"The People's Nana"

March 3, 2019 crown bflo

Nana is a true star.

The concept of this portrait project was a dream just last year. It began with the idea of capturing some pictures of one of our best friends with her Nana, since family is so important to us. Katie has been known for her signature yellow hair that Grace created for her using GoodDyeYoung, and that got her grandma thinking. With her 90th birthday on February 9th, 2019, Nana asked Grace if she could get her first ever hair color. After all, she has a big family vacation on the horizon! She wanted a vibrant, oceanic blue. What Nana wants, she can have!

The idea behind our photo shoot just snowballed when we asked Nana’s other granddaughter +Katie’s sister Missy to get in on the action. That’s when the bigger picture came into sight; We should get three generations of this family in one portrait, with everyone’s hair complimenting Nana’s choice. It was a go!

We spent a day in the salon prepping the hair colors we would shoot. Everything we used for our vibrant looks came from GDY. From the long-lasting pigments used on Katie + our star, to the Poser Paste used to style Missy + Kathy , everyone wore part of the rainbow. It was a great day, hearing so much laughter in the shop, stories from the past, and plans for future fun.

The big day came to shoot with Luke Copping, who was smiling just as much as us when he saw these ladies’ dynamic together on set. It was truly heartwarming watching Nana watch her daughter + granddaughters be showcased. She was so proud + loved getting to play with an avant-garde look she always wanted to. The crown crew came together on set in great team mentality: Katie Doyle was assisting for her first ever career photo shoot, Grace + Erin were changing looks on the fly, and Chelsey was creating signature makeup looks. As photos came through on Luke’s monitor, we were all crying tears of happiness.

Missy shared the following message with us after the shoot:

“Nana is usually a happy person, but her whole experience at crown made her glow for weeks on end! She couldn’t wait to show off her new look to her friends, and the whole experience really made her feel so special! I know these are memories I’ll have forever! My spunky Nana and the beautiful women of my family encapsulated in these photographs forever! Thank you so much Erin, Grace, Chelsey, Katie and Luke! You guys seriously rock!“

Sh*tty Hawkins 2.0

February 9, 2019 crown bflo

BUFFALO! WOW! Thank you to everyone who turned out for the Pride Center! 2019’s first fundraiser was like totally a huge success. Lockhouse really knows how to host!

What is this thing we lovingly call “Shitty Hawkins”? As you probably already know, we’ve been working hard to steer our industry away from a gender-based binary price structure. We were the first studio in Buffalo to break this outdated standard, which you can read more about here. We decided leading up to our first Lockhouse-based fundraiser to go with the cheeky name “Shitty Hawkins” to parody the Sadie Hawkins dances of years passed. While the idea of breaking tradition was the intent of Sadie Hawkins, it still held the mold of a binary. Love is love. Hair is hair. Fundraising should be fun. And here we are.

Now the numbers we’ve all been waiting for: The grand total raised for the Pride Center of WNY this time around was $3,128! Between our Big Check printed + donated by Ace Flag showing the amount raised from the cover charge, and the extra donations and art auction bid we collected, our total this time around was almost as much as both previous parties combined! Great job, Buffalo!

For those of you who jumped into the photo area, grab your pics here!

Thank you Chris Ferguson for capturing all of the 90’s kids.

2018 in Review

January 1, 2019 crown bflo

Why not do this entry a little different to kick off 2019!?

The entire team enjoyed the most recharging break this Holiday season, and a bunch of us rang in the new year in the middle of the woods. Here’s a nostalgic peek back at 2018 via travel journal.

Thank You for supporting our dream!

crown crew

Adjustments + Growth in 2019

December 18, 2018 crown bflo

2019 is going to be a year of growth at crown. We want to present our updated service menu + tell you about our plan. At crown, integrity + education are top priority.

Regarding price adjustments, we took into consideration the fact that we have had changes in the cost of our supplies needed to perform services, as well as the ever-growing knowledge of our team.

Starting when we reopen after Holiday break in January 2019, you’ll notice some slight changes to our menu. Because health of hair is so important to us, we are now upgrading all lightening + corrective services to include a bond builder mix. This is necessary for optimal results, and as a group, we have decided that this is required within those types of appointments. (You can still add-on treatments to any service though!)

The other edits reflect the changes in cost of our supplies, and seniority in the industry as we grow our junior stylists. For example, Erin is going into year 17 behind the chair, and the rest of the core group is approaching a decade in the industry. We truly live this life + are always bettering ourselves. That said, you’ll notice a minimal change in cut pricing, in order to transition our apprentices into stylist positions this year.

We truly feel fair + transparent in this announcement, and thank you all for your continued support. We spent our initial two years offering as value-based pricing as possible. Now is the time to hone in our skills for you + offer you the best quality service while we grow our team.

Cheers to you all,

Wishing you a safe + healthy 2019!

crown crew

Crown Turns Two

November 8, 2018 crown bflo

T W O .

Wow. Thank you. Two years went incredibly fast. Nostalgia is hitting us hard this week as we look over old blogs, camera rolls, and re-live the nightmares of construction. So much has led up to who we’ve become today. It’s great to call 500 Seneca our home.

We’ve created memories, crafted transformations, celebrated our city + the arts in so many ways. This journey started with a group of like-minded people in the industry, and has doubled in the time since opening our doors. Every day feels new, but it’s like the crew was always together.

Two years of memories are a lot to go over in our minds: from our grand opening party, to our fundraising ventures, partnering with Lockhouse, planning an expansion in less than two years, making friends overseas in the GDY community, traveling together, learning together- we could go on forever.

The best compliment we continue to regularly receive is that it feels comfortable in the shop. That is exactly what we strive for alongside our craft: a home for all to express themselves.

This week, our friends + guests helped form a list of memorable moments during our beginning…

Some of our faves were:

“Putting the coffee bar together.” -Danielle (Thank you for helping, there is always a coffee waiting for you!)

“I love your Instagram giveaways! Dustin won his very first Father’s Day!” -Sara (Congrats again, Perry’s!)

“The best parties in town.” -Ally (Thanks for helping make all our fundraisers a success!)

“Baby Powder.” -Jordan (We’re still sorry!)

“Loved seeing the crown crew at Pride- great float, great energy, great hair!” -Kate (Thanks! We love breaking our industry standards down + standing proud! #hairishair)

“Coming in and having Monster sleep on my lap or Bogan spin my chair around!” -Jean (Miss you, mamma!)

“Nana drinking Fireball at the opening party” -KTB (See the Media page, lol.)

“When Grace bleached my hair + burned my tan off…” -Fred (That icy hairline look…)

…That IG Ask-session was hilarious + emotional.

We are just so thankful to get to do what we love doing together, and make a difference in the world. Giving back is what we do. Breaking the gender-based price structure of the hair business is what we do. We’ve even seen some other locals adopt our pricing values since we opened, and that is a true step toward changing this industry.

2018 was especially crazy with our Ignite Buffalo opportunity! Because of Ignite, we have been able to bring on two new crew members, schedule education with both national and local instructors in the fields of hair and business, had a mini-renovation to boost productivity, expanded hours of operation, boosted marketing strategies, and streamlined the efficiency of our systems and operations. We’re so proud to be part of that Buffalo million.

Thank you to all our families, guests, supporters, friends far + near, Ignite alum, mentors, brands who have supported us since the beginning… We can’t wait to see what the future brings.

*header image by Evan Duckett, soon to be in Oxford Pennant form.

*images collected via life since we opened.