An upscale, multi-floor salon has just opened in Astoria, offering guests the ultimate destination to unwind and meet all their beauty needs, from hair and nails to facials and massages.
Bubbles & Mane, located at 23-67 31st St. in Astoria, held its grand opening on Friday, Nov. 28, to invite guests to explore the expansive space where they can spend the day indulging in all of their wellness needs to feel good on the inside and out.
“I wanted to create a wellness space where we could bring together self-care and beauty at an affordable cost, especially in the day and age we’re living in,” said Michelle DeMartino, Bubbles & Mane’s owner. “I believe self-care should be a necessity, an affordable luxury, and we should all be able to check out and care for ourselves.”
DeMartino, who runs the salon with her partner, Eric Richards, also owns Astoria Beauty Bar, which she opened three years ago. The Queens native has had an extensive career in the hair and beauty industry, first as a freelancer, to now as the owner of two spaces in the community. After the success of her first salon, she sensed it was time to expand her vision and cultivate a salon that provides an atmosphere of relaxation and a place to escape and rejuvenate for the day.
“The first salon was 450 square feet, and it was myself and one other part-time person, so I felt like we needed to grow and scale,” said DeMartino. “I initially wanted to open a place out in Nashville, and this is that concept; a wellness space for bachelorettes, bridal girls, girls day out, whether you want to do it every other month or every month at an affordable cost.”
The salon offers a range of services, including haircuts and color, makeup services, manicures, pedicures, and spa treatments such as facials, massages and body scrubs. The space also features a boutique offering a selection of beauty and wellness products, accessories, and other items, with a focus on women-owned brands and locally based brands, as well as using products that emphasize clean beauty.
“It’s about the quality of our skincare products and services,” said DeMartino. “I want to make sure it’s going to be clean, and we really want to bring a destination experience to them. We put in a bar for cocktails and wellness mocktails, so when you finish a treatment, if it’s a matcha facial, we want to offer a complimentary matcha shot, so we’re connecting the service to the experience.”
DeMartino also prioritizes emphasizing clients’ natural beauty, with a focus on clean products and hair color changes that are only modestly darker or lighter in tone.
“We’re really trying to focus on the clean beauty route and natural beauty,” said DeMartino. “For color, that means we’re only lifting it two levels, we’re not doing fashion tones or extreme color transformations.”
As the salon is quite expansive and aesthetically pleasing, the new space provided an opportunity to become more than just a place for beauty services but to collaborate with other creatives and entrepreneurs in the area, from wellness events to classes, workshops and more.
“That was really a big part of her concept,” said Richards. “How do we become part of the community, not just a place to go for a haircut or facial and leave, but also provide community events to brand events, and education so a client can actually understand how to use a product.”
With an area for gatherings that includes a long table in a cozy setting, plenty of chairs, a bar area, and an extensive salon space, the venue is perfect for a range of events, from special occasions to wellness activities and more. Whether guests want to host a bachelorette wellness day or host a workshop, the space has plenty of opportunities.
“We want to do parties and events,” said DeMartino. “I used to do a monthly self-care event where I would have sound bath therapy, and we would always incorporate some element of a beauty ritual and journaling, so we want to keep that going now. I used to rent space out of restaurants to do those, and now I’m like, we can do that here, so I’m so excited for that.”
Follow Bubble and Mane at @bubblesnmane to book an appointment or learn more about their events and services.
