If you’re a Manhasset resident who’s gone to the school prom in the last few years, there’s a good chance Erick Ilizarov styled your hair before your date applied your corsage.
Ilizarov, the owner of de Lis Salon on Plandome Road, said he offers the most affordable blow dry in town – a $25 service along with a shampooing, the shop’s specialty.
“In two years, we’ve probably become the busiest salon in town,” he said.
The salon’s stylists, Ilizarov said, do more than just color, cut and style hair, but rather help people understand why certain styles look better than others as well as teach them the proper techniques for maintaining them.
“We try to make you realize what looks good for you,” he said. “A lot of people have no idea how to style their own hair, especially men. They don’t know what looks good for them. We can look at a person and, based on their body type and complexion, tell them why a certain style looks good on them.”
The de Lis Web site touts Ilizarov as a “color correction specialist and color master,” which the Rego Park resident described as someone who can fix a poor coloring job while also creating masterful ones.
“If someone does their own coloring at home and messes it up, or if another salon messes it up, they can come to me with it,” he said. “I don’t believe in shops doing one style or color. There’s always something to learn in the fields of coloring and cutting hair.”
Ilizarov, whose family immigrated to the United States from Russia in 1994, opened de Lis in 2011 following an eight-year stint at a salon in Great Neck.
“When people try us, they tend to stay with us,” he said. “They feel like the atmosphere and the way they treated is like they’re at home. I tell my staff that when someone sits in the chair, they become family. We try to have very close relationships with every client.”
A 10-year veteran in the salon business, Ilizarov said he was attracted to Manhasset’s “family-oriented” atmosphere, and said the town’s location in the heart of the Town of North Hempstead allowed him to retain longtime Great Neck customers while attracting those from Roslyn and Port Washington.
“In Manhasset, our prices and the job we do for our prices is beyond belief,” he said. “It’s very reasonable. I also do a lot of advertising, as much as I can. Manhasset is a very small town, believe it or not, and the word of mouth really speaks for itself.”
“Plus, it’s not very easy along [Plandome Road] to find a place with parking, so finding a location with a lot behind it was very important,” Ilizarov added
Always trying to evolve as a stylist and beautician, Ilizarov said, he attends workshops and classes to improve his craft and even holds monthly lessons for his staff to pass along what he’s learned throughout his career.
“I believe in teaching what I know to others,” he said. “Let’s say someone with a specialty comes in and that’s their thing, I try to teach them what I know so they have a chance to be at the level I’m at with my specialty.”
While Ilizarov values hairdressers with their own specialties, he said the most important quality he looks for in a potential employee is a willingness to learn new ways to be well-rounded beauticians.
“I always feel like a person who’s a sponge in water, and willing to learn, I could tell that person can thrive with us,” he said. “You have a lot of hairdressers that think they’re the best, and they stop learning and become arrogant. To this day, no matter how good I or my staff become, we try to learn and advance. That’s what makes for a good hairdresser.”
Ilizarov is even in the process of turning the salon into a more well-rounded spa, complete with facial and massage features.
“We’re trying to make it an all you want salon, where people can come to pamper themselves,” he said.
