Jacqueline Hart Gibson, Coal Creek Canyon. Amber Wilson celebrated the opening day of her independently owned hair salon on May 9, 2020, offering the community welcome growth in these trying Covid times. Amber’s husband, Roger Colledge who owns Flatirons Stucco, completed renovations to the space, and longtime local TracyTyrer, of Hair by Tracy in Nederland, donated the first sink in the salon. Amber was made aware the space would be available by friend’s at Coal Creek Coffee when the shop decided to downsize. She says, “The opportunity just sort of fell in my lap, and we went for it.”
Amber’s salon, Salon Croi, is next door to Coal Creek Coffee and two doors down from Sasha Berg’s Intuitive Massage. Salon Croi, croi means “heart” in galic, lives up to its name by completing this space dedicated to self care. Now we can get a massage, a great cup of coffee and a new look, without ever leaving our comfortable mountain environment. As an added bonus, all three businesses are owned exclusively by local women. We can support our local sisters and take excellent care of ourselves in one stop.
Amber also chose the name “croi” to honor her father Marko Wilson, who passed away on April 7, 2020, from a brain tumor. Marko was 100% Irish, and proudly connected to his roots and heritage throughout his life. “It was hard to do this so close to his passing, but I know he would have wanted this for me. Opening this business is continuing what he taught me,” Amber says.
Amber has worked for several years at a salon in the flats and graduated at the top of her class. She says she focuses on continued education in her field, offering new trends to clients seeking a refreshed look, while working with classic styles and colors for those who have found a favorite look and want to keep it. It’s this combination of traditional and breakthrough style that led her to define her creative approach as “rustic modern chic.”
Some of Amber’s current newer specialties include balayage blonding, a multidimensional blonding technique used to achieve a warmer gradual blonde, without foil. This creates a gradual effect from darker roots to the ends. The ombre, another style Amber specializes in, is a more drastic color shift from roots to ends, for those seeking hair color that stands out. Amber also enjoys doing color corrections, for those of us who may have been practicing hair color without a license on our own heads during quarantine.
Amber spoke at length and excitedly about helping women to accept and love our graying hair. This transition is about more than getting our hair done, and it’s helpful when a local, a friend, is there to guide us through it. Amber is trained in coloring techniques that reframe the process of greying into a new experience with color. After all, there are fifty shades of grey right?
Amber and her husband have lived in the area since 2008. You may have run into Amber when she managed the New Moon Bakery in Nederland, waited on you at the Wondervu Cafe, or served your morning java at Coal Creek Coffee. She is an unforgettable light in the room and her open heartedness and kindness is likely the first trait you noticed about her. It takes a people person to do hair well. There is a technical side and a creative side to hair care, but the ability to listen to people, to help them feel welcome, comfortable and valid, is as important. Amber has this ability, along with a sincere passion and love for self care through hair.
Salon Croi offers the hair care products mountain women need as well. Amber’s salon is stocked with clarifying shampoos and conditioners by Malibu, to help clear well water build up. She also offers lavender hand sanitizers and other body care products supplied by Homestead in Glenwood Springs.
Salon Croi is open Monday, Friday and Saturday. They are located at 30509 Hwy 72, Golden, 80403 (near the bottom of Coal Creek Canyon). To make an appointment you can call Amber directly at 303-618--0960, or schedule an appointment on-line at www.vagaro.com, or on Facebook at Salon Croi.
(Originally published in the August 6, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)
