Four hair stylists (probably leaving their bosses stranded) make their own cuts in Bandra.

Martinis and Manes

When was the last time you leaned against a bar and asked for a pedicure, straight up? You can now at Tesoura, a brand new, bright purple salon and spa (for men and women) in Bandra where martini glasses hang over a reception counter, blow driers light up a mini smoking room and disco lights glimmer in the bathroom. All around, thrones of different shapes and sizes lie in wait for bums who want to become beautiful. How shot would you like to go, ma’am?

Portuguese for ‘scissors’, Tesoura is run by ex-Nalini & Yasmin hairstylists Aarti Modi and Pragati Malhotra, who transformed a run-down dentist’s clinic to look like an amethyst coloured dream where you can get your hair cut, coloured, styled and spa-treated. Aarti recommends disconnected bangs and copper highlights for the monsoon. Besides treating your mane well, they also work with a band of experts who can paint your face, buff your nails, defuzz your legs and exfoliate your skin while you wait for the colour to set in. Inside, in a breadbox-sized massage room where a magnificent chest of draws threatens to rob your eye candy status, you can get a head, foot and back massage sans oil.

Getting there: Tesoura, 101, Luis Belle, plot no 85, 16th Road, in the building opposite Shiv Sagar, Bandra (W), call 65660444, Rs 1,250 for a haircut (special rates until the end of July), opens on Friday, July 22.

Cream of the Crop

Also sharpening their scissors are Carolyne Batra and Aleisha Keswani (disclosure: the latter is an old, dear friend of one of us Scouters), ex-Toni & Guy and Juice hair stylists that are opening the Crop Factory on Thursday, July 21. Along with the uber-cool name, the salon also boasts blue and purple accents, silvery-white walls, and haircuts that start as low as Rs 400.

Aleisha recommends the salon’s “extensive range” of hair spa services including single and long-term damage control treatments as well as the mani-pedi section, which features a raw earth manicure, strawberry paraffin wax and foot reflexology massage administered by a candle. Sexy!

Getting there: Crop Factory, Shop #3, New Jaldarshan Co-op Housing Society, Perry Cross Road, Bandra (W), call 31922093/ 31922094, haircuts start at Rs 400.