We miss you a great deal and I have been working hard to ensure a safe and relaxing experience upon your return for you and for our great staff. We are ready and we know that you are too! We want to thank you for your patience and loyalty and, to those of you that could not wait, we’ll fix it! We all know that COVID -19 is rapidly changing and so are the rules. Here is what we will be doing to ensure your safety and the safety of our staff: I am updated the procedures of our operation which include: Highest standards of sanitation for every surface area, especially before a service, entrance door, Waiting Area, reception, debit machine, bathroom and all shelves. Disinfecting all tolls and linens after every use and at the start of every day trough out the day. Masks and face shield will be provided and other personal protective equipment for all employees and guests. Hand sanitizing will be at every station and through out the salon for your safety. Social distancing for employees and guests Minimizing physical touch-points. All guests will be asked to consider their wellness upon booking an appointment and before a service is provided. We are looking forward to welcome you back to Eliegante Hair Design
Elie Assaf
At Eliegante Hair Design , we want to be your day maker. If you don’t already believe that each day is a special gift, we hope that when you visit our salon you’ll sense a boost that lifts your spirits as you look great and feel refreshed. What each person has in them is contagious, so we all need something to make our day special so we can keep sharing good and positive things with others. Do you know someone who is like this? They are like a treasure to be around.
At Eliegante, we want to be your day maker. If you don’t already believe that each day is a special gift, we hope that when you visit our salon you’ll sense a boost that lifts your spirits as you look great and feel refreshed. What each person has in them is contagious, so we all need something to make our day special so we can keep sharing good and positive things with others. Do you know someone who is like this? They are like a treasure to be around.
And, sadly, I had to say goodbye to one such person this month.
A while back I told the story of how I travelled to Lebanon and stayed with a gorgeous family at their gorgeous villa. They had even let their son’s hair grow so I could be the one to give him his first cut! That family is the Dawaf family, and my friend’s name is Marcelino. Marcelino and his wonderful family welcomed us, as they always have, with joy and tremendous hospitality. I’m sure that, with his struggles with cancer, he didn’t always felt that joy inside.
But he knew how to make a day special.
Whenever we were together, my day got brighter. He lived life with faith and a joie de vivre that’s hard to come by. That stuff inside him was contagious, and I only hope I can honour what his life has meant to me by keeping good stuff inside me too and letting it be contagious in our salon. Our staff here at Eliegante is committed to making your experience positive and rejuvenating.
In large and small ways, Marcelino was a day maker for me. I hope that we can be a day maker for you. Because while each day IS special, I think it touches our soul
when someone MAKES it special.
At our salon we often have brave guests who want to really change up their look and style. I’m talking about those big changes, the “oh wow” transformations that we like to see on makeover TV shows. We love to help our clients make this leap to something new.
It’s not always like that though. In fact, most of the time the changes we make are subtle. You might get a highlight, or leave your bangs a little longer or your fade a little higher. And sometimes, people get the same cut and style month after month. But even then, your hair is changing all the time. It changes colour, it gets dry, and yes, it eventually goes grey or goes away!
This month more than most I think about change, not only for our customers but also for our community. I’m proud to say that, like many others, Eliegante Salon actively promotes positive change in the lives of others in lots of ways -big or small. Last weekend I rode my bike in Hamilton’s Annual Road2Hope Marathon, which has an incredible 24 charity partners. The weather was a little chilly but what an amazing event to be a part of. Later this month we’re taking part in McMaster University’s Shave for a Cure fundraiser, supporting cancer research. Last year we were part of helping the Smiling over Sickness team raise over $7,000 for Camp Trillium!
And of course, this is all taking place in the month of Movember.
Everyone who is a part of these kinds of causes is pushing for positive change. And just like a haircut, those changes can be little things or big things. Or sometimes it seems like we aren’t doing anything different. But even when we look back on times of simple consistency we won’t fail to see something new about our journey or ourselves.
We all love seeing big change, the kind these organizations are working towards. But let’s also celebrate each positive step, no matter what size it is.
