The first Saturday morning of October, at 8:30, I went to Turkish native Nuri Yurt’s Toka Salon in Georgetown. He owns four salons, two in D.C. (Georgetown and Penn Quarter), one in Alexandria, VA (Cameron Station) and one in NYC (Madison Ave). Dreams do come true in America!
Nuri is a man of boundless energy who constantly smiles and likes to call clients endearingly “baby.” He is passionate about hair and it shows. He had me sit straight and uncross my legs so that my shoulders are even when he cut my hair. It is almost like visiting a
family, the people at Toka are so warm and kind. I also love the lady that washes my hair, Rose. She massages your head into heavenly bliss… seriously.
According to Toka’s website “the word Toka means, both a noun and a verb in Turkish, that which connects or the act of connecting, in the abstract, as well as a tool for holding things together, a bobby pin or clip for stray wisps of hair, in particular.”
This was my third visit to Toka. The first visit was to their salon in Alexandria and the second one was to Georgetown. The two salons I visited are warm and inviting with white hues. Besides transforming hair with cuts and highlights, they also offer full day spa services. Spa services include: manicure & pedicure, facial treatment, body treatment, waxing, electrolysis, makeup, and wedding services. New at Toka is: Green Peel Facial Treatments, Oxygen Facials, Brazilian Blowout, Hamman-inspired Vicchy Shower Body Treatments (Cameron Station only), and Botox and Dermal Fillers (Cameron Station only).
I first became aware of Nuri and Toka Salon because of my participation on the board of the Fashion for Paws fundraiser for the Washington Human Society. Nuri and his staff did all the hair for all the models walking the runway. A huge undertaking.
Nuri Yurt, has been focused on hair since the age of 12. He bravely left his native Istanbul for the U.S. in 1990, with the concepts, elements and techniques of hair design well in hand. He opened his flagship Toka Salon in Washington, D.C. in 1997. He has refined his distinctive approach to proportion, texture, color and form. His credo is no detail is too small: not in the modern palette of his salons dramatically setting off the serene absence of color against the intense excitement of its presence, nor in his disciplined manner of understanding his clients’ objectives and visualizing outcomes to create the hair concept most attuned to his clients.
There is a reason Toka is highly esteemed. The ladies from the famous Georgetown Cupcake store and TLC’s Cupcake Sister also go to Toka for their beautiful locks among many other D.C. and NYC notables.
As for me, I went from bright blonde highlights to a shorter do with darker blonde tones to accommodate the change of the seasons. I took some inches off my locks. My hair looks fantastic!
To schedule an appointment:
Toka in Georgetown Court
3251 Prospect Street – Suites 19 & 20
NW Washington D.C. 20007
Tel: (202) 333-5133
Fax: (202) 333-5116
Hours:
Tuesday through Saturday: 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Sunday: Closed
Toka at Penn Quarter
801 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW Washington, D.C. 20004
Tel: (202) 628-5133
Fax: (202) 628-5653
Hours:
Monday through Friday: 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Saturday: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Sunday: Closed
Toka at Madison Ave
768 Madison Avenue
New York, New York, 10065
Tel: (212) 517-5133
Hours:
Monday through Sunday: 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Toka at Cameron Station
4907 Brenman Park Drive
Alexandria, VA 22304
Tel. (703) 370-5133
Hours:
Tuesday through Saturday: 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Sunday: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
