Ivy & Thistle hair salon mixes luxury with a small town feel

It started with putting barrettes in her cat's fur when she was three years old. Liz Edge always knew she wanted to work as a hairstylist. In high school she nurtured an entrepreneurial spirit and took business classes. After seven years in the industry she put it all together and opened her own salon in Niwot called Ivy and Thistle.

"I was driving through Niwot and stumbled across a salon that used to be 2nd Avenue [Hair Studio] and I just knew that's the space," Edge said. "Just loving Niwot anyway, it just kind of fell in my lap."

Edge came to Colorado from Indiana in 2018, and worked as a stylist in Boulder at a high-end salon. When the pandemic hit, she took time off, learned some new skills and thought about her long term goals. "The only thing that made sense was to keep driving forward despite different barriers," she said.

She decided she had something to offer, despite the risks of opening a business in uncertain times. "I think people need it the most this year," she said. "Just seeing that there is light within this crazy dark time. So, I think there really wasn't a better time to open a salon."

Ivy and Thistleopened in November with a niche in mind. "I want that to be that exceptional service you get at a high-end salon while having the comfort of a small town and incorporate that into each client's experience," Edge said.

That experience isn't limited to hair. Edge offers hair extensions, microblading (semi-permanent make-up) and lash extensions along with other services. She updated the space to accommodate her vision of being more than a hair salon, adding a nook for those specialized services and carving out a space where someone can do body work in the future.

Earth tones and plants have been added to create a nurturing feel. "Being a Virgo, I'm very much an earth soul, loving plants and all things botanical," she said. "The idea is to have a lot of plants and keep it lively and very earthy." Edge also uses product lines that are more environmentally friendly.

Edge initially came up with the name Ivy and Thistle, because the words sounded good together. With a little more research, she discovered it was the perfect name for her personality and entrepreneurial vision. "When I looked up ivy, a lot of the meaning behind it was soft, serendipitous, loyalty, and then thistle is strong and brave and courageous. I like the contrast - it's soft yet strong, kind of yin and yang."