First off, in the spirit of full disclosure, I work at The Cosmopolitan, which is where Violet Hour is situated, but fret not fellow Yelpers for the following words are at once sincere and a downright accurate representation of my experience as a customer.
Okay, let's talk nails. Yes, gentle readers and lifelong friends, the once rugged and traditionally manly person behind the words thou art reading at this moment has gone full metro -- replete with manicured nails, groomed brows, textured and dimensionally colored hair, and paraffin-dipped mitts.
Back to nails...Jennifer Le is awesome personified. An expert technician, she made my hands look and feel better than they ever had. But more importantly, Jennifer made me feel at ease in an environment I wasn't accustomed to. What's more, she took the time to get to know me. It was a fantastic experience.
And now for hair...Andeen Rose-Clark is a master at her craft. I remember running into her shortly before opening The Cosmopolitan back in December. She took a look at my hair, which was "buzzed and faded" at the time, and asked how I felt about it. I mentioned that my hair had been really short for the better part of two decades, mostly because I was under the impression that my mane had to be that short or Liu Kang long to look good. She encouraged me to grow it out and to give her a shot at showing me what could be done. I agreed.
Fast forward to a couple months later. I found myself sitting in Andeen's chair uncertain about what was to come. Keep in mind that up until that point, all of my haircuts were essentially done by yours truly in the comfort of my home or by a barber in my neighborhood. I had no clue what I was in for!
Like Jennifer Le, Andeen did a phenomenal job of making me feel at ease. She took the time to learn as much as she could about my lifestyle, my appetite for styling, and to teach me a couple of things about my own hair. I left the salon that day with a hairstyle I love and a new commitment to (and appreciation for) spending time in high-end salons.
In the end, Violet Hour is as good as it gets.