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Your Guide to the Best Hairdressers in Sydney
Sydney's hair scene spans the full city, from award-winning colour specialists in the Eastern Suburbs to laid-back, sustainability-minded salons on the Northern Beaches.
Sydney’s best hairdressers span the full city, from award-winning colour specialists in the Eastern Suburbs to laid-back beach-side salons on the Northern Beaches and luxe destination spots in the CBD. For colour and cuts in the inner city, Headcase Hair and A.H. Surry Hills lead the field. On the Northern Beaches, The Mane Space in Manly and Studio Benicky in Narrabeen have loyal local followings.
This guide covers Sitchu’s top picks by area, with the full deep-dive for each neighbourhood linked below.
In This Guide:
Best Hairdressers in Inner City Sydney
Steps from the CBD, the inner city’s best salons cover everything from intimate appointment-only studios to grand destination spaces — with a particular strength in lived-in colour and occasion-ready styling.
Salon HER
Founded by renowned colour specialist and industry educator Michael Kelly, Salon HER delivers a full-service experience across colouring, cuts, styling and extensions, as well as restorative treatments designed to revive damaged hair and maintain colour and condition.
Suburb: Darlinghurst
Price Guide: $$
Best For: Colour, Extensions, Cut and style, Hair, Self-care
Headcase Hair
Headed up by John Pulitano and colour director Vincent Noble, Headcase Hair runs one of Sydney’s most talked-about salon experiences. The real draw is The Texture Edit — John’s hyper-tailored service that accounts for face shape, hair texture and colour to deliver a look designed entirely around you. There is nothing else quite like it in the city.
Suburb: Paddington & Potts Point
Price Guide: $$$
Best For: Hair, Blowout, Colour, Cut
A.H. Surry Hills
This 400-square-metre Crown Street space is a go-to for seamless lived-in colour and blow dries that earn second glances. Celebrity and influencer clientele are regulars, but the team brings the same level of considered, personalised service to every single client.
Suburb: Surry Hills
Price Guide: $$
Best For: Colour, Cut, Blowout, Girls’ Day
Christopher Hanna
For the full luxury experience, Christopher Hanna’s Bridge Street space pairs expert styling with an in-house bar, lounge and beauty services. It’s the inner city’s strongest option when an occasion demands everything to be exactly right.
Suburb: Sydney CBD
Price Guide: $$
Best For: Special occasion, Hair, Self-care, Gifting, Girls’ day
For more options, head to our full guide of best hairdressers in inner city Sydney.
Best Hairdressers in the Eastern Suburbs
The Eastern Suburbs does hair with the same flair it brings to everything else — polished, confident and never trying too hard. This is the part of Sydney where salons rack up editorial credits and celebrity clients without making a fuss about it.
Joh Bailey
Thirty-plus years in the industry and an address in the heart of Double Bay. Joh Bailey is the kind of institution that earns trust by consistently delivering, with a team whose work across colour, styling and treatments has been sought out by celebrities and fashion titles for decades. Book in advance.
Suburb: Double Bay
Price Guide: $$$
Best For: Colour, Cut and style, Blowout, Special occasion, Girls’ day
Valonz
Creative Director Renya Xydis has built a team whose hands are genuinely coveted, with editorial credits across Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Russh. Balayage, colour glaze, colour contouring, Olaplex treatments and extensions are all on the menu, delivered with a precision that’s hard to find elsewhere.
Suburb: Paddington
Price Guide: $$$
Best For: Colour, Extensions, Hair, Special occasion, Self-care
QUE Colour
Small but formidable. Founder and Colour Director Monique McMahon trained in Paris and Los Angeles before establishing QUE and the QUE Academy, her education platform for emerging colourists. The work here is personalised, technically rigorous and consistently excellent.
Suburb: Darlinghurst
Price Guide: $$
Best For: Colour, Hair, Self-care
For more options, head to our full guide of best hairdressers in Eastern Suburbs Sydney.
Best Hairdressers on the Northern Beaches
Salt air, beach hair, and a genuine community of stylists who know exactly what to do with both. The Northern Beaches salon scene is laid-back without ever being complacent.
