Pinup Jordan's Mermaid Lounge

Now that the cat is out of the bag about the new Pinup Jordan’s Mermaid Lounge / UPSTATE NY HAIR SALON / The Rainbow Convention expansion, I can’t wait to show you all the build out process!

10 years ago when I opened up the first Mermaid Lounge, Periscope was a thing, and I would sit on there for hours with you guys keeping me company while I painted every wall, created the bubble chandelier in the wash house, and scraped tiles off of the floor using a heat gun. A lot has changed since then, and I no longer have to be doing all of the labor myself with my team, and that might be the most exciting part of all of this. As much as I love being creatively hands on, I would much rather be painting hair than painting drywall. ☺️

I have been sourcing decor for the new HQ for the last year, and I have big plans for cool decoupage walls, epoxy floors, and of course, I’m remaking the iconic bubble chandelier for the new wash house because no one has missed it more than me! It’s so exciting to literally be able to break the building up into whatever layout I want without having to work around the existing construction, plumbing and electrical. Y’all will probably be most excited about the parking lot though. 😂

Last night I started ordering warehouse shelving, salon chairs, and a sleeper couch for some late nights in the office! We are packing up the TRC storage in my basement and getting it ready to move over to HQ for August 1, which is my birthday! I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than to grow with you all! 🥹

Some heads of hair are a labor of love…this one is like a two-day C-section 😂 Heather McLeod flies in from USVI to get her hair done a few times a year, and her hair is THICCC and grows like crazy, so each appointment for her is actually a two day process.

Day one is usually just for lightening, toning, and cutting. Day two is for depositing, styling, and photos, because I didn’t do allllll of that work not to have proof 😂 I charge hourly for my time, so splitting it up into two days is no different than trying to bang it out all in one day, but then we can each get a good night’s rest before we come back on day two for the fun parts! Also got to give Heather her first QOAT Hair treatment, so I’m curious to see how it helps her pastels hold up in the island sun!

The Rainbow Convention ticket sales and TRC Awards entry period just opened up, so I’ve been busy over here with the squad making sure everything is going smoothly! We’re so excited to see all of your entries! I know people always have questions about what categories to enter a specific look into, so if it helps, I would enter this look into Neons, Pastels, and Placement! As always, make sure you’re reading the rules and the category descriptions. We’ve also shared the judging rubrics so you know what nominee selections are based on.

Don’t let the imposter syndrome get to you! Nominations are based on a point system by the judges, who are last year’s winners, so they have been where you have been and are excited to recognize our friends and their hard work! Focus on quality of your entries, the photography, completing the entire thought by considering background, lighting, and styling. The entry form is up on Therainbowconvention.com until 7/15 at 12:00 pm/ noon EST 🌈 GOOD LUCK!!

Love a little collab moment with my honeys 🎨 Color by me, styled and shot by Schenectady NY VIVID Hairstylist on one of our tattoo besties Cassandra Sanik 🧜🏼‍♀️

I’ve been loving the new QOAT Hair as my “FINISH HIM” (Mortal Kombat voice) move for my fashion color clients because it’s a super quick step that has an immediate and massive impact. It literally acts and feels like a little shellac coat on top of the hair, providing protection against color fade out, especially during the summer months when we are so exposed to the sun. Also, this isn’t sponsored 😌 I genuinely bought two bottles of it with my own money at Premiere Orlando and didn’t want to gatekeep, but also didn’t want to sound like this was a sales pitch 😂 You can find it at SalonCentric and it’s meant to be an in-salon only treatment, which I wanted to mention because all of my clients were asking if it was going to be available for retail! Not yet, but maybe we can encourage them. 😉

I love getting to work with other artists and their brands because they have the best ideas and zero fear about going full send 😍 Virtual Consultation forms for Pinup Jordan’s Mermaid Lounge / UPSTATE NY HAIR SALON are available on our website if you too are ready to hit send ☺️

BREAKING NEWS: MY BABY GRADUATED FROM KINDERGARTEN AND SHE WANTS TO BE A HAIR STYLIST LIKE MOMMY 😭😭😭 I never share personal things on IG, but this feels like pretty breaking news for Pinup Jordan’s Mermaid Lounge / UPSTATE NY HAIR SALON 2038 🥰🥹 I caught Luna cutting her own hair last night so suddenly this all makes a lot more sense 🤭 The ML salon group chat reminded me that giving yourself baby bangs as a child is really a canon event for anyone who grows up to become a hairstylist, so she’s right on track 😂

This year has been huge for my daughter. Luna is 6 years old, on the autism spectrum, and largely non-verbal. We weren’t even sure if she would be able to transition from an ABA school to a public school program, but this was her first official year at a “real school”, and the progress she has made has been so profound. There’s a balance between wanting to advocate for your child while also wanting to make sure you aren’t limiting their capabilities. It was scary to agree to move her out of the program we fought for literal years to get her into, but I am endlessly proud of how she has flourished by pushing her and supporting her needs.

School was hard for me because I was undiagnosed AuDHD until I was in my 30s. I was smart but easily distracted and incredibly disinterested in most of the things they were teaching me. I love the saying “everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its life thinking it’s stupid.” I feel like this best explains neurodivergent folks, because we excel at what we have interest in, but if you try to fit a square peg into a round hole, it’s never going to fit properly. While a well-rounded education is important, so is meeting people where they are at without making them feel less-than.

Being a mother has felt so healing for me to be the grown up I always needed for my daughter, but all of the advocacy I do for her is also for all of all of the other people like Luna that can benefit from the accommodations we ask for. I just wanted to let you into a huge part of my world that I don’t share on social media often. Especially since she might grow up to be my boss 🫣 But let’s be honest, she already is