Best of Philly

Best Hair Salon

2026 Best Hair (and More) Salon

Subculture Hair Studio

You’ll go to Subculture for precise pixies, standard trims, and painted buzzes (zebra stripes, anyone?), but you’ll stay for everything else: facials, acupuncture, waxing, head spa, and, soon to come, cosmetic tattooing for permanent or semipermanent makeup. The entire team is deeply competent, and the studio is effortlessly cool — even the walls are a rotating art gallery. Read More »

525 South 4th Street, Suite L02, Philadelphia, PA | 267-254-5661 | Website

2026 Best Curl Specialist

Cynthia Peditto

Peditto’s expertise shines in the curl world. The stylist — who’s been cutting and coloring hair of all textures for nearly 30 years — has perfected a freehand twisting technique that defines your locks, can get you proudly rocking bangs (Yes! Even you, curly girls!), and has helped at least one perimenopausal client we know maintain volume despite hair thinning. Bonus: Your grow-out will look just as tight and bouncy as it did in Peditto’s chair. Read More »

1503 Walnut Street, Suite 12A, Floor 3, Philadelphia, PA | 215-883-6510 | Website

2025 Best Bold Cuts and Colors

Fleurs du Mal Hair Salon

Named after Baudelaire’s poetry collection Flowers of Evil as a nod to “finding your own version of beauty,” this Queen Village salon guides customers in telling their one-of-a-kind stories via their hair. Along with their team, co-owners Meera Gessner and Cate Breining lean into fun, alternative styles and color — think mullets, wolf cuts, and vivid hues across the rainbow — so you can confidently look and feel your best, most radical self. Read More »

736 South 4th Street, Philadelphia, PA Website

2025 Best Curly Girl Salon

K. Louise Boutique

The stylists at Kara Williams’s relaxing Roxborough salon — including Williams, a colorist and hair educator — are pros at giving shape and making highly textured kinks and curls look damned good. All services include a wash and conditioning, and for the cherry on top, complimentary tea, wine, coffee, and snacks. Read More »

6072 Ridge Avenue, Floor 1, Philadelphia, PA Website

2024 Best Curly Girl Salon

Natural State

Positive energy pours out of this boho space, where owners Brianna Redner and Coette Heard have created a haven for all sorts of textured hair. They’ve developed their own system for cuts, color and styling that’s guaranteed to enhance your natural curls while making everyday management a breeze. (They’re so good they even educate other stylists on their methods.) Read More »

709 Bethlehem Pike, Erdenheim, PA Website

2024 Best Bold Color and Cuts

Heavy Metal Hair Salon

This cool-as-hell salon from stylist and owner Brittany Goldberg features a lot of neon — plus a Marshall amp mini-fridge stocked with beer, and copious leather and studs, obviously. (You’ll likely hear Mötley Crüe, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden while there.) The salon specializes in vivid and creative coloring — including leopard-print–dyed hair for wrestler Joey Janela — and is a hot spot for trendy mullets and shags. Read More »

1604 East Passyunk Avenue, Philadelphia, PA Website

2023 Best Hair Salon

Wild Honey Salon

Over at mother/daughter-owned Wild Honey Salon you’ll find a come-as-you-are vibe, stylists who are excellent listeners, and a team that helps one another grow. Plus, they specialize in lived-in color, so your fresh ’do will not only look natural but also grow out with grace. Read More »

261 North 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA Website

2023 Best Curly Girl Salon

Wash~Day

When two of the area’s top natural-hair experts teamed up to create Wash~Day, curly girls all over Philly squealed with joy. Here, Tori McCutcheon deploys her deep knowledge of curl pattern and technique to bring ringlets and waves back to life with her clever cuts and treatments, while Ruth Mullen skillfully applies multi-dimensional color to make it all pop. Read More »

736 North 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA Website

2022 Best Salon for Rainbow Hues

BE NUE

Forget the DIY Manic Panic dye jobs of your youth. Jennifer Bisicchia Farrell and Kait Gannon, who opened this petite luxury salon in 2021, are turning out rainbow locks in contrasting tones of the same color — making bold shades like flamingo pink, shimmering amethyst and steely blue-gray look totally grown-up. A vibrant crown of emerald green strands just may leave onlookers with a hint of envy. Read More »

401 South 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA Website

2021 Best Hair Salon

MIXD.Salon

Cute and curled pixie? Keratin treatment? Color-blocked waves? Owner Jasmine Smalls puts a premium on staff education, so this Chestnut Hill salon knows how to handle all types of locks with elevated precision. Read More »

8614 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA Website