A four-chair studio on Hollis Street
Lacewing is named for an insect whose wings are mostly holes with light coming through them.
Marisol and Teodora took the lease on a former picture-framing shop at 37 Hollis Street in Framingham, kept the big front window and put four chairs in the room.
Why Lacewing
A green lacewing was on the inside of the front window the week Marisol and Teodora got the keys. Its wings were the first thing in the room worth looking at: a net of fine veins with the afternoon coming through every cell. No two cells were quite alike.
That is roughly how the studio works. You can see through it before you are looked at. The prices are on the wall and the color is checked at the window. Nothing happens to your hair until it has been written on your card.
The room was a picture-framing shop for a long time. The nail holes are still in the north wall, and the price card hangs from two of the old picture hooks.
Four chairs, in full
Nobody works outside their own chair. Here are the four, what each one does not do and what to bring, so the first ten minutes go to your hair and not to paperwork.
Marisol
Curl cuts and dry cutting
- How
- Cuts curl by curl on dry hair, starting at the loosest curl because it sets the length, then wets one section only to check the shape. She cuts curl types 3A to 4B, and her chair is the one nearest the window.
- Bring
- A photo of your hair on a normal day and the products you used this morning.
- Not here
- Color. She will walk you to Teodora’s chair and stay for the consultation if you want her to.
Teodora
Balayage and color correction
- How
- Paints by hand and checks every section at the window by the door before anything is rinsed. The formula goes on the back of your card.
- Bring
- Photos of the color you had before, including the bad ones. They show her what is underneath.
- Not here
- A promise of one shade in one visit when it would take two. She tells you which it is and prices both.
Joan
Blowouts and finishing
- How
- Round brush, a cool-air pass at the end, and a section clip left in your bag so the shape holds to the next wash. She also does the cut and finish for straight to wavy hair.
- Bring
- A photo of the finish you like, even if it is on someone else’s hair.
- Not here
- Heat past what your hair can take. If a style needs it, she says so before she starts.
Dev
Men’s cuts and clipper work
- How
- Clippers on the sides, scissors on top, and the neckline cleaned up before the cape comes off.
- Bring
- A photo, or the guard number you usually ask for.
- Not here
- Color or long-hair work. He points you to Teodora’s or Marisol’s chair.
Pick one service or two, and the studio puts you with the chairs that do them.
What is by the door
The towel. A white towel on the hook outside means we are open. If it is not out, we are closed, whatever the window looks like.
The paper book. It sits on the desk by the door. Online bookings are copied into it in pencil at close. The paper book is the real one.
The window. It faces northeast. Color is checked there against a white towel, never under the lamps.
The towels. Every towel in the building is white cotton, washed here. Nothing colored is allowed in the machine, so color is always judged against white.
The cards. Every client has a card, filled in with a pencil, because a formula changes and ink does not rub out.
What the studio does not do
Perms, extensions and keratin smoothing. If you ask for one, you are told so and, when we know someone nearby who does it well, given their name.
The way in is a free consultation
It is thirty minutes with your hair dry: twenty minutes of looking and ten of numbers. You can leave with a card that has the plan and the price on it and book nothing.
Tuesday to Saturday at 37 Hollis Street. The towel is out when we are open.