The Mane Space
A Northern Beaches institution with more than 30 years on the Corso, The Mane Space is where Sitchu’s own Lucy had her Kerasilk keratin treatment — and came out a convert. Award-winning, eco-conscious and proud Sustainable Salons members, the team are genuinely skilled across colour, cutting, keratin and more.
Suburb: Manly
Price Guide: $$
Best For: Hair, Cut and style, Colour, Self-care
Studio Benicky
The Benicky twins have been doing quiet, consistent work out of Narrabeen since 2018, and the loyal following they’ve built is the best endorsement possible. Premium but unpretentious, with expert colour and considered cuts as standard.
Suburb: Narrabeen
Price Guide: $$
Best For: Colour, Cut and style, Hair, Self-care
Ampersand Salon
Sustainability and seriously good hair in equal measure. As a proud Sustainable Salons member, Ampersand recycles 95% of salon waste and uses organic and prescriptive products to ensure your hair leaves healthier than it arrived.
Suburb: Manly
Price Guide: $$
Best For: Hair, Cut and style, Colour, Self-care
Need To Know: Sustainable Salons member; 95% of salon waste recycled
For more options, head to our full guide of best hairdressers in Northern Beaches Sydney.
Best Hair Salons on the North Shore
The North Shore’s best salons share a certain confidence — polished enough for a special occasion, personal enough to feel like your local. There’s a strong showing of award-winning stylists here, and a particular strength in colour.
Polly and Stone
Led by two British Hairdressing Award-winning stylists, Polly and Stone is designed to feel more like a glamorous hotel lobby than a hairdresser. The P&S Intima service — a one-on-one appointment for specialist colour — is a standout, alongside specialty coffee, T2 tea and a level of detail that makes the whole experience genuinely memorable.
Suburb: Turramurra
Price Guide: $$
Best For: Colour, Cut and style, Hair, Special occasion, Self-care
Wild Life
Director Jane Wild is a multiple Australian Hairdresser of the Year recipient, and her Milsons Point flagship — with harbour views and a barista next door — more than lives up to that billing. Small touches, consistently delivered, are what set Wild Life apart.
Suburb: Milsons Point
Price Guide: $$
Best For: Colour, Cut and style, Hair, Special occasion, Self-care
é Salon
A three-time Hair Expo Salon Team of the Year winner helmed by Emiliano Vitale and Lisa Muscat Vitale, who are regulars on the international fashion week circuit. Every appointment begins with a full consultation before a single colour is mixed or scissor is lifted.
Suburb: Wahroonga
Price Guide: $$
Best For: Colour, Cut and style, Hair, Special occasion
For more options, head to our full guide of best hairdressers in North Shore Sydney.
Best Hair Salons in Sydney for Colour
Great colour doesn’t care which suburb you live in. These are the strongest colour-focused salons across the city, each with a specialism worth travelling for.
QUE Colour | Darlinghurst Founder Monique McMahon trained in Paris and Los Angeles before establishing QUE, and that pedigree shows in every result. Small salon, serious credentials.
Valonz | Paddington Creative Director Renya Xydis and team handle balayage, colour glaze and colour contouring with an editorial precision that’s earned them credits across Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.
Studio Benicky | Narrabeen The Benicky twins have been quietly getting colour right out of Narrabeen since 2018. Premium work in an unpretentious neighbourhood setting.
The Blonde Cartel | Blonde maintenance is an art form, and this boutique Collaroy salon has built their entire offering around it. The team uses premium products including LAKME, Olaplex, Evo Fabuloso and Unite, and their singular focus on blonde means a depth of knowledge about tone, maintenance and upkeep that a general salon simply can’t match.
é Salon | Wahroonga A three-time Hair Expo Salon Team of the Year winner. Every colour appointment begins with a full consultation — no mixing until the brief is locked in.
Best Hair Salons in Sydney for Extensions
Extension results live and die by the skill of the person applying them. These salons across Sydney have the specialist knowledge to deliver a finish that looks and moves like your own hair.
Joseph Mourad
Double Bay Sydney’s foremost extension specialist, offering Ultrasonic Hair Extensions — a heat-free bonding technique that protects natural hair and lasts significantly longer than conventional methods. A consultation is required before booking.
Shagg Hair Studio
Bronte Over 50 shades of premium extensions and a team experienced across multiple application methods. An Aveda salon with serious extension credentials.
