Lil’ Chop
Photo by Alisha Wetherill @alishaweth98 S 4th St Suite C, Brooklyn
Open Tuesday-Saturday
Living in Brooklyn, I have a multitude of options for local salons to pick from to get a slick cut. The one where I continue to find the chop of my dreams, though, is Lil’ Chop in South Williamsburg.
When you cross the threshold into the salon, it’s impossible to deny the meticulous focus that the owner, Martha Ellen Mabry (alongside designer Rahul Ghera @dyali.nyc) placed on its design and layout. The 3,000-square-foot space, featuring an open floor plan and skylight, is vivid and artistic. Custom paintings by @replicart line the wall behind the mid-century modern brown leather chairs, all of which are laid out to face inward, versus against the walls.
Headchop, the name of the salon element of Lil’ Chop, is where I first experienced what’s known as the “dry cutting” technique. Blessed (cursed?) with both curly and wavy, wild hair, the dry cut allows Martha Ellen and her team to exhibit more control and customization when I’m in the chair. I went in for the full “Chop N’ Squeeze” experience twice over the last six months and was beyond satisfied and comfortable. The finished product is the type of cut that keeps the hair compliments coming, even after it grows out more and more.
Lil’ Chop is also the name for the creative agency aspect of the space, which is rented as a facility (including a private suite) for creative productions, film and photography. It welcomes the community to host an assortment of gatherings from engagement parties to artisan showcases to brand activations.
Between the attentive hospitality of the staff, all the relaxing points of ambiance, and the surprise visits from Martha Ellen’s mini Bernedoodle puppy “Louis,” it’s hard for me to leave this salon.
Othership
Photo by Ian Patterson23 W 20th St, New York City
Open Sunday-Saturday
Othership in Flatiron is a 21st century health club featuring a performance sauna, ice baths for up to 16 people, and a social tea lounge with bleacher-style seating around a full-height central fireplace. The highlight for me though is the cold sanctuary room. There are ice baths for two or four people set at multiple different levels of cold intensity, plummeting as low as 32 degrees Fahrenheit—in case you’re looking to practice emotional resilience and overcome that fight-or-flight response.
Co-founded in Toronto in 2022 by CEO Robbie Bent and four partners, Othership Flatiron is the third outpost, following two locations in Toronto’s Adelaide and Yorkville areas. I’m eagerly anticipating the incoming Brooklyn location opening in one of my favorite stomping grounds, Kent Ave in Williamsburg, set to open in Fall 2025.
Canadian firm Futurestudio deserves an award for their design on the interiors, creating a flawless harmony throughout. The atmospheric lighting, along with the shape and placement of tile, brick, pebbled river stone flooring and backlit cedar panelling, leaves me feeling like I stepped into a beautiful scene from Dune: Prophecy.
Othership has set themselves apart from the other bathhouses that I have visited by placing heavy emphasis on group experiences that combine hot and cold sessions with immersive music, guided breathwork, aromatherapy, and group therapy-like opportunities for open sharing. I love raising my hand and reflecting on what memories or feelings that came up for me during one of the “up,” “down,” or “all around” guided sessions. There are also “free flow,” “quieter free flow,” and “evening social” options, the latter being a two hour sober-curious alternative to the night-club scene.
There is valuable service being provided at Othership, cultivating the betterment of the emotional wellness of New York City. It has quickly become a sanctuary for me right in the thick of all the noise.
