The city overwhelmingly made its mark at the recent 2021 Industry Awards recognising the best business, training and creative talent in New Zealand’s hair, beauty and barbering industries.
Dream Hair, at Mosgiel, won the hair salon of the year title, while beauty salon of the year was won by Skin and Beaute, at Mornington.
Coincidentally, respective business owners Krystle Anderson and Sally Choie spent a year together at Kaikorai Valley High School.
Ms Anderson also won top performing stylist, Clip Joint Hairdressing in Dunedin won sustainable salon of the year and Emma Peterson from Skin and Beaute won beauty therapy apprentice of the year.
Kylie Hayes, from Moha Hairdressing in Dunedin, won editorial stylist of the year (colour concept) and was second and third in the cover shot category.
She was also second in the Derek Elvy Visionary Award for editorial stylists, while Natasha King, from Vivo Hair and Beauty in Invercargill was third.
Covid-19 meant the awards were held online, rather than at a function, but the recipients still all basked in the glory.
Describing it as a "genuine girl boss" moment, Ms Anderson said Ms Choie sent her flowers and she reciprocated with afternoon tea.
"We were really happy for each other. Her award was before me, I was screaming and then the same with Clip Joint.
"I don’t have a lot to do with other salons [but it was] ‘yay Dunedin’, we genuinely wanted each other to do well. It’s amazing for Dunedin."
Ms Anderson has been hairdressing since she was 15 and her salon was approaching its 10th anniversary.
It moved to Mosgiel about three years ago, which coincided with the birth of her son — as she lived in Mosgiel, she had wanted work to be closer.
She was joined in the salon by her best friend and fellow stylist Racheal McMillan and the pair loved their work.
Hard work and dedication were key to success, and the most important thing was "always the client", Ms Anderson said.
While hairdressing was not originally her career plan — a friend was doing a hairdressing course and she tagged along — now, she would "never do anything else".
It was a similar story for Ms Choie, for whom becoming involved in the beauty industry was a "fluke accident". She had been studying at university and not enjoying it.
During her beauty training, she discovered that it was something she loved and she had "never really looked back".
Asked the secret of running a successful business, she reckoned it was keeping clients happy.
Previous experience, including working on cruise ships, had showed her "what to do and not", and she said it was all the little things that made a difference.
From the selection of 15 teas on offer to the cafe treats on a client’s birthday and Christmas gifts for regulars, it was about making clients feel appreciated.
While most people could be trained in service, a caring nature and attention to detail came with personality, Ms Choie believed.
Clients became friends and she heard about their children’s first days at school or weddings.
"That’s really cool to be part of their special moments."
During the first lockdown, loyal clients were sending messages asking what they could do to help. Her reply was "come back when we open up".
Success also came down to great brand partners, and she singled out her team, saying she had "phenomenally passionate" staff.
"Without them and the clients, Skin and Beaute is just a dream, not a reality."
She and Melissa Coward have owned the business for 11 years, having bought it off their old boss.
They initially did not want to make big changes, given it had such a loyal clientele, so they kept it mostly the same.
Their sustainability journey began when they switched colour products after she experienced bad dermatitis on her hands, which were cracked and bleeding.
When both women decided to start families, they became increasingly aware of the products they were using.
Relocating from St Andrew St to Great King St six years ago, to premises which were double the size, gave them the opportunity to "do things we wanted to do" and they really started to make changes.
They looked at their water and power use, changed products to cruelty-free and vegan ingredients where possible and used as little plastic as possible. Even before plastic supermarket bags were banned, they were using paper alternatives.
Initially, clients did not seem to care about the changes but they felt that a reason for owning a business was to run it in a way that made them happy, Ms Westhead said.
As time went on, customers embraced the changes, and clients were also attracted because of the changes.
Her hands had cleared up and she had not had dermatitis since.
It might sound overwhelming but the changes were all made over a few years and were coupled with research to make sure each was the right decision, she said.
There was a close-knit community in the industry in Dunedin, particularly through Covid-19 — business owners could chat to each other about what they were supposed to be doing as the rules changed frequently.
She was proud of the city’s success in the awards.
"Little Dunedin’s pretty cool," she said.