Portfolio
Mona Vale Extensions sit alongside keratin treatments and Brazilian blowouts in a service menu that prioritises the long-term health of your hair. Gino Fossano has been at this since 1983.
Headcase Hair
Paddington & Potts Point Extensions are part of the broader offering at Headcase, delivered with the same attention to texture and lived-in finish that defines everything John Pulitano’s team does.
Note: extension methods vary by salon and most require a consultation before booking. Always flag your hair type and current condition when enquiring.
Best Sustainable Hair Salons in Sydney
Eco-conscious salons are no longer a niche — these three make sustainability central to how they operate, without compromising on results.
The Mane Space
Manly A proud Sustainable Salons member with over 30 years on the Manly Corso. Eco-conscious practices run through everything the team does, from product selection to waste management.
Ampersand Salon
Manly Sustainable Salons membership, 95% salon waste recycled, and organic and prescriptive products used throughout. A salon that genuinely leaves your hair — and its footprint — in better shape.
Tribe Lifestyle
Chatswood An Aveda salon with sustainability baked into the experience from the ground up. Aveda’s standards around responsible ingredient sourcing carry through to every product used in the salon.
FAQs
Sydney has a strong bench of dedicated colour specialists. QUE Colour in Darlinghurst, founded by Monique McMahon after training in Paris and Los Angeles, is one of the most technically focused options in the city. Valonz in Paddington has editorial credits across Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar and handles balayage, colour contouring and colour glaze with real precision. On the Northern Beaches, Studio Benicky in Narrabeen and The Blonde Cartel in Collaroy are both widely regarded for their colour work — the latter specifically for blonde. For the North Shore, é Salon in Wahroonga has won Hair Expo Salon Team of the Year three times and begins every appointment with a full consultation before colour is touched.
For special occasion styling, the inner city has the strongest concentration of options. Christopher Hanna in the CBD pairs expert styling with an in-house bar and beauty services for a full pre-event experience. Philippe Xavier at the Four Seasons is the pick when Parisian polish is the brief — book well ahead. On the North Shore, Wild Life in Milsons Point is led by multiple Australian Hairdresser of the Year winner Jane Wild, and Polly and Stone in Turramurra offers the intimate P&S Intima appointment for those who want a truly one-on-one experience. Most of these salons book out quickly around key events, so lead time matters.
Joseph Mourad in Double Bay is widely considered Sydney’s leading extension specialist, offering Ultrasonic Hair Extensions — a heat-free bonding technique that’s gentler on natural hair and more durable than traditional methods. In Bronte, Shagg Hair Studio carries over 50 shades of premium extensions across multiple application methods. On the Northern Beaches, Portfolio in Mona Vale offers extensions alongside keratin treatments with a focus on hair health. In the inner city, Headcase Hair integrates extensions into a broader tailored service philosophy. Most salons require a consultation before booking an extension appointment, so factor that into your timeline.
The Northern Beaches leads the way. Both The Mane Space and Ampersand Salon in Manly are proud Sustainable Salons members — Ampersand specifically recycles 95% of salon waste, a meaningful commitment for a business that generates significant material daily. On the North Shore, Tribe Lifestyle in Chatswood is an Aveda salon, meaning every product used meets Aveda’s standards for responsible ingredient sourcing. All three deliver genuinely strong hair results alongside their sustainability credentials, so you don’t need to choose between the two.
Pricing across Sydney varies considerably depending on the salon, stylist seniority and service. As a general guide, a standard women’s cut and blow dry at a mid-range salon starts from around $80 to $120, with premium destination salons — such as those featured in this guide — often ranging from $150 upwards. Colour services including balayage and foiling typically start from $150 and can exceed $400 at specialist salons. Most salons in this guide publish pricing on their websites, and many offer complimentary consultations where costs can be confirmed before committing. Always check directly with the salon before booking.
The majority of salons in this guide are booking-based, particularly for colour, extensions and longer appointments. Philippe Xavier at the Four Seasons and Joh Bailey in Double Bay are in consistent demand and often require advance notice of days to weeks. For anything beyond a basic cut, booking ahead is always the safer approach — most salons offer online booking directly through their websites.
