East Windsor Salon Strives to Make Clients Look and Feel Good

The owner of  has been providing professional and warm personal service for 36 years, making his salon a destination for clients who want haircuts, styling, manicures, pedicures and spa treatments.

“I was blessed with the God-given talent to make people look good, and when you look good, you feel good; it goes hand-in-hand,” said Anthony Vincent, owner of the East Windsor salon that bears his name. “What endures is that people want to feel pretty,” he said. “Women want to feel beautiful and we have the ability to make a woman feel beautiful.”

Vincent considers East Windsor his hometown, even though he grew up in nearby Hamilton and went to high school there.

“East Windsor has been the hub for my friendships, my loves and my relationships with people,” he said.

He graduated from Mercer County Vo-Tech with a license as a hair styling professional and a burning desire to open up his own business.

“I looked in Hamilton, the Trenton area, Yardville, Cranbury, all over, and when this location became available, it seemed the right place to be. Not only was it a crossroads at two busy streets with easy access, the landlord of this building, everyone around me was rooting for this young guy to get his business started and make it a success,” Vincent said. “My landlord made it easy for me to rent this space and I had wonderful parents who supported me in my desire to open up a salon.”

That was in 1975 and since then, the Anthony Vincent Salon has become interwoven into the fabric of East Windsor history and cultural history as well.

“We’ve seen all sorts of hairstyles, fashions and trends come and go,” Vincent said. “We were there for the Dorothy Hamill, the stacked perm, the wedge, the asymmetrical style, and the Rachel made popular by Jennifer Aniston on Friends. You always have to keep up with the times and introduce new ideas and lead the way.”

As part of that philosophy, Vincent has been working hard on an extension of his business that he calls the Bridal Beauty Camp.

“It’s for the fashion-forward bride who is looking for the latest trends in all things bridal. It’s not only for hair, nails, waxing and eyelashes; we work from the inside out, top to bottom and all round," he said. “We have a personal trainer on staff and a nutritionist. We know that 70 percent of all brides want to lose 10 to 20 pounds before their wedding, so we work with them months beforehand and offer free group training classes with our personal trainer and a nutritional guidance session. And so you don’t have to imagine what you’re going to look like on your big day, we introduce you to bridal beauty camp and we will do your hair, makeup at no charge so that you can see what you are actually going to look like on your big day.”

Vincent’s niece, Dayna Luisi-Girton, works with him in the salon and helps provide that personal family touch to the business. The salon is heading into the busy season for proms and graduations. Throughout the year, it's taking care of all the beauty needs for major life events like Sweet 16s and Bat-Bar Mitzvahs, as well as regular maintenance and feel good procedures.

Vincent and his niece are also very tied into the community and help support causes near and dear to their hearts.

“We’ve done a lot of community outreach with breast cancer awareness and compassion for animals,” Vincent said. “We held a ‘funky hair’ fashion show where we raised $6,000 for human hair wigs for cancer patients and we’ve raised money for ‘Locks of Love.’ We helped raise over $2,000 for Hightstown East Windsor animal welfare by doing a cut-a-thon called Cat Snips. Neighboring salons offered their stylists to donate their time and talent. We charged $20 for a cut and $10 for a manicure and all the money went to this organization. The community has been wonderful and supported me through so many cycles of events and the economy so I want to do the same and give back."

Vincent is also giving back to the economy as a successful local employer. He has 20 people on staff, including some of his former students at Mercer County Vo-Tech where he has taught.

“Coming to my salon every day is not work, it’s a joy,” he said. “Perhaps it’s a little bit selfish because it makes me feel good when I can make others look and feel their very very best.”