A Customer Review: Salon Caryn Max, Moorestown, New Jersey

My family and I are long-time clients of Salon Caryn Max, located at 131 East Main Street in Moorestown, New Jersey. This full-service salon is housed in a charmingly renovated townhouse on our small town's main shopping district. It is the town's best full-service salon, in our opinion. However, there are certain caveats that come with that distinction. It is also important to note that in our town of 20,000 residents, there are less than a dozen hair salons/beauty parlors in total. While Salon Caryn Max isn't perfect - who or what is? - if you are new to Moorestown, find yourself in town for an extended visit or stay, or live in a surrounding area, this would be my first recommendation for a salon.

The pro's: The salon itself is visually charming from the outside. Housed in a brick townhouse, the salon owner and her family actually live in another portion of the Victorian building attached to the salon. The inside is tidy, clean, well lit, and has an ample supply of magazines and style-related books. It is also not inundated with side bar items like cutesy purses, jewelry, art work, etc., that many salons stuff onto the premises as a favor to customers. You don't feel the pressure to buy something you don't need - and didn't come into the shop to purchase anyway - because it's not there. The salon carries a small but selective line of cosmetics and nail polishes, as well as about four or five lines of hair care products.

They also have a very nice, user-friendly web site (www.saloncarynmax.com) on which you can view their services and prices, so you won't have sticker shock upon arrival, or have to ask what certain services will cost you. There's also plentiful free parking, a big plus in downtown Moorestown where parking is at a premium, in a lot off of Main Street right next to the building itself. The staff is well dressed and well groomed. You won't find young women dressed in what Hollywood thinks a hair stylist should wear (i.e., funky, edgy, over the top trendy looks), nor will the stylists sport Mohawk hair styles or a rainbow of colors in their own hair. They're also very pleasant and friendly. The stylists with whom I've worked have always specifically made a point of asking exactly what we are looking for in terms of color or cut, and they do listen to what you ask.

Another big plus: The salon is opened on Mondays, when most salons are closed. It's actually usually quite easy to get a Monday appointment if you call the same day.

The con's: Prices are what I'd term pre-recession. A friend recently had one inch of her hair trimmed, and was charged $47 with tip for the following: a shampoo, one inch of hair trimmed, and blowing her hair dry, but not styled. (As a comparison, the Hair Cuttery charges $36 for a hair cut that includes shampoo, conditioning, blowing the hair and styling it.) She was charged the same amount for a trim that probably could have been done at home as she would have paid for an elaborate, detailed hair style requiring cutting and shaping.

Another problem is that the salon overbooks. My family and I, plus every friend who also goes to Caryn Max, have always, always had to wait well past their appointment time. The wait can range anywhere from 15 minutes to over a half hour. Since the shop is small, things can get very cramped, noisy, and busy in a hurry. Avoid a Friday or Saturday appointment at all costs! Also, if you need to make an appointment for a township-wide 'big day' - the high school prom, winter dance, community fundraiser - you'd best make your appointment at least six weeks in advance or you'll be out of luck.

Speaking of luck: The one stylist that I can recommend unequivocally, hands down, is the owner, Caryn. A tall, slender, pretty blonde, she is both professional and quite skilled in both cutting and coloring. That having been said, it's usually very difficult to get an appointment with her. If you're new to the salon, or if you really need a 'good' cut or color, make an appointment with Caryn for whatever date that you can get with her. The other stylists are skilled, but not equally, so sometimes it's pretty much a crap shoot as to how things will turn out. They're not BAD stylists; they're just not as talented as Caryn herself or uniformly great across the board.

The facial and massage areas are a bit of a problem as well. The women working in these departments are good, but the location of these service areas isn't. Basically, you'll be getting your relaxing facial or massage in a small room (bad for those with claustrophia!) where you can pretty much hear the din of the salon just outside your door. They do a nice job with facials and massages, but it won't be as relaxing as you might like because of the surroundings.

Salon Caryn Max does many things right; had they not, the salon wouldn't have lasted the past decade it's been in business - especially in an area like southern New Jersey where there are so many other competing salons.