Urban Hair Studio is a hair salon at 44 Courthouse Lane in the heart of Auckland's CBD, reachable online through its Instagram page rather than a traditional website. A good salon visit starts before any scissors come out. A stylist worth returning to will ask about your hair history — past colour, previous cuts, how much time you realistically spend styling it — and be straight with you about what will suit your hair and your routine. Bring a photo; it says more than any description. City salons fill up around lunchtime and after work, so booking ahead beats chancing a walk-in, and once you find a stylist who understands your hair, loyalty pays off — the second cut is nearly always better than the first. On a small city-centre lane, Urban Hair Studio sits within easy reach of the offices, apartments and shops of central Auckland.