Emma Frances is a boutique hair salon on Jervois Road in Ponsonby, Auckland — the working home of stylist Emma Bryce and, separately, Paige Davies Hair, each taking bookings through their own online calendar. It is a personal, stylist-led space built on a career that stretches from London's upmarket salon scene to New Zealand fashion week runways.
Emma began hairdressing in June 2008 at Nyumba, a salon in one of London's most stylish postcodes, training under Michael Charalambous among a globally diverse clientele that included Daphne Guinness, Claudia Winkleman, Shilpa Shetty and Saffron Aldridge. After moving to New Zealand she joined Stephen Marr, working in the creative team on shows and shoots for designers including Karen Walker, Kate Sylvester, nomD and Zambesi, and rising to Salon Director at the Takapuna salon.
Today the salon offers cuts with a luxury head massage and blow-dry finish, styling, a full colour menu from highlights to toner and colour changes, Cezanne keratin smoothing treatments, OWAY scalp care, micro bead and nano tip extensions, all-day wedding hair and a blow dry membership. Every appointment carries a $3 Green fee to Sustainable Salons.
The salon is open Tuesday to Friday, with Saturdays by appointment. Online bookings are secured with a deposit that counts toward your total on the day, and cancellations inside 48 hours carry a fee.
Emma Frances Salon brings a quietly international pedigree to Jervois Road in Ponsonby, one of Auckland's most style-conscious neighbourhoods. The salon is the working home of stylist Emma Bryce — and it also welcomes Paige Davies Hair, with each stylist taking bookings through their own calendar. It's a boutique setup: personal, hands-on, and shaped around the client in the chair rather than a production line.
Emma's career began in June 2008 at Nyumba, a salon in one of London's most upmarket and stylish postcodes. As a junior stylist working under Michael Charalambous, she built the foundations of her craft in an environment that attracted a globally diverse clientele of varying social standing — exposure to different hair types, cultures and demands that she credits with letting her move easily between salons, and eventually from London to Auckland.
The lessons went beyond technique. Building a client base that included Daphne Guinness, Claudia Winkleman, Shilpa Shetty, Saffron Aldridge and high-end magazine editors taught her the standards and discretion that prestige clients expect — lessons she now brings into her everyday practice on Jervois Road.
Since moving to New Zealand, Emma has counted her time with Stephen Marr among the best learning experiences of her career. Working within the creative team, she contributed to shows and shoots for many of the country's leading designers — Marr Factory in 2014 and 2015 with the likes of Karen Walker, nomD, Zambesi, Kate Sylvester and Workshop (Helen Cherry), and Fashion Week 2014 and 2015 for D'Monic Intent, Ivy Blu, Sean Kelly and Lela Jacobs.
Her editorial and campaign work is just as broad: look-books and campaigns for Cybèle and Willa and Mae, the Kate Sylvester look-book, 1AM Magazine with David K Shields, Monster Magazine with James Lowe, Viva Sessions, Remix Magazine's Army of Me, the Sniffers blog with Georgia Nott of Broods, and Aaradhna's Brown Girl in 2016. Along the way she worked up to Salon Director at Stephen Marr's Takapuna salon, learning to lead a team of talented stylists — and drawing inspiration from the products and the people behind the brands that now shape her own salon environment.
The service menu is comprehensive without being overwhelming. Cuts for women and men both include a luxury head massage and a blow-dry/style finish. Styling covers blow-dries, dry express styles and hair-ups, while the colour menu runs from full head, half head and partial highlighting to multi-tonal work, re-touches, global colour and toner, plus an hourly-rate service for lightening and colour changes. Every colour service is followed by a haircut or blow dry, and anyone considering balayage or a bigger change is encouraged to book a full-head highlights package or a consultation so there is ample time.
Treatments are a genuine speciality. The Cezanne keratin smoothing treatment — offered in a standard version and a longer, thicker-hair version — always finishes with a blow dry, and the OWAY Herbs and Clay Cleanser offers a chemical-free cleanse that gently renews the scalp while leaving hair soft and moisturised. Extension clients can choose between weft with micro beads and nano tips; the first appointment determines the best option and matches your colour, with maintenance appointments pre-booked for the following twelve months.
Brides get Emma entirely to themselves for the day. She styles the bride plus up to four additional members of the bridal party, working through the looks beforehand so the wedding morning itself is unhurried — beautiful hair, good vibes and everyone feeling their best before heading down the aisle. Travel and accommodation are arranged case by case. A blow dry membership — ten blow-dries valid for six months — rounds out the menu and pairs neatly with extensions to keep them in top condition.
Every appointment carries a $3 Green fee that goes to Sustainable Salons. Online bookings are secured with a non-refundable deposit that counts toward the day's total, and cancellations inside 48 hours incur a 50% fee with the deposit forfeited. New clients should keep an eye out for the voucher offering half off a first haircut, usable with a colour service within three months. The salon opens Tuesday to Friday, with Saturdays by appointment, and messages and emails are answered during working hours. Note that Emma is on maternity leave from June, with bookings for Emma & Meikayla and for Paige Davies Hair handled through their separate online calendars.