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Meandering through the newly expanded Lakehouse building, one can find tucked away on the third floor Boho Hair Salon – a girls only clubhouse of sorts focused on holistic beauty.

The creation of New York City stylist Sally Perez-Monterrosa and husband Albie Monterrosa, Lakehouse Music Academy’s Director [shown in feature photo], Boho’s aims is to give women a salon experience that addresses inward and outward beauty while providing a needed respite from the hectic pace of the outside world.

“This is not just about the aspect of what we give you on the outside but about giving you that truly wholesome inner beauty feeling,”  Perez-Monterrosa said. “We want clients to feel like they have connected with someone, learned something about themselves and other people, and about their beauty.”

Entering into the space, the tranquility of the NYC loft style design defines their mission prior to meeting the five stylists, esthetician, assistant, and front desk employees, all of whom pay close attention to a client’s needs.

Perez-Monterrosa is hardly new to the city or the business.

A musician in her own right, she worked for eight years as a Manhattan stylist, often collaborating with her brother Josue Perez – a famed celebrity stylist who is known for his work with Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Stella McCartney, and Sarah Silverman, to name a few. Perez will work at the salon periodically, Perez-Monterrosa said.

As a reputable Manhattan wedding stylist, Perez-Monterrosa lends her talent to over 50 weddings a year.

“I am delighted to bring my love for bridal to New Jersey,” the upstate New York native said. “Our artists are very talented and we give the ultimate bridal experience; timeless beautiful hair at an excellent level of professionalism.”

Boho opened quietly on Sept. 23 but will make its splash during the Lakehouse building opening Saturday. Held from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., it will be a public celebration of the expansion and new creative ventures that now call the Lake Avenue brick building home. For more information on the event, click here.

And while the first-generation Latino American couple’s collaboration began prior to the formation of their Albie and the Neighborhood band [in 2012 when the Monterrosa’s famed deSol touring band was on hiatus], marriage, parenthood, and their creative nature helped solidify the need for this new venture.

“Our goal is to be more than your typical hair salon,” Albie Monterrosa said. “The idea was to take the community we’ve been building, the culture we’ve been building, and create this little space that runs hand in hand with what we do at the Lakehouse building creative, artistic, free feeling, good vibes, if you will – feed the soul. I’ve been a musician for a long time, and what Sally does is the same thing — bring happiness to people and bring the best out of people.”

Perez-Monterrosa said she chose Asbury Park for the new venture simply because it is home.

“I love Asbury,” she said. “The culture and community that Jon [Leidersdorff] and Albie have created here, this Lakehouse culture and community, I felt connected to that.”

“Asbury has been always been our community,” Albie Monterrosa said. “I moved here in the mid 90s from New York and started my first band here. For all us musicians who started bands here, started touring [nationally] and then came back, it is still our home.”

So what is Boho?

In capitalizing off of the New York Soho and Noho monikers, the couple opted for the free spirited unconventional bohemian tag but say it rests on the foundation of empowerment.

“Boho is a way of life,” Perz-Monterrosa said. “We aim to nurture in a holistic sense. It’s about the natural and organic. A lot of what we carry like RR+Co and Cold Spring Apothecary is paraben and sulfate free.”

The full service salon offers a wide array options, like Happy Hour Thursdays, an Express Hair Menu and every possible coloring technique, including balayage, glaze, and ombre.

On Dec 15, they will kick off a monthly Girl Talk series that invites motivational speakers, authors, life coaches, natural health and beauty gurus to share their knowledge. First up will be Jessica Blade offering a medicinal approach to holistic beauty via herbal teas, bath soaks, and what to eat to promote digestive health and maintain a healthy immunity.

There will also be workshops, like employee Ashley Burk’s recent macramé event [below right] that sold out within a week. Burk is known for her hand painted signs across the city and her own Steady Hand Creative venture will be showcased during Saturday’s grand opening event.

There will also be a live music series and in January a community internship program launches. Perez-Monterrosa said 8th graders from Mt. Carmel school will be invited to participate in an 9-week internship.

“We are passionate about helping guide young people interested in getting into the the field and giving them real world work experience,” she said. “They will be doing a bit of customer service in order to learn how to interact with people in a professional setting, which will help them throughout life as they make decisions on workplace and what they want to do for a career. We want to give them a headstart on what positive things they can do for themselves as they get older.”

Located at 621 Lake Avenue, Suite 3D, Boho Salon hours are:

Tues 11-6pm

Wed & Thurs 11-7pm

Fri 11-8pm

Sat 10-4pm

Sun & Mon Closed

For more information call 732-455-3966, or visit their website, Facebook and Instagram pages.

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