Long-Established Salon Owner Sets Down New Roots in Moorestown

For most women, maneuvering payment, locating keys and negotiating the slide into one’s car with newly painted wet nails can be on par with an acrobatic feat performed at the circus.   

“My first job was helping ladies out to their cars after they had gotten their nails done. I would carry their handbags or umbrellas,” says salon director David Anderson of ‘Ndulge Salon & Spa in Palmyra, which was started by his mother, Irene Gaughan.   

“Anyone who has lived in this area for years,” Anderson adds, “has probably at one time had their nails, hair or skin done by my mom.”

Indeed. For the last 30 years, mother and son have been familiar fixtures of the neighborhood landmark on Broad Street. 

Literally thousands—the salon boasts a data bank of 3,500 customers—have been pampered, coifed and spoiled at the salon, all in the name of keeping their mostly female clientele looking and feeling beautiful.

On Wednesday, Jan. 4, Gaughan and Anderson will unveil their brand new parlor, the Edge Salon & Spa on Camden Avenue in Moorestown, and sadly shutter their long-time Palmyra shop. 

The origin of their business yields a story of dedication, hard work and customer loyalty.

Gaughan graduated from the P.B. Cosmetology Education Centre in Gloucester City in 1977 and began her business—a nail salon—in a cottage-house-turned-beauty-parlor. 

“I thought I would just do nails, since that seemed to be taking off at the time,” Gaughan, 53, says of the inaugural salon, Nails at Last, which she opened in 1982. 

A young lady in her early 20s, but with gallant dreams, Gaughan was one of a scarce group of working mothers back then who was balancing home life with a young son and commencing on a new venture.

“I was always in the salon, and I literally grew up there,” Anderson, 37, says.

Word of mouth spread and business boomed.

By the ‘90s, as Gaughan added hair stylists, the name morphed into Hair Dimensions, and then finally to its latest incarnation, ‘Ndulge, in 2002.

The salon was added to and updated with each new endeavor and grew from a couple of professionals to a staff of 20.

“My mother has extensively trained at academies around the world,” Anderson says of Gaughan, who is also skilled in permanent makeup and microdermabrasion.

Two years ago, Gaughan says they started to look at the possibility of a partnership with onsite doctors, who would perform medical procedures such as Botox and skin resurfacing. Gaughan and Anderson again were met with decisions on how to reconfigure their long-standing establishment.

“To conform to codes and laws, spa and medical treatments must be lodged in separate quarters,” says Gaughan, forcing them to look for a larger space. 

Fortunately, the new salon—which mother and son have invested nearly $250,000 in to give it that European luxury with granite counters and sweeping wooden floors—is only two towns over from their original location, enabling loyal customers to still enjoy hours of pampering.

With a shared thoroughfare and reception desk, the Edge—the salon’s new name is a mix of and a nod to Gaughan’s father, Edward—will blend hair services, product bar, and a manicure and pedicure room on one side; medical procedures, spray tanning, and massage areas will be on the other. 

“We constructed the space so wedding parties can now have all their services done together,” Anderson says of one of the intimate curtained areas.

Or a husband and wife can treat themselves to luscious body massages or aromatherapies on nearby tables in an oversized room, Anderson says.

The bright and airy space is nearly 4,500 square feet, and guests will be able to relish in services seven days a week.

Elegant shower and changing rooms will ensure guests’ privacy, and lounge areas offer relaxation in between treatments.

With the grand opening only 10 days away, Anderson is gearing up for the salon’s first customer appreciation bash, the MoroccanOil event, slated for Friday, Jan. 20.

“It’s been a privilege to serve so many wonderful customers,” Anderson says. “We look forward to sharing our new salon with old customers—and some new ones too."