Buying Guides

I spent the last 90 days testing 12 popular at-home whitening kits with four volunteers on our team. Two are heavy coffee drinkers, one is a former smoker, and one has dentin sensitivity. We logged every shade change, every twinge of sensitivity, and every minute spent wearing trays or strips. The truth is, finding the … Read more

I bought my first skincare fridge three years ago after watching a dermatologist on YouTube explain how chilled serums absorb faster and reduce under-eye puffiness. Within a week of testing, the cool jade roller gliding over my face felt genuinely soothing, and my vitamin C serum stopped turning orange in the bottle as quickly. After … Read more

After spending three months testing 12 different pairs in our salon, I can tell you that the difference between a good and a bad pair of tweezers is the difference between a 30-second tidy-up and a frustrating 15-minute battle with stubborn brow hairs. Our team at Mercer Street Salon handles tweezers every single day, so … Read more

I have been testing at-home waxing kits in our salon test studio for over six years now, and I can tell you the category has changed dramatically since . When I first started, the best waxing kits were basically repackaged salon formulas with no real safety features. Today, brands like Tress Wellness, KOTAMU, and BLITZWAX … Read more

I used to spend over $400 a year on salon wax appointments, so I started testing at-home epilators in to see if they could replace the chair time. Three months and ten models later, my bathroom drawer is full of devices and my legs have stayed smooth for weeks without a single razor nick. The … Read more

I’ve shaped my own brows for years, and I still remember the panic the first time a stray hair landed a millimeter too far south. Tweezers felt surgical, threading left redness, and waxing was overkill for a single peach fuzz. That’s when I discovered proper eyebrow razors, and they changed everything. In , the best … Read more

I have been a hairstylist for over a decade, and I still remember the morning a client walked into Mercer Street Salon with a perfect silk press completely ruined by her cotton pillowcase. That was the day I started recommending overnight hair wraps to every single client who sat in my chair. A good hair … Read more

I still remember the morning I woke up with half my hair wrapped around my neck like a scarf. I had spent eighty dollars on a salon blowout the day before, and by morning it looked like I’d stuck a fork in an electrical socket. A stylist told me the fix was simple. “Get a … Read more

I’ve spent years testing heatless curling tools in our salon, and flexi rods for defined curls remain the most reliable path to bouncy, salon-quality results without a single flat iron pass. After running 12 sets through real wash-and-set routines on textured, fine, and long hair, I can tell you exactly which flexi rods deliver the … Read more

I burned my hair so badly three years ago that my stylist said the ends looked like straw. That moment sent me down a rabbit hole looking for the best foam rollers for heatless curls, and I haven’t picked up a curling iron since. After testing 10 different sets over six months, talking to stylists … Read more