offers business leaders a radically different approach to leading people through today's uncertainty and division.
JVN Hair's Summer Protection Duo is clinically proven to provide UV protection and deliver conditioning and texture to keep hair looking great all season long.
The Professional Beauty Association and Pivot Point team up to develop an ongoing study that measures the confidence of salon owners, stylists, school owners, and students.
In Dubai, a salon visit isn’t an appointment. It’s a weekly routine, and clients can spend $800 to $1,400 a month on it, according to Gaurav Tripathi of MADI International.
On October 6-8, 2026, the market behind those numbers opens its doors as Beautyworld Dubai marks its 30th edition at the Dubai World Trade Centre, bringing together distributors, brands, stylists and salon owners from all over the world.
In October, volunteers plan to walk and take the plunge during at the annual event, HairToStay Does the Bay. Find out how you can participate and support the organization that grants subsidies to cancer patients so they can receive cold cap treatments to save their hair during chemotherapy.
At Premiere Orlando 2026, SALON TODAY catches up with Easihair Pro's Angela Gilmore, who talks about why stylists lose clients who are suffering from thinning hair and hair loss, and how their new Hairlosophy line can help.
