Sirah Hair Studio is a luxury boutique hair studio on Havelock Street in Renwick, in the heart of Marlborough's renowned wine region at the top of New Zealand's South Island. Behind the chair is Sarah, a stylist with over a decade of experience from leading salons across Canada, Singapore and New Zealand, who built the studio as her own long-dreamed-of space — blending the best elements of everywhere she has worked and leaving out the parts she didn't enjoy.
Every appointment takes place in a private, one-to-one setting. The studio offers a full range of hair services: precision cuts, expert plant-based colour, styling, and nourishing hair and scalp treatments. Whichever service you book, it comes with a complimentary drink, a luxurious shampoo and blow-dry, and a hot towel.
Sarah works with sustainable, natural brands — O&M and Davroe — plant-based Australian lines free from ammonia, PPD, resorcinol, sulphates, parabens and petrochemicals. Sirah Hair Studio is the first and only salon in the region to provide O&M colour.
More than anything, the studio is built around the belief that beautifully cared-for hair combined with genuine human connection can transform how you feel. It's a calm, welcoming sanctuary where each client's individual needs are understood before any scissors come out. Visits are by appointment only, Monday to Friday 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM and Saturday 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
Sirah Hair Studio sits on Havelock Street in Renwick, a town at the heart of Marlborough — New Zealand's largest wine region, at the top of the South Island. It is a boutique studio by design: one stylist, one chair, one client at a time. The idea is simple — hairdressing delivered in a private, one-to-one setting where the appointment is entirely yours.
The person behind Sirah is Sarah, a stylist with more than a decade of experience in leading salons across Canada, Singapore and New Zealand. Opening her own space was a long-held dream, and the studio reflects it: she kept the best of what she saw in the salons she worked in and left out the parts she didn't enjoy. Life and wine eventually led her to Marlborough, where she fell for the region — and for her husband, whose surname, Whyte, plays a starring role in the studio's name.
That name is a story in itself. Sarah's family calls her 'rah'; Lee Rui Si (李瑞思) is her Chinese name; and Syrah — pronounced 'see-rah' — is one of her favourite wines. Played around with, the letters became Sirah. Even the logo carries the double inspiration: an abstract mark of circles and smooth lines that reads as a wine glass from a bird's-eye view, the back of a hairdryer, a colour wheel, or the three layers of a hair structure — medulla, cortex and cuticle.
Sirah Hair Studio is the first and only salon in the region to provide O&M colour. Both O&M and Davroe — the two brands Sarah works with — are plant-based Australian lines free from ammonia, PPD, resorcinol, sulphates, parabens and petrochemicals. The philosophy is beauty without compromise: helping people feel more beautiful and confident while preserving the integrity of their hair.
Colour is one of the studio's calling cards. Clients come for root touch-ups and global colour, foils and highlights, bleach work, toners and glosses, creative colour, and full colour correction. Creative colour and correction are priced on consultation, with your colour history taken into account.
Cut and style services cover everyone — men's and women's haircuts, buzz cuts, beard and fringe trims, restyles, wash and blow-dries, and cuts for kids and teens. Every cut includes shampoo, blow-dry and style.
Where the studio really slows things down is its treatment menu. The Davroe Scalp Remedy Spa Treatment is a ten-step ritual lasting an hour and a half to two hours: scalp scan and analysis, aromatherapy, brush exfoliation, a neck and shoulder massage, an exfoliating scrub, an extended scalp massage, serum and a blow-dry finish. The Hair Treatment follows a seven-step format built around analysis, massage and a customised treatment. At the top of the menu, the Hair & Scalp Ultimate Spa Experience runs about two and a half hours and adds waterfall therapy and a hand massage to the ritual.
Brides are well looked after, too. The studio offers bridal consultations and trials in Renwick, with wedding-day styling on location, plus in-studio event styling and options for grooms or brides with short hair. Reviews repeatedly mention styles that held up through long days, photo sessions and plenty of emotions.
Every service, whatever it is, unfolds in the same setting: a complimentary drink, a luxurious shampoo and blow-dry, and a hot towel. Clients describe scalp massages worth the trip alone, and a stylist who listens first — one reviewer who first met Sarah at a Nelson salon still makes the trip to Marlborough for appointments, and another calls her 'an absolute magician' with colour.
Sarah's approach is deliberately unhurried. She takes time to understand each client's hair texture, face shape and lifestyle, and to build styles that grow out well and stay fuss-free. The studio describes itself as a peaceful sanctuary — a place to unwind, relax and leave feeling your very best.
Sirah Hair Studio is appointments only, so book ahead online. Hours are Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and Saturday, 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM; the studio is closed on Sundays. If you're not sure what to book, a complimentary, no-obligation consultation is a good place to start. You'll find the studio at 32 Havelock Street, Renwick 7204 — in the heart of wine country.