Because every step, just like every person, matters.
image credit: YouTube
What a big birthday we have around the corner! We are so blessed to call Canada home and I’m thankful to live in a country that people around the world look to for peace, freedom and opportunity. I came to Canada from Lebanon so many years ago now and got my own opportunity to start a business doing what I love. That opportunity has been a reality for over 17 years now.
I got a glimpse into my past just a few weeks ago. When I first started out cutting hair, I worked for a chain salon in West Hamilton. I didn’t know any English! I remember one of my first customers, a lady who has sadly passed on, was trying to tell me what she wanted. I had no idea! She said, “Elie, don’t you speak English?” I threw up my hands. No, not a word! When I came home, my wife gave me the suggestion of using numbers (like the settings on clippers) as a way to get by until my English got better. It worked, but it still took a while before I could communicate well with customers. Now I speak four languages— go figure!
A few weeks ago, a Ministry inspector came into our salon. I looked up from my chair and I recognized her immediately: it was the manager from that old salon. She hadn’t changed a bit. But I had a little fun with her because she didn’t remember me.
So I said hello, calling her by name. She was startled and gave me a puzzled look. “Umm, have we met before?” she asked. I then described her old position in that salon we worked in together all those years ago. Now she was really curious! She said, “How do you know all this about me”? I said, “See if you remember me now” and I told her my name. Her eyes got wide and she gasped. “No! The Lebanese guy!” We both laughed. Yes, it was me the Lebanese guy who couldn’t speak any English with his customers! So was so pleased to see that Eliegante Hair Design and Spa was going strong and that my English has gotten much better since then!
So when we celebrate on July 1, it will remind me again of where I came from, because we’ve all come from somewhere, we’ve all got a story. So does our great country. Happy Canada 150!
It was a Saturday I’ll never forget.
The date was May 13, 2007, and I had just gotten the keys to our new salon here on Upper James Street near the escarpment in Hamilton. In two days, we would be re-opening our doors to the public and being a day-maker for our clients in this wonderful new space. Yes, this coming Mothers Day weekend we will be celebrating 10 years at this location! Wow! And actually, this month is extra special because we have one of our amazing stylists getting married! I’m pretty sure someone around here is going to be covered in cake and confetti (probably me, lol).
But that Saturday in 2007 wasn’t so special because of the building. We’ve done lots over the years to improve our salon so we can offer our guests a luxurious style getaway. Recently we updated our upper level to make it feel more relaxing while your hair is being coloured or styled. But what I love most now is what I loved most then: the people that we get to spend time with while we do what we do best.
That morning, I got the pleasure of having my wife, mother and mother-in-law all here at the salon together to have their hair cut. What a privilege to be able to have these special women as my first guests at our new salon, and to bless them on Mother’s Day with a gift that I’ve loved offering for so much of my life. If I was their day-maker that morning then great, because I’m just returning the favour!
I wish all moms out there a Happy Mother’s Day this weekend and, if you’re looking to treat yourself to a day at the spa (or you are looking for a great gift idea for your emmi – that’s mom in Lebanese) give us a call and we’ll set a date to make you look and feel great!
We have special Mother’s Day gift cards too! Buy a $40 card and your mom will receive an additional $10 off ($50 total value) her next style getaway when she visits during her birthday month.
To book your next appointment with us, call (905) 575-9835 or visit our website today!
They say that beauty is only skin deep, but I disagree. I look at it from a different perspective. Just like love, beauty starts not on the outside, but the inside.
There’s something amazing that happens when someone sees themselves in the mirror with a new hair cut, colour or style. It’s not just the “oh wow” moment, which feels great but lasts only a second or two. Sure, we all love the big reveal: we see it all the time on TV shows. But the amazing part for me is what happens after that moment. You see a person’s eyes shine a little more, their smile gets brighter and they stand a little taller.
That’s the growing sense of beauty on the inside. It’s the feeling of joy and confidence that rises up when a person truly feels and appreciates his or her natural beauty. Really, it’s always there, but sometimes it just needs a boost to make it come out.
