About

2020 marks the 10 year anniversary of my time here in New York City, a decade filled with growth, triumphs and personal successes. I could never have imagined that after just six months of working in my Chelsea third-floor walkup, I would be singled out as “best blonde in New York” by New York magazine, a truly humbling recognition.

Over the past 10 years, with the help and guidance of my husband, Craig Longhurst, we’ve moved salons four times. Craig is a genius – an interior designer and the general organizer of our family life who has overseen every move. He’s given each location its own unique feel and energy, all the while making sure that each feels like home to our ever increasing family of clients.

Any New Yorker knows moving isn’t easy, but we’ve looked at each move as an opportunity ‘How can we make the next space even more beautiful and unique than the last?’ With that in mind, when the lease on our Fifth Avenue space was about to end in 2019, we decided to take the business in a different direction. While the Fifth Avenue space was large and innovative – everything inside was for sale, every piece of furniture, artwork and custom hair accessory – we also longed for the more personal atmosphere of our early days in here in New York.

True to form, Craig found the cutest (TINY) townhouse on the West side, right next to the Highline. The decision was an easy one to make: Downsize space and maximize creativity. This was the dream, a space where we would be able to welcome clients into our salon as warmly as if they were entering our home, because it IS our home. The house has three levels – the first is the salon, where I’m the only stylist in residence, and our living quarters upstairs.

We opened for business in January 2020 and then were forced to close in March as part of the state-wide lockdown. The health and safety of our clients has always been the most important element of our service-first philosophy, from choosing the best ‘clean’ products to use in our salons to never using noxious chemicals; as part of the cleanliness I have also taken the Barbicide COVID-19 certification courses to make sure that I have the newest tools to keep your environment safe and sterile.

I hope that you, too, have kept well and safe during these uncertain times. I look forward to welcoming you into Salon Ruggeri for a true one-on-one service experience that I think is the best in the business.