Salon owner Karolyn Massey says her niece Corrinne was her business inspiration. (Tamara Beckwith)
It’s 3:30 p.m. the day before Thanksgiving, and Gramercy resident Erica Manger is busy getting primped and prepped for the festive day. Dressed in multicolored striped leggings and polka-dot wellies, she sits patiently as a hairdresser snips away at her blond locks.
“Erica, you’re doing great,” exclaims the stylist as she blow-dries Erica’s tresses into a sleek, chin-length bob.
But this is no ordinary day at the salon: Erica is just 6 years old, and she’s getting her hair snipped at Beehives & Buzzcuts, a new hair and beauty salon that caters to the elementary-school set.
After school, the kiddie-centric joint is bustling with activity. A fake tree with sprawling branches — “I grew up swimming in lakes and climbing trees, so I wanted to bring that outdoorsy feel to the place,” says owner Karolyn Massey — greets customers as they enter. Crocheted pink hats, beehive wigs, games and other toys for sale sit neatly on the floor-to-ceiling shelves.
The salon, which opened last week on First Avenue at 21st Street, is one of only a few city salons that trim tresses for tots; Cozy’s Cuts has three locations in Manhattan, and kids’ cuttery Doodle Doo’s is located in the stroller-happy West Village. And though its clientele is primarily adults, even 2-month-old Flatiron spot Drybar offers a $28 “Shirley Temple” blow-out for the under-10 set.
But pampering reaches a new level at Beehives & Buzzcuts, where hair care isn’t the only thing on the service menu. In addition to the $30 haircuts ($10 more for a wash and blow-dry), $30 “fancy updos,” $20 “curly girl blow-outs” and “braiding parties” ($25 each, for three girls), the salon also offers manicures and pedicures ($12 and $15, respectively).
Massey says she ditched her 16-year career in corporate finance because she wanted to pursue her dream of opening a kid-friendly business.
“I’ve always liked doing hair,” explains the 39-year-old Murray Hill resident, her own long strawberry-blond hair blown out into flowing waves. “When I was growing up, I’d get up from the dinner table and start braiding my sisters’ hair, going from one sister to the next.”
All of it, Massey says, was created with her 5-year-old niece in mind.
“[Corinne] is such a girly girl,” she says. “She loves getting her hair done, but she never fit in any of the chairs. When she got a pedicure, her feet wouldn’t hit the water, and she’d have to sit on her heels to reach the manicure table.”
But experts argue that Beehives’ intense focus on beauty could be detrimental to young girls as they get older.
“When children are young, they should be learning how to have connected relationships where they’re relating to people based on things they’re doing, not based on how they look,” says Diane E. Levin, a Wheelock College professor and co-author of the book “So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do To Protect Their Kids.” “Even something like putting nail polish on at 5 gets girls involved in things that separate them from playing in broader ways that would help girls and boys play together.”
But Massey disagrees. “It’s not all about beautifying and glam-ifying and getting updos. [It’s a] little treat, not intended to impress upon them that they have to look a certain way,” she says. “We’re not going for ‘Toddlers & Tiaras’; it’s more about teaching them proper grooming. And for little girls to get their toes done is a little treat; it’s not about overly pampering.”
And while the idea of little girls getting pedicures might strike many as ridiculous, it sounded just right to the salon’s new clientele.
Union Square resident Bethany Mizrahi says she looks forward to sharing some mother-daughter bonding time over a mani-pedi at the salon’s yellow table and benches, built to kid-friendly proportions. The polishes, by Piggy Paint, are odorless, hypoallergenic and nontoxic, which seems logical — after all, some of the younger customers still suck their thumbs.
“It appeals to adults, too! I’d love to sit in a butterfly chair and get a pedicure,” laughs Mizrahi, 37. (The Barbie-pink, butterfly-adorned pedicure pots fit adult feet, too.)
The day after the salon opened, she rushed her 8-year-old daughter Ella and her son Noah, 6, over to get haircuts.
“I think sometimes there are people that go to nail salons to get away from their kids to have a relaxing, grown-up experience,” says Mizrahi. “But my daughter really likes to come with me, so I’m glad we can come to a place that’s more appropriate for her and have a little treat.”
On a recent weekday at the salon, all six hair stations — ranging from a gray pony to a red convertible to a black-and-yellow airplane — had children in them, their eyeballs glued to their own flat-screen TVs, blaring films like “Elf” and cartoons like “Tom & Jerry.”
Wendy Bradford, who pens the mommy blog mamaonetothree.com, holds her son Henry, 2½, in her lap as a stylist drapes a blue smock adorned with bears and cowboys over him and begins to trim his brown hair.
“He didn’t want to sit in the chair at first, but he’s watching ‘Thomas [the Tank Engine],’ and Thomas makes everything better — as we all know,” says the 41-year-old, who also enjoys regular manicures — at grown-up salons — with her daughter, Molly, 4, and plans to take her to Beehives & Buzzcuts as well.
“Things that cater to kids in general tend to be more welcome in the city,” she explains.
“We’re always looking for things to do . . . [I’ll say,] ‘Mommy needs to get her nails done; let’s kill an hour and have our nails done [together].’ There isn’t that much to do if you’re not at a playground, a store, a museum or play dates.”
But some parents feel the nail treatments are a step too far. “Manicures seem like too much for a child,” says Gramercy mom Lisa Manger, 44, whose daughter Erica was getting her hair cut at the salon. “It’s too much money, too much attention . . . it’s too much of a focus on appearance at a young age.”
christina.amoroso@nypost.com