Shear genius: Vive gives New Yorkers unlimited hair blowouts for $99 per month

Now that humidity level has official risen in New York City, bad hair days can make or break your stride. For those who are unable to tame their manes on their own, Vive wants to provide professional help on-demand.

Vive (pronounced like “weave” with a V) is a subscription program that acts as a concierge for hair styling appointments, allowing you to book an unlimited amount of blowouts for $99 a month. The service launched in beta last week in NYC, and lets you make appointments anywhere from 30 minutes to one week prior.

In my quick sample of the service, you are required to put the zip code of where you’re currently located (or where you’d like to be, if the appointment is days in advance). Then, you’ll receive confirmation of your appointment time and location via email. Vive CEO Alanna Gregory says the team is working on updating the system so that you’ll receive confirmation within 15 minutes of the request by email or SMS.

At this time, Vive subscribers are unable to choose a specific salon. Based on the requested time and location, you’ll be assigned a schedule at a salon participating with Vive. Mine happened to be at Takamichi Hair in SoHo – 0.8 mile away from my zip code request – where I was paired with a stylist named Cristina.

Never having gone to a salon just for blowouts, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But the staff at Takamichi took care of me well, offering a robe and water upon confirming my appointment. The wash and blowout (which starts at $65 at Takamichi) took about an hour, and tip is not included the $99 Vive subscription fee.

#regram of @intothegloss @emily_ferber ‘s view from @takamichihair as she gets #VIVED

A photo posted by V I V E (@vive_ny) on Apr 10, 2015 at 4:35pm PDT

In comparison to similar service subscriptions like ClassPass (for exercise classes), Vive’s focus on one salon service makes sense. Instead of including all kinds of hair services at a flat rate, offering just the blowout allows customers to get a specific appointment on-demand, while exploring new businesses they may never otherwise walk into.

From the salon’s perspective, Takamichi’s Cristina says starting a new client out with a blowout helps both parties get to know each other better before the salon can offer more complex services, such as a haircut or color.

However, I did not feel pressured to return for additional services at all; Cristina simply gave me her card and says she’ll be available here if I’d like to come back.

All-in-all, Vive’s salon subscription is a great deal if you plan on regularly booking appointments at least twice a month (especially now that wedding season is upon us). It also allows you to experiment with different hairstyles as you please, from flat-iron straightening to curly blowouts.

Just remember that because tip is not included, you may want to tack on at least another $40 to your cost of monthly hair transformations.

Vive currently services the New York City region, with most of the partnered salons based in Manhattan. If all goes well, Vive will expand to major cities across the US. To subscribe, request to be added to the beta program here.