By Janet Stoica

Who really knows how partnerships and true success begin, but co-owners Jess Recko and Jessica Stoddard of Mirrored Beauty Salon in the Friendly’s Plaza in Webster are surely a testament to true teamwork, resiliency, and tenacity.

Their acquaintance began eight years ago when both began working at the former Fusion Salon at this same location. When COVID reared its ugly head last year, Fusion was forced to close, and the owner decided not to re-open when health restrictions were lifted. 

When Jess and Jessica were notified of the closure, they immediately set their sights on re-opening as partners in the stylin’ business. Besides, who wants to relocate if you’ve had faithful clients coming to the same location for eight years? The spot has plenty of accessible parking with one-step up and you’re inside the salon.

The partners began their new venture as Mirrored Beauty in June 2020. Their salon is bright, airy, and full of life, welcoming new and existing customers. These two ladies know their business and what their clients’ wants and needs are. 

Their salon services include specialized coloring, haircuts, foiling, manicures and pedicures, professional spray tanning with a Glo Body expert, and esthetician services for facials and body waxing. Featured product lines include L’anza, Verb, Joico, Redken, and Pulp Riot. 

Newcomers are always welcome. They prefer to work by appointment to make life easier for their clients and themselves and to accommodate customers as needed. 

“In high school I worked on lots of my friends’ hairstyles,” said Jess. “On the morning of our high school’s Victory Dance, I was working on 10 other friends’ hairstyles before getting myself ready. I’ve always enjoyed creating the styles that look good on my clients.”  Jessica also honed her hair designing skills in high school. “It’s all about making people feel good about themselves. When they leave our shop, it’s always with a smile,” Jessica said.

“Once we rebranded our salon (the name derives from Jess’ sister’s suggestion that since the partners’ first names were the same, they “mirrored” each other), it was all about the best sanitation we could provide for our customers and ourselves, “Jessica stated. “We were closed for 10 weeks last year and opened two weeks after Memorial Day once our licenses were approved, our shop was inspected, and new supplies were brought in. 

“We were very diligent about cleanliness and still are,” noted Jessica. “We kept our door locked between appointments and took only one client at a time. We will always be grateful to our loyal clients who stayed with us through this pandemic. We and our clients used face masks and we wiped down everything around us after each client to prepare for the next. It made our days longer as we couldn’t do haircuts on one client while another was having a color application so it was one color app instead of two every two hours. It was quite an experience and has made us experts in sanitation.”

Salon customers come from every age group, from five-year olds to an eminent 93-year-old who enjoys a wash, set, and style weekly.

The services repertoire includes perms, with the latest ask being side shaves and permed curls on top of their crowns. Other requests include buzz cuts on the sides of their head with longer styles on top, Mohawks, and wolf cuts, which is a modern-day layered look (think shag) for young ladies. 

Some of the fluorescent hair color requests include pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month (October), blue, and green, as well as splashes of three or four different colors. “Our young lady clients like to keep up with the trends,” says Jessica. “Whatever’s on the internet is what they request!” 

Now that fall is here many of their clients are looking for changes to their hair color. “They’re asking us to darken their blondes, reds, and mahoganies” said Jessica, “a bit of darker shade for the fall. Some of the new shades are really beautiful.” 

Mirrored Beauty, 131 East Main Street (Friendly’s Plaza), Webster. Hours are Tuesday – Saturday by appointment. Phone: (508) 461-6109. 

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Contact Janet:  [email protected]