A friend came to the salon a while ago and asked about getting a new hair style. This friend, a man, had had the same haircut for a long time and was looking for something different. We talked about his hair and I gave him some consultation, and then we went for it. You know what was so great for me? It wasn’t just seeing the reaction of him and his wife (which was very good). It was hearing that he received so many complements from people that his new style really suited him and looked great. I bet he was smiling wider and standing taller…on the inside.
The whole thing comes down to loving yourself and appreciating who you are. At Eliegante, we want to bring the best out in you. We want you to love your hair and feel good about how you look, and all of that starts with having inner beauty. You have it! Let it shine!
You know, we say to our customers that we want to be your Day-Maker. Coming to our salon and sitting in our chairs may only take a short part of your day. But what we hope to leave with you should be part of your everyday.
Last month it was so great to be part of McMaster’s Shave-for-a-Cure event. Seventeen people sat in our chairs and offered up their hair to support this great event. One was even a Mac professor and his son! You can see pictures of the event on our Facebook page.
It takes bravery to shave off all your hair. It’s one thing to grow a moustache for Movember, but to lose your locks takes real courage! Not only is it a whole new look, but often people have never seen what their head looks like fully exposed. And sometimes, as one gentleman who came to me for a head shave found out, there is something hiding underneath: dry scalp.
Dry scalp is very common, especially around this time as the weather gets cold. Your hair and skin lack moisture in the dry, cold air, and your lack of vitamin D in the wintertime can also affect your skin. The result is a dandruff snowfall that’s far from flattering.
There are a few things you can do to fix dry scalp and keep the snow from falling. First, drink more water. Yes! Make sure you’re hydrated to give your skin and hair a chance to gain extra moisture. Keep an eye on your diet, too. Your food intake affects your hair and skin just like your water intake.
Rinsing your hair thoroughly after a bath or shower is important too, to make sure there is no product build-up to sap your hair and scalp of moisture. The longer or thicker your hair is, the more rinsing is needed to get all the shampoo and conditioner out of your hair and off your scalp. Just take a bit more time to make sure this is done properly.
And finally, if you are in need of a medicated treatment, there are lots of options. One product we carry that is an excellent solution for dry scalp is Phytopolléine Scalp Treatment from Phyto. It’s 100 % botanical with a mix of essential oils and corn germ oil, and is good for all hair types. This is the treatment my customer used and it worked great. Keep the snow outside where it belongs!
On behalf of everyone here at Eliegante Hair Design & Spa, I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!
Recently I saw a video (which is now on my Facebook page) called Christmas gifts for the homeless. In it a man asks people on the street what they’d like for Christmas, and he goes and buys what they ask for. It’s amazing: they ask for simple things like a blanket, a sandwich, or a new pair of pants. When he comes back with their gifts, it’s like “wow.” They are deeply touched, and so happy. And, watching it, you can’t help feeling it too.
That’s the power of giving!
At Eliegante, the season of giving starts early. Actually, I’m not sure it ever stops! But I’m not just talking about the people who come to the salon. We love to give our customers a great cut, style, and relaxing experience, but we also want to extend our giving out into the community. Interestingly, giving in November has a lot to do with hair!
Most people know about “Mo-vember”, where growing your moustache and taking part in events help to raise awareness about men’s health. But there are lots of other activities happening too. Each year we support City Kidz in Hamilton, which is such a great program for youth in our city. We often hold a Cut-a-Thon to raise funds for City Kidz, and this year one of the speakers at the City Kidz Dream Banquet dinner is a former City Kid herself!
Also coming up is the McMaster Shave-for-a-Cure fundraiser on November 14, from 10-3pm. My staff and I get the privilege to support these brave participants who shave their heads to raise money for Camp Trillium, a local non-profit organization which provides year-round recreational experiences for pediatric cancer patients and their families. Oh, and I want to mention the Liberty for Youth Fundraising Dinner on Nov. 9 at 5:30pm too.
So many great events!
A few weeks ago I was blessed by the giving of others as I celebrated my 50th birthday. My family, friends, customers and staff gave me plenty to be thankful for! Now, this month I can pass on the giving to others who do so much in our community.
Giving isn’t just for Christmas. It’s something that we can do all the time.
