Add another unique place to the list of Essex County area boutiques. Melinda Saint Pierre embarked on a new adventure with her husband Bob on August 1st, opening Heritage Hair & Boutique on 253 Irvington Avenue in South Orange. Known to have a little bit of everything, Melinda refers to her space as a “Wellness and Beauty Haven” for her customers, with an emphasis on customer connection and being an inclusive space. The shop doubles as both a boutique and hair salon, as well as offering a variety of wellness events. Read on to learn about Melinda’s story and all of the details about the three components of her space.
About the Owner
(Photo credit: MoDegreen)
Melinda, a born and raised New Yorker, was living the city’s fast-paced lifestyle. She explained that there are always events to get involved with, and found herself doing something just about all the time. There, she started her journey with hair, eventually owning a salon in the Lower East Side for five years before making the move to South Orange.
(Photo credit: MoDegreen)
She has 20 years of hair and salon experience in the Soho and Lower East Side neighborhoods and prides herself on being real and having authentic, meaningful conversations with her customers for the best experience possible. She loves to talk to her clients, share experiences with them, and create friendly relationships.
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“I’m pretty good at hair, but it’s the connection with the client that I really enjoy,” Melinda told The Montclair Girl. “Clients talk through issues, or make big decisions, and they’re sitting in the chair working it out. So pretty much, I love the business that I’m in and I feel like we have real conversations.”
(Photo credit: MoDegreen)
The co-owners of the salon is Melinda’s husband, Bob, who is a Maplewood native. They got married and the couple ended up in New Jersey. T At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lease on Melinda’s Manhattan salon was up, and she took it as a sign to move her business to South Orange and transform it into the haven she dreamed of it to be. Melinda wanted it to include everything she was interested in and create new customer connections in Essex County, while still keeping her network of New York-based contacts.
The Salon
(Photo credit: MoDegreen)
Melinda has put her interests in daily care and self-love into Heritage Hair and Boutique and wants to shed light on the healing world. She hopes to learn from teachers and healers about how to make the experience even better for her customers. She loves new encounters and wants to offer the space she has to the South Orange community, as well as nearby universities including Seton Hall and Montclair State.
At Heritage Hair and Boutique Melinda offers treatments, styling, cut, and color for both men and women. It’s a one-woman operation at the moment, and Melinda is looking forward to hiring more professionals.
Melinda also uses and sells hair products such as Olaplex and Amika for colored hair. She emphasizes using brands like L’oreal, one that she has been using during her career and has learned to know and trust. Melinda Specializes in color and is known to be great with curly hair. She explained that the popularity of natural curls has taken off in recent years and she has made a name for herself with the way she can treat and style curls.
The Boutique
(Photo credit: MoDegreen)
Owning a boutique is something fairly new to Melinda, but she is excited to offer more in the new place. The Boutique sells items from local vendors as well as handmade and natural items. Melinda makes it a point to meet vendors personally to continue her emphasis on meaningful conversations and talk about one in particular.
“I have an oil line from a woman in Brooklyn; she infuses all of her oils with crystals and she prays over them and blesses them,” Melinda said. “ When you talk to her, you just feel the magic coming off of her.”
From a family-owned jewelry company to handmade incense from Pennsylvania, the vendors Melinda chooses create all different products. She gets hand-picked crystals and stones as well as natural, vegan soap from New Jersey companies.
(Photo credit: MoDegreen)
As for clothes, Melinda mostly carries a variety of dresses, but also has some other pieces. She has a specific theme in mind when picking out clothes for the boutique.
“I try to grab things that kind of remind me of like tea parties,” Melinda said. “Things you can dress it up, you can dress it down type.”
Heritage Hair and Boutique also has a selection of home and wellness items. There are candles, mugs, and pillows with inspirational sayings, journals, face masks, tea, plants, and tarot cards to choose from. Melinda wanted to include items that make customers feel good about themselves and help them enjoy their experience in the shop.
Wellness Events + More
(Photo credit: MoDegreen)
Wellness events are another venture Melinda is excited to offer in the space. She plans to have an event each week in the future, and build a community with both her New York healing and wellness connections as well as the ones she’s been making in New Jersey.
To start, Melinda will host a “Self-Care Sunday” on November 21 that includes morning yoga, breathwork, meditation, a tea ritual and tasting, a flower crown workshop, a rosé toast, and tarot readings. Plans for future events include Meditation Mondays, Tarot Tuesdays or Thursdays, a New Year’s yoga event, and live musicians.
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“I’m hoping in the future to have events all the time, something every week. We’re working on building up a calendar and getting some momentum in that area,” Melinda said.
In addition, Melinda is also Reiki, a Japanese energy healing, certified, and knows how to read tarot cards. She also plans to offer Reiki as part of her wellness programs and show attendees the healing power and “amazing experience” it brings.
“There’s so much in the healing world that I feel like we don’t do enough of,” Melinda said. “[People] don’t know where to get it, [they] don’t even know that it even exists. I would love to bring that to people.”
Keep up with Heritage Hair and Boutique on Instagram @HeritageHairandBoutique, and on Facebook at Heritage Hair and Boutique.
