A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive an invite for a blow dry service at the new Grey Lynn salon of Luxe & Duke, a hair industry name that must have definitely been the inner central suburb’s best kept secret since it launched 12 years ago! I
It was a first time visit for me and I immediately saw why it has been such a long time success: from the service to the vibe and the product line-up, it was first class.
Co-owners Paula Tetzlaff and Steph Hosking actually have two modern salons, Luxe & Duke Wynyard Quarter (which opened last year) and the brand new premises which opened last month in Grey Lynn (next to Harvest Wholefoods). The pair pride themselves on creating salons that foster an “infectious, fun and ego free environment”, and they have built a solid team of passionate and committed stylists using cutting edge technology with a market leading focus on sustainability.
Paula says, “We never thought we’d be dealing with growth during a lockdown, but the space to think, talk and plan really helped us to cement our vision that investing back into the business and continue growing something that we both love so much was really important to us”.
They strive for a zero-waste policy in the salon particularly when it comes to colouring hair. “We are proud to be the first salon in NZ using ‘Vish’ a Bluetooth technology which individually weighs each clients colour, accurately recording amounts used to reduce waste on visits,” she explains. “Each bowl is weighed after service giving us the exact colour usage for the next visit, creating price transparency for the client and beautiful accurate colours. We are also part of Sustainable Salons, which enables us to recycle 95 percent of what we use with profits going to Kiwi Harvest.”
Their product offering is also dedicated to clean, high performing brands, a decision made a few years ago “as we believe anything we can do that is better for our clients, for our team and our environment is worth doing,” says Paula. “What we touch, what we sell, must align with our values and our ethos. We are introducing a refillery soon and are on a journey to continue to strive for the best and reduce our waste.”
I absolutely loved the atmosphere in the spacious, light-filled Grey Lynn space, and can’t rave enough about the killer blow wave from Briar. The whole experience was such a relaxed one that I entered as a newbie, but left a raving fan. (HELENE RAVLICH)