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There’s a new salon in town, and your head is really going to like it. It’s called Root Rituals, and owner Melissa Diodato Linder admits it’s “a bit different.”

Root Rituals will be opening soon at 28 East Main St., in the former R Salon storefront. What will make it a bit different is that Melissa will be specializing in scalp treatments and scalp care; or in other words, it will be a “head spa” in the Japanese tradition.

Melissa wants to approach hair care and self-care as a holistic practice. So in addition to the scalp treatments, she hopes to educate her clients about “how to live a toxic-free life … using products that are healthy for you, paying attention to how you use them, what ingredients they’re made with.” She also recently became a certified trichologist, which allows her to properly diagnose scalp conditions and treat hair loss and restoration.

Melissa brings 15 years experience to her shop. After getting a degree in business, she worked at a spa, a yoga studio, a chiropractic office and a wellness center, and most recently had her own salon at Sorella Salon Suites on Orchard St. But she always had an eye on opening her own business one day, and eventually it all came together.

It all started during COVID when she saw a video online that featured scalp treatments.

“It was a Japanese practice,” she said. “It looked really relaxing, and I’ve always been intrigued by hair care in general. I did some research … reached out to some brands, came up with my scalp treatment, rented at a salon, started talking to my clients about scalp care … (and) started doing the scalp treatments.”

When she tried to find a place locally to try it out for herself, she discovered there really wasn’t anything available closer than New York City. Realizing that this would be a nice service to the area finally convinced her to take the leap.

Fortunately, Melissa hasn’t had to do too much to the space to turn the former R Salon into Root Rituals. But she has added some nice touches to make it her own, like adding a fresh coat of paint and some nice decorations. She’ll have a small boutique area, and an espresso machine for her clients. She’ll also be featuring some of her own products — scalp oil, scalp scrub and scalp tonic.

In the future, she’s also considering inviting other service professionals to fill up some of the upstairs rooms, providing additional services that will support wellness inside and out.

Melissa hopes to open her shop by the first week in September. Root Rituals is located at 28 East Main St. in the Village of Webster. For more information, check out her website here and Facebook page here.

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(posted 8/28/2025)

Tags: Missy Rosenberry, Root Rituals, Village of Webster, Webster NY