What a Tease
The LES salon offers anything but
Troye Evers owned a salon on the corner of Canal and Orchard before closing up shop to work at Kropps and Bobbers, where he met stylists Jackie D and Margie. But Troye was fated to be master of his own domain. That’s where Tease comes in. Troye, Jackie, and Margie left Kropps and Bobbers and moved into an intimate space in the burgeoning scene of the Lower East Side. And what a sweet move it was.
As Troye recounts his history, his scissors fly through my long hair in seemingly haphazard strokes. I’m a little nervous, and I can’t remember the last time I sat down in a chair and told the stylist to do whatever he pleased with my chest-length locks. The first thing Troye suggests is to pump up the volume at the crown of my head. He says that it looks flat, a detail that had earlier escaped my attention. But I had faithfully placed myself in his hands. After all, Troye has clients up and down the East Coast and even overseas. Clients from locales as far away as Australia depend on Troye to maintain their well-kept manes.
The Tease aesthetic is a slice of rock ‘n roll heaven that happens to churn out some of the best haircuts around. The iPod, on constant rotation, plays The Raconteurs the day I’m there, and Troye himself is covered in tattoos. Co-owner Margie has stunning platinum hair that almost compels me to get highlights—but I’ll save the indulgences for next time. Aside from cuts, clients (who range from East Village hipsters to Westchester yuppies) will often step in to get extensions and blow-outs, and with Tease’s free-wine-after-five-policy and the neighborhood’s healthy nightlife, it’s easy to imagine stopping in for a little teaser before a big night out. With prices starting at $45 for an updo, you’ll be paying less for a style you can keep for days than for the drink tab you’ll run up at the nearby Annex. Not to mention that Tease’s bathroom trumps all the rock clubs’ by a million. The walls are covered in old black-and-white pictures of everyone from the Talking Heads to wide-eyed Nico. Troye explains that they hand-selected every single clipping before handing it over to a friend, who proceeded to turn it into wallpaper.
And really, that’s exactly the kind of place Tease is—a collection of friends (The World Famous Bob, a close friend of the salon and a voluptuous burlesque star, used to work as the receptionist), seasoned veterans, effortless decor, and friendly accommodations in a hipper-than-thou locale.
As for my hair? Sideswept, blown out, and re-layered, I felt like a different person—reborn, glamorous and yeah, I’ll say it ... a bit of a tease. No liquid courage required.