Bad Hair is a relaxed, judgement-free hair salon in central Dunedin, tucked away on Level 3 of the Queens Building at 109 Princes Street. The idea is summed up in its motto: come as you are, leave as yourself. It's a small, private studio away from street view, worked solo by stylist Laura, where at most one other client might be processing alongside you — a deliberately low-key alternative to the busy-floor salon experience.
The service menu covers consultations, haircuts and colour, with an unusually honest approach to planning: a 15-minute consultation lets you talk through goals, hair history, inspiration, upkeep and budget before committing, and the consult fee comes off your first appointment. A wry length guide — from 'can't get it in a hair tie' short to extra long — helps you book the right service for your hair from the start.
Bad Hair is also known for its Silent Services, a quiet appointment option where the stylist pops on headphones after the consult as a friendly 'we're good in silence' sign, with no pressure to chat. And for hair that has got, in the salon's own words, 'involved', there's de-matting: no shame, just solutions, booked by the hour.
Appointments can be booked online, and hair products are available through the salon's online shop. Hours run Tuesday to Saturday, with late nights on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Half the anxiety of visiting a new hairdresser is the fear of being judged — for the state of your hair, for the cut you're arriving with, for not knowing the lingo. Bad Hair, a small salon on Level 3 of the Queens Building at 109 Princes Street in central Dunedin, is built squarely against that fear. Its motto doubles as its promise: come as you are, leave as yourself.
The studio describes itself as relaxed and judgement-free, and the setting backs that up. It's a private, upstairs space away from street view, worked solo by stylist Laura. On a given day there might be one other client having their colour processed — and, as the salon puts it, they're all lovely. Occasionally someone is around helping keep the place tidy, but essentially this is one-client-at-a-time hairdressing, and the atmosphere is calmer for it.
Not everyone wants a running commentary with their haircut, and Bad Hair formally acknowledges this with Silent Services. Ask for one and, after the consult, your stylist pops on headphones as a visual "we're good in silence" sign — no awkward guessing about whether small talk is expected, no pressure to fill the gaps. Silent Services are available across all colour services, with the small caveat that other clients may be processing nearby.
The small scale has other perks, too. You're not navigating a crowded floor or competing for attention; the focus is simply you, your hair, and a plan you actually agreed to beforehand.
For anyone contemplating a big change, Bad Hair offers a 15-minute consultation before any scissors or colour come out. It's a chance to talk through goals, hair history, inspiration photos, upkeep and budget — and, importantly, what's actually achievable. The consult fee comes off your first appointment, making it a planning session rather than an extra cost.
The salon is equally practical about booking the right service in the first place. Its length guide is wry but precise: short hair is hair that can't get into a hair tie; medium just makes it into the tie and sits between chin and shoulders; long ties back properly and falls below the shoulders to mid-back; and extra long — "you've closed it in a car door at least once" — reaches the lower back or beyond. Picking the right category means the right amount of time gets set aside for your hair.
Haircuts come with a wash at the start, so arriving with yesterday's — or last week's — hair is completely fine. Colour clients get specific guidance instead: aim for two to three days since your last wash, because a little natural build-up helps, and skip washing altogether on appointment day.
Then there is Bad Hair's most quietly radical service: de-matting. "Life happens. Brains get busy. Hair gets… involved," the salon's info page reads, before offering detangling by the hour under the banner "no shame, just solutions." De-matting is something many salons quietly decline, and its presence here says a lot about the studio's ethos — whether hair became matted through illness, a low spell, or simply a busy few months, the answer is solutions, not lectures.
Bad Hair opens Tuesday to Saturday, with late appointments on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings for anyone who can't manage daytime, and closes Sunday and Monday. Booking happens online through the salon's website; if you're unsure what to choose — a common question with de-matting, where the time needed varies — you can email help@badhair.nz or call 03 477 7779.
Beyond the chair, the salon runs an online shop for hair products, keeps a gallery of past work for inspiration, and hosts an interview with Laura on its blog for what it calls the "who is Laura and why is she like this" version of the story.
For a city the size of Dunedin, that combination is genuinely rare: a salon that plans before it cuts, respects silence, takes on the hair others won't touch, and treats judgement-free as a working policy rather than a slogan. Come as you are — that part, at least, is entirely up to you.