scissors/paper/rock, Yolande Carson’s salon and boutique at 1864 N. Allen, strives to be a place to be stylish and a place to relax.
“We like it to be intimate, so the clients get one-on-one treatment, like it’s their place,” she said. “A place to go to go to the refrigerator and get a drink, a place to relax.”
Carson has been in the hair styling business for 25 years, but she and her husband followed parallel careers as musicians -- they met each other playing in bands, and moved up to the Pasadena area to be closer to family. She says she worked in big salons and spas, but never wanted her own, until she decided that “I kind of wanted arenas for music, and to do my thing.”
That idea became scissors/paper/rock, a place for “shopping, fashion, and music,” Carson said. In addition to hair styling and beauty services, the store sells fashion jewelry and hosts trunk shows and hair and makeup seminars.
Besides the funky but serene decor, music is a big part of scissor/paper/rock’s experience -- jazz or Sinatra are always on the sound system, and every summer she holds an acoustic music concert series at the salon.
The staff includes hair stylist Rickelle Howard, who has spent 17 years in styling in the area and specializes in black hair care; manicurist Tracy Vuong; and assistant Celeste Oliverez. The salon plans to add skin care and waxing services in the near future.
scissors/paper/rock has been in business for ten years, the last four at the Allen location . The salon is also expanding into the storefront next door by mid-February.
Carson also believes in giving back to the community: every Christmas the salon holds a fundraiser for URDC Human Services, a nonprofit program for women and children in Pasadena trying to conquor substance abuse. Every Mother’s Day, they hold a beauty day with makeovers for URDC clients.
As for the name? The “scissors” comes from the hairstyling, the “rock” comes from the funky chunky jewelry -- but “paper?” “We’re still working on it!” Carson said.
Pictured: Yolande Carson, left, and RIckelle Howard.
