From Skype to DJs, salons try to entice

It can be hard to live in a big city and not become a creature of habit: getting coffee at the same cafe every morning; commuting the same way to work; having a fierce loyalty to the same hairdresser - or loyalty to none - year after year. But now, with the economy wobbly and jobs lost and all of our routines thrown into disarray, local salons are doing all they can to win new clients and keep the ones they have. Some are offering exotic new services, others are hosting special events to dazzle customers. Whether they offer a revolutionary technology, a hair-highlighting party, or a VIP discount program, these five salons are determined to give monotony a stylish detour. RACHEL ZARRELL

This bright little salon in Harvard Square, owned by Rick Fogarty, is using the free videochat service Skype to provide free video consultations for clients. Although the program is still in an early stage - Skype appointments are only available Mondays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. - Fogarty's confident the service will put his salon a step ahead of the dozens of others nearby.

Recently, the salon has also begun hosting "Friday Night Lights," when stylists dole out $49 partial highlights, without a haircut or blow dry, from 5 to 9 p.m. - on Fridays, of course.

"We provide blowers and brushes for them to style their own hair, and then they go out to their dance clubs or parties or whatever it is they do," Fogarty said.

Although people are trying to save money more than ever, Fogarty said he feels his prices are modest and hopes offering discounts like 20 percent off for first-time customers will draw in the Harvard Square crowds.

"This is a new market and we have to get the people in," he said. "We're dealing with a student demographic, and with the economy being what it is we feel [our services are] reasonable and by far an affordable luxury."

99 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, 617-547-5262. www.planbsalon.com

Salon Capri, located in both Newton and Hyde Park, is part of the "dying breed of full-service salons," said Newton manager Nick Penna. The spa offers manicures, pedicures, skin care, and massage, as well as other treatments. In essence, it's one-stop shopping for customers, a difficult sell these days.

"It's really hard right now to maybe bite the bullet and get a manicure while you're waiting for your hair to process," he said. In the hopes of drawing customers in, the Newton location has recently begun offering day-of deals for walk-in clients, such as a free manicure when they get a pedicure or half off for a friend when you book a pedicure. "We're finding that it's great to just drum up business for that day," Penna said.

Four months ago, Capri also became the first salon to carry the Shu Uemura product line, and began offering "Shu Ceremonies," intense hair conditioning treatments combined with a shiatsu head massage, varying in price from $45 to $150.

31 Lincoln St., Newton, 617-969-1970; 1207 River St., Hyde Park, 617-361-3830. www.saloncapri.com

For those too traumatized by their bad hair, or just too busy to pick up a phone, Newbury Street shop Stilisti started offering online booking a year ago. But in January, the salon began a point-based reward system for clients. If a client refers a friend, for example, they get 20,000 points, or $20, to spend on whichever service they want, and online booking and pre-booking fetch 2,000 points each. That said, online booking is only available for existing clients, who receive a client ID number upon their first visit. "It's kind of our own way to reward our VIP clients," owner Marisa Marino said.

138 Newbury St., 617-262-2234. www.stilistiboston.com

Anyone can wield a hair straightener. But Avanti, on Newbury Street, has just begun to offer a new kind of hair straightener that uses a technology generally reserved for pregnant women: ultrasound.

Following a recent trip to China, stylist Avi Elkayam came back with the new tool, which is "not hot, it's completely cold," stylist Seth Selman said. With infrared light and ultrasound, the straightener is run through pieces of deeply conditioned hair, beeping as it's used. The end result is super shiny hair, Selman said. It also causes the hair cuticle to lie flat, great for those with coarse hair. "It's the best treatment I've ever used, pretty much," he said.

11 Newbury St., 617-267-4027, www.avantisalonboston.com

Before going out on the town, girls may hit the bar - the style bar, that is. At Phillipostyle, a small salon in the Fenway area, their In & Out Style Bar offers varied blow dry styles from $35-$50. Little menus list six different blow-outs nicknamed after cocktail styles, complete with visuals for how the look will turn out.

A "straight-up" blow dry is pin straight and shiny, whereas a "neat" is more of a "classic, ready-to-go look." There's also "stirred," a '40s style S-wave; "dirty," for beachy curls; or "extra dirty," described as '80s glam rock. And for the Style Bar repeat offender, punch cards give customers the 11th dry free, after they purchase 10.

The Style Bar gives clients a chance to try out the salon, owner Phillipo Capporella said.

"We sit down with the client to try to go over their personal style," he said. "Not only to see what they're trying to see, but help push them in a different direction than they might usually go."

Bar-hopping is especially encouraged, as clients who came in earlier in the week can have their blow-outs retouched for $8 to $15. The salon also has blow-dry memberships, where clients can get one blow-out a week for six months or a year. Recently, the salon launched Wild Wednesdays, when the lights dim, a DJ spins tunes, and blow-outs are 25 percent off from 5-8 p.m.

"I have a lot of different ideas," Capporella said, "and a lot of them are based on this whole philosophy I have that when you come into a salon, it's a one- or two-hour vacation from your life."

1369 Boylston St., 857-362-7410, www.phillipostyle.com