Headline Hairdesign is a hair salon on Ballance Street in Whataupoko, Gisborne, holding a 4.8 rating on Google. A good local salon earns its regulars the slow way: by listening before the scissors come out and being honest about what a cut will actually do once you are styling it at home. The best stylists cut for how hair really sits — its growth patterns, thickness and the way it dries — rather than only for how it looks leaving the chair. In a seaside town like Gisborne, sun and salt water take a toll, so a shape that grows out well between appointments matters more than a style needing weekly rescue. Regulars tend to settle with one stylist who knows their hair history, which saves a great deal of explaining. On a quiet Ballance Street corner of Whataupoko, Headline Hairdesign gives locals a highly rated option close to home.