The Scene’s Fresh Bombshell

Beauty Bar is pretty in pink.

This swanky little number is the best thing to come out of New York since the Sky Bar. Plus, it’s less pretentious.

The trio of bars run by Paul Devitt--in New York, San Francisco and L.A.--invokes the look and spirit of a classic ‘60s-era beauty parlor. L.A.’s version is a diamond in the ruffian streets of Hollywood, namely the Cahuenga corridor. It offers two things Angelenos prize: glamour and booze.

Seriously. This city was built on bottles of peroxide and just the right shade of lipstick, so a bar that plays off that myth has immediate cachet. The first Beauty Bar was crafted out of an actual East Village salon, but like most things in Hollywood, our local Beauty Bar was manufactured from the bottom up. But you’d never know. Beauty Bar looks like a stylist’s paradise.

The bar’s main sitting room is decked out with manicure stations, hair dryers, antique perfume bottles and a winding bar top adorned with Italian mosaic tiles from the ‘60s. Devitt scored the salon fixtures from the now-defunct Basque House of Style, a vintage salon in Bakersfield.

This new house of style plays off the beauty parlor concept by offering manicures and martinis for 10 bucks during happy hour on Thursday and Friday. (If you’re coming with six guests or more, it’s smart to make reservations.)

Other nights, deejays spin a terrific contrast for the preening set. From fab-o retro soul on Mondays to Thursday night’s ‘60s-era jazz and lounge, the music sensibilities are right on the money. In addition, Beauty Bar’s rock ‘n’ roll weekends give some necessary edge to the bar’s pinky fresh interior.

Beauty Bar also blends well with the established bar-hopping strip on Cahuenga just south of Hollywood Boulevard. Park once for access to the Burgundy Room, the Room, Daddy’s, Catalina Bar & Grill, the Opium Den, the Sunset Room and now the Beauty Bar. That’s a lot of bang for your parking buck.

Hollywood, of course, thrives on all things new, so Beauty Bar is currently a main attraction, with the young rocker set calling it home. In fact, the glam faction claimed Beauty Bar as a regular watering hole the minute it opened--christening the club in its first week with a birthday-party-a-go-go for a dancer from Cherry. Seven-foot-tall drag queens sat under hair dryers in the V.I.P. back room, while tattooed chicas danced their boots off to AC/DC.

The opening-night gala in February was also a who’s-who of Hollywood. Kings of the hairdressing heap, Jonathan Antin and Steven Tapp of Jonathan A Beauty Shop, were on hand, as were ample fashionistas, promoters and Hollywood scenemakers.

Although such celebs as Christina Ricci, Dave Navarro and Hole’s Eric Erlandson have bellied up to the bar, it’s an “in” spot that isn’t exclusive by any means. The servers are well-mannered and the guests well-treated. First-timers might want to pop in early in the week, however, when they can scope out the bar without a throng of people around.

And stylists be advised: “Salon” Sundays begin in May, with a chance for those who cater to finicky clients all day long to get some pampering of their own.

In a city that’s based on exteriors, Beauty Bar is actually pretty on the inside.

BE THERE

Beauty Bar, 1638 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 464-7676. 21 and older. No cover. Reservations recommended for happy hour manicures.