Sterling’s Solstice Salon holds grand opening, offers hair, nail and spa services

STERLING — Solstice Salon & Scalp Spa celebrated its grand opening Friday with a Sauk Valley Area Chamber of Commerce ribboncutting at its 17 E. Third St. location in Sterling.

Solstice Salon offers haircuts, natural nail manicures, spa pedicures, hair treatments, beauty products and more. It also specializes in Japanese Head Spa, a scalp treatment involving several techniques, including exfoliation, massage, steaming and cleansing.

Owner Shelley McCarty is a HeadSpa specialist, licensed cosmetologist and licensed natural nail technician with over seven years of experience in the beauty industry. She wanted to create a relaxing, intimate experience for her clients. To do this, the salon only sees clients individually and by appointment.

“I wanted to create an oasis of rejuvenating calm for my clients,” McCarty said. “I want them to feel like they can let it all go when they’re in my chair and feel free to be heard.”

McCarty takes an interest in her clients, often talking with them about their lives.

“Thus the name Solstice was created because, in our lifetime, we have high and low peaks,” McCarty said. “I have seen my clients through those as well as going through it myself. It’s not just about a quick haircut. It’s about making connected experiences for people, and listening and relating to them.”

Opening the salon is a passion pursuit for McCarty, who worked full time for the YMCA for over 11 years before deciding to go back to school to become a licensed nail technician. She said it was only meant to become a part-time gig.

“A month prior to finishing school, the instructor said, ‘I see something more in you. Have you ever considered this path of opportunity in the cosmetology industry,’” McCarty said. “I was like, ‘Girl, you are crazy. I can’t even braid.‘”

But the instructor’s encouraging words intrigued McCarty, who began to wonder what she could see for her future. Those thoughts led her to cosmetology school.

“A month after I graduated cosmetology, the beauty school offered me a position to be a peer-to-peer mentor with the students and help educate them,” McCarty said. “I used to go around and do trade shows for all the high schools.”

McCarty missed being behind a salon chair and eventually went back to working with clients. However, it was a seemingly unfortunate event that became the catalyst for opening her salon.

McCarty had been working for another salon when it announced it was moving; leaving her with less than six weeks to find a location and get contractors to work.

“I owe all of this to a tribe of people,” McCarty said. “My husband, my children, the contractors and the city, they’ve all been amazingly supportive of my vision and my dream.”

For more information or to make an appointment with Solstice Salon, call 309-752-3218.