Customers come first at Statu's Beliz salon

When one enters a hair salon, most customers want to see a lot of activity happening, which tells the customer that this is the place to be.

Statu's Beliz Image located on the corner at 900 7th St. has plenty of that energy.

Upon entering the salon, employees are engaged in friendly conversation, and one or more stylists are working on a customer.

Owner Aida Moita graduated from Milan Beauty College in Bakersfield and opened her first shop in Delano upon graduation. She has been at the Wasco location for almost five years. She previously had a shop in Delano, but when she realized that not only did she live in Wasco, but most of her stylists did, too, so moving it to Wasco just made sense.

"I looked for a location for a long time," Moita said. "Once I found this spot, it was perfect and was larger than my Delano shop."

Moita's shop many services, such as manicures and pedicures, waxing, and haircuts, coloring and styling.

"I want my customers to walk out of here able to do go home, wash their hair and redo it with ease," Moita said.

"The most popular hair color technique these days is called Balayaga, pronounced Ba lay aga, a French word, which means 'to paint.'" Moita's daughter Kayla was performing this service on a long-haired client recently, dividing up the hair into smaller sections and using her coloring brush to paint up and down on each section at a specific angle. Sometimes she would color the roots, but on other sections she would rat close to the roots to obtain the desired effect of the layering of the color once completed.

"This allows the hair to fall with the lighter color showing evenly," Kayla Moita said. "Each section is measured off, and it depends on how high up to the roots you paint will determine how the colored hair falls into place."

Two women were receiving manicures while Kayla Moita was doing hair.

"The next most-popular hair color is the Ombre, where the hair is pre-lightened and the bottom half is even lighter," Kayla Moita said.

The shop is open, with several stations located around the perimeter of the room. Supplies are visible so the customer can choose what he/she needs for the upkeep.

"Each of my girls must have an Instagram and Facebook account," Aida Moita said. "I want them to keep up to date on everything out there, and we all take credit cards."

Her salon has a Facebook page as well, and she has a number of followers.

Upon entering the shop, customers are greeted warmly by whoever is at the front counter.

"Customer service is Number One here," Aida Moita said. "I try to keep everything reasonably priced so customers will return."

Aida Moita added that all her stylists attend classes to keep up with what is happening in the hair industry and are familiar with new cuts and color techniques. "They train all over," Moita said.

Moita also said that she keeps up with new products.

"We charge $125 for a highlight and $135 and up for an Ombre, depending on how long the hair is," Moita said. "Manicures are $35 and pedicures are $30. Tuesdays we have a 10% discount for seniors."

Appointments can be made by calling the shop at 661-758-2979.