Euphoria Hair Design is a long-established salon in Shop 9 of Suncourt Plaza on Tamamutu Street, right in Taupo Central. The name comes straight from the dictionary — euphoria: a feeling of extreme happiness or confidence — and it sets the tone for what the team wants every client to feel walking out the door.
The salon's story runs deep in Taupo. Creative stylists Tanjee and Libby have worked together in the town for more than 28 years, having trained through an apprenticeship with Raewyn Booth, a renowned local stylist who served Taupo for 50 years before her retirement. Today the team includes three senior stylists and a beautician, covering most hair and beauty needs in one visit.
Services span hair colouring — weave foiling, root retouching, ombres, slicing, belliage, cap highlighting and semi-permanent colour — along with haircuts for the whole family, perm waving, brush blow waves, conditioning treatments, ghd heat styling and special-occasion looks for smaller wedding parties, in the salon or out. By arrangement, the team will even apply colouring products clients supply themselves, such as natural colour ranges.
A boutique beauty room handles body and facial waxing, lash and brow tinting and shaping, and lash lift perming. There is also a wide retail wall of professional home hair care — Joico, ghd, KMS, Paul Mitchell, Moroccanoil, Nioxin and more, with honest advice from a team that knows the products inside out.
Tucked into Shop 9 of Suncourt Plaza on Tamamutu Street, Euphoria Hair Design has long been part of everyday life in Taupo Central. The name is borrowed straight from the dictionary — *euphoria, noun: a feeling of extreme happiness or confidence* — and it is a fair summary of what the team wants every client to carry out the door. Inside, it is a working salon in the best sense: three senior stylists and a beautician, the hum of blow dryers, and clients who have been coming for years.
The story begins well before the salon's own doors opened. Creative stylists Tanjee and Libby have worked together in Taupo for more than 28 years, and both trained through an apprenticeship with Raewyn Booth — a stylist so woven into the town that she served it for 50 years before her retirement. That lineage shows in the way the salon works: careful consultation, sound technique, and a willingness to move with the times, from balayage to fashion shades. Today the team is three senior stylists plus a beautician, so most hair and beauty needs can be covered in one visit, in one place.
If Euphoria is known for anything, it is colour. The service list covers weave foiling, root retouching, ombres, slicing, belliage, cap highlighting and semi-permanent colour, along with toners and Eleumen fashion shades for something more creative. Foil work scales from individual foils for a subtle lift, through T-sections and half heads, up to half-head foils combined with global roots and a cut and blow wave — and longer hair has its own full-length and regrowth options. Bleach clients are looked after too, with full-head retouches and first-time bleaches, shadow tints to soften the finish, and keratin lamination booked by the hour.
There is a flexible streak here as well: by arrangement, the team will apply colouring products you supply yourself — handy for anyone using a natural colour range the salon does not carry.
Not every visit has to be a colour day. Euphoria cuts hair for the whole family — women, men and children — with dedicated options for college and primary students. Styling covers cut and blow waving, perm waving, brush blow waves, shampoo-and-set styling, conditioning treatments and heat-tool work with ghds. Special occasion styling is offered for smaller wedding parties, and the team will also head out to special occasions away from the salon.
Through in what the team calls its lovely boutique beauty room, the salon's beautician looks after body waxing, facial waxing, lash and brow tinting and shaping, and lash lift perming. Clients single this side of the business out for praise: one reviewer thanked Anita for her eyebrow work and the “professional service and her friendly helpful attitude”, while long-time client Geni Ray writes that the girls are “like family” and that she has always left feeling fantastic after years of experimenting with styles and colours.
The retail shelf is a destination in its own right. Euphoria stocks the Joico colouring and perming system and Joico home haircare, ghd stylers, dryers and curlers, KMS, Paul Mitchell, Vita Five, Fudge — including Paintbox, styling and violet ranges — DeLorenzo's Tricho range, Schwarzkopf Bonacure, Osis and Sessionlabel, Moroccanoil and Nioxin. Minis are on hand for travel or for trialling something new. Just as valuable is the advice that comes with them: the team prides itself on in-depth product knowledge and will point you towards what will genuinely suit your hair.
Every new idea can start with a complimentary 15-minute consultation — a chance to talk through where your style is now and how to reach your goal. The salon recommends booking ahead to avoid disappointment. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday run 9am to 5pm, Monday is 9am to 3pm, Saturday is 9am to 1pm, and Thursday opens at 9 with late appointments available on request. Cancellations within two hours of an appointment, and missed appointments, may incur a $20 fee charged to your next visit.
Gift vouchers are available if you are stuck for a present — simply get in touch. You will find Euphoria Hair Design at Shop 9, Suncourt Plaza, 9/19 Tamamutu Street, Taupo, or on 07 378 6714.