Is it possible to get a good hair cut on the Upper East Side without having to mortgage your apartment? Over the years, I have been to the best of them – Salon AKS, Rita Hazan, Bumble and Bumble and Frederic Fekkai, exiting each salon with 2 inches less of hair and a much lighter pocketbook. At A-list Upper East Side salons prices can range from $100 with junior stylists to cuts that cost as much as a Prada bag with the marquee names. While I take pride and concern in my locks, I began to resent the hefty price tag of beauty. Sure, I loved being pampered at these salons, as the assistants doted on me, bringing me a freshly brewed cappuccino or the latest issue of People. Star gazing at Fekkai, I didn’t even need the magazine as Christie Brinkley sat in the chair next to me getting a blow out. I began to add up my annual “maintenance” – between a $125 cut every two months; $300 highlights every 9 weeks and an unknown amount for waxing, manicures, pedicures and products; I decided something had to give before my bank account did.

My hair is simple, nothing fancy – long, blonde, fine and straight with a slight natural wave that a roller brush can easily tame. My days of the “Jennifer- Aniston-do” are done. I simply need a trim every 8 weeks or so to keep the frayed ends away. Having been a victim, a few times in my life, to a scissor happy stylist who fancies themselves an “Artist” and decides their canvas is my head – I am leery to try a new venue for fear of leaving with newscaster hair a bob or bangs. But I acquiesced.

Wandering along 2nd Avenue after leaving the gym I noticed an interesting looking salon. Dramatics NYC located on 2nd Avenue between 62nd and 63rd has a modern, cosmopolitan edge to it, setting it apart from other inexpensive chains such as Jean Louis David. On a flat screen TV perched overhead a continuous looping reel of footage of the salon stylists’ training sessions provided visual reassurance that they didn’t get their training from the Marine Corps barbers. With stage names such as “Glitter” and “Scalper” I wasn’t quite sure if I had taken a wrong turn and walked in to Scores strip club instead. Reading their marketing materials, I learned Mariah Carey was once an assistant there – I assume before she rocketed to the top of the billboard charts. Squelching my nerves with the thought of saving enough cash to purchase another pair of Rock & Republic jeans, I booked an appointment for 20 minutes later- something I doubt I would be able to do at Rita Hazan. Anxiously I sat down in the chair, holding my hair as if it were a baby as the stylist asked me what I was looking to do.

“Nothing drastic,” I responded with palpable fear. “Just a simple trim. Straight across the bottom – one long layer in the front.”

She pulled my hair around, flipping it from front to back, surveying the territory. After my hair was washed with a very nice aromatic shampoo, I was returned to the chair. I watched in terror as pieces of my precious golden mane dropped to the floor. When it was over, she turned me towards the mirror, gave my hair a spritz of their proprietary hair spray and pulled a long piece over my shoulder. I breathed a deep sigh of relief. In fact, starring at myself in the oblong mirror I realized my hair looked the same if not better than the cuts and blowouts for which I had been paying top dollar.

“That will be $40,” the receptionist said as I handed her the cash. Less than half of what I was paying! There are many things in life which are worth their weight in gold, but for my gold mane – a haircut is not one of them.

Dramatics has two convenient Upper East locations: