Auburn & Ash Queenstown Hairdressing is an intimate salon space at 19 Violet Way in Lower Shotover, built in the backyard of stylist Amy's Shotover Country home. With only two styling stations and a massage chair at the basin, it is designed as a small pocket of calm where clients can connect, escape life for a moment and simply leave feeling great.
Amy brings 25 years of hairdressing experience to every appointment. She is a fully qualified hairstylist holding the New Zealand Certificate in Hairdressing (Professional Stylist) (Level 4), a certified HITO assessor, and has worked at NZ Fashion Week and Fashion for a Cure. Her approach is honest and lifestyle-tailored: realistic, achievable results, no over-promising and no shortcuts, with hair health always front of mind.
Services cover precision cutting, soft layers and complete restyles; colour work ranging from subtle sun-kissed tones to lived-in foils and balayage, along with re-touches, toning and grey blending; Easyliss smoothing treatments; and styling from smooth blow-dries to event-ready finishes. The salon proudly uses and recommends Keune professional colour, care and styling products, which clients can also shop in salon.
New colour clients begin with a 15-minute consultation before any colour service, redeemable against the colour appointment. And keeping with the at-home warmth, clients are often greeted by Frosty, the salon's gentle therapy cat, who has a talent for making everyone feel at home.
Some salons are built for volume; Auburn & Ash was built for connection. Tucked into the backyard of a Shotover Country home at 19 Violet Way, this Queenstown hairdressing studio is the creation of Amy, a stylist with more than 25 years of industry experience who wanted something smaller, warmer and entirely client-focused.
The space tells you the intent straight away. There are just two styling stations and one basin — fitted with a massage chair, so the rinse becomes part of the treat rather than a transition. It is an environment designed to let you escape life for a precious moment and truly relax, a private pocket of calm where the world slows down and the focus is entirely on you.
Amy is the heart and the hands behind Auburn & Ash. She is a fully qualified hairstylist holding the New Zealand Certificate in Hairdressing (Professional Stylist) (Level 4), a certified HITO assessor, and has worked at NZ Fashion Week and Fashion for a Cure. But her pitch is less about credentials and more about care: she tunes into your lifestyle, your hair and what is going on in your world to create realistic, beautiful results.
That honesty shapes everything here — no over-promising, no shortcuts, just hair that works for your life with maintenance you can actually keep up. Amy describes hairdressing as being about connection and creativity, those little moments where a fresh colour or cut brings out someone's inner spark. Every person who sits in her chair has their own story, and she is happy to play a small part in it.
Cutting spans precision cuts, soft layers and complete restyles, always shaped to suit you and your daily routine. Colour is where Amy's 25 years really show: from subtle sun-kissed tones to lived-in foils and balayage, plus regular re-touches, toning and grey blending for clients keeping an existing shade at its best.
For those battling frizz or unruly texture, Easyliss smoothing treatments offer relaxing for silky, nourished hair that is easier to manage day to day. And when an occasion calls, styling and finishing covers smooth blow-dries, effortless waves and event styling built to last.
Product-wise, the salon proudly uses and recommends Keune professional colour, care and styling products — chosen both for the company's ethos and the way they perform — and clients can shop the care and styling ranges right in the salon.
New clients coming in for colour start with a 15-minute consultation before any colour service, which is redeemable against the colour appointment itself. It is a chance to talk goals, hair health and honest maintenance before anything touches your hair. Returning clients can simply book their regular appointment online — and are reminded to add a cut or blow-dry to finish any colour service.
Then there is Frosty, the salon's gentle therapy cat, who loves greeting clients and has a talent for curling up on laps mid-appointment. He is very much part of the team, and a big part of why regulars describe the salon as feeling like home.
Auburn & Ash is at 19 Violet Way, Lower Shotover, Queenstown. Appointments can be booked online through the salon's booking system, or you can contact Amy on 027 899 9021. Whether you are after a transformation or simply an hour in the chair to reset, this is hairdressing with soul — beautiful hair meets beautiful care.