Absolute Hair is a Waikanae hair salon on Main Road in the heart of the Kapiti Coast, built around the belief that beautiful hair is possible — and that you should love yours every single day. The team describes its work as intelligent, sophisticated hairdressing: hairstyling excellence, five-star customer service, current techniques and quality training, delivered by experienced stylists with comprehensive technical knowledge.
Hair colouring is the salon's declared speciality, from personalised colour that enhances your style to professional finishes that leave hair feeling amazing. It sits alongside deluxe hair and scalp treatments designed to calm, energise, repair and strengthen — including Olaplex, the patented bond-building treatment used within colour services or as a stand-alone — plus specialist wedding and special-occasion packages and everyday cuts with honest styling advice.
Owner and director Kirsten brings more than 30 years in the industry to Waikanae, having worked with leading names in Wellington and Sydney and owned a salon in London before coming home. She leads a long-standing team that includes salon manager Amberley (12 years with the business), principal stylist and colourist Dayna, stylist Sarah, and salon assistant Florence.
A visit is framed as a relaxing treat: a comprehensive consultation, dedicated attention, magazines to browse and a drinks menu to sip from. The salon is equally serious about sustainability, favouring low-ammonia colour, recyclable packaging, chemical-free cleaning products and brand partners such as Davines, O&M, Kevin Murphy and Olaplex that share its values.
Main Road through Waikanae is home to a salon that treats 'hair you love' as a promise rather than a slogan. Absolute Hair describes its craft as intelligent, sophisticated hairdressing — hairstyling excellence, five-star customer service, current techniques and quality training — delivered by experienced stylists with comprehensive technical knowledge and a desire to create the perfect style for you and your lifestyle. The aim, they say, is that every visit feels like an enjoyable and relaxing treat.
At the centre of the salon is owner and director Kirsten, who has spent more than 30 years in hairdressing. Before returning to New Zealand she worked with the best in Wellington and Sydney and owned her own salon in London. That background shapes the salon's culture of education and its '5 Star Commitment' — a promise that you feel listened to, considered and leave looking your best. These days Kirsten focuses on inspiring and training the team rather than taking new clients, saying she backs her stylists 'to deliver great hair 100%'.
Around her is a team with deep roots. Amberley, salon manager and head of marketing, started at the salon at 13 shampooing and answering phones and has now been part of the business for 12 years. Dayna, a principal stylist and colourist, was fully trained at Absolute Hair and has a keen eye for colour. Sarah, who joined in 2024, is an expert in natural blended colour with hair health as her top priority. Florence, the salon assistant of more than six years, keeps busy days running smoothly and helps the apprentices learn the ropes.
Colour is the salon's calling card. 'Hair colouring is our speciality,' the team says, and the goal is beautifully coloured hair that feels amazing and carries the extra flair of a professional finish. Alongside it sit deluxe hair and scalp treatments that promise to calm, energise, repair and strengthen — to 'rebuild, replump and rejuvenate like never before'. Absolute Hair is also an Olaplex salon: the patented bond-building chemistry can be added to your colour service or booked as a stand-alone treatment, leaving hair stronger and healthier while colour lasts longer with more vibrancy.
Special occasions get their own attention too. The team specialises in wedding packages and hair for special occasions, with experienced, considerate stylists and all your needs catered for. And for everyday hair, the promise is a cut that actually suits you — plus the advice and tips to manage it and update it at home, so it looks the way it did when you left the salon.
A visit is deliberately styled as time for yourself. You can expect a comprehensive consultation and dedicated attention, wonderful magazines to browse and delicious drinks from the salon's menu while your colour develops. Clients agree: Liz says she would 'shout from the roof tops' to send people to Absolute Hair, and Shona calls a visit 'a very special experience'. A Workplace of the Year winner badge even features on the salon's social channels.
Sustainability runs through the salon's choices. It looks for low-ammonia colour, recyclable packaging and sustainable principles from partner companies, offers less chemically intensive services where possible, cleans with chemical-free products and keeps waste to a minimum with recycling where it can. Its brand partners are chosen to match: Davines with its sustainable-beauty ethos, O&M's clean colour built on natural extracts and native Australian botanicals, Kevin Murphy's runway-inspired range with its 'five free' promise, and Olaplex.
New to Absolute Hair? The salon invites first-timers to explore their first-visit options and find the right starting point for their hair, and there is a free gift voucher for signing up, along with a Refer a Friend voucher and regular salon specials. Appointments can be booked online in a few clicks or by calling the salon on 04 293 1177. Whether you are planning a significant colour change, a wedding, a rescue treatment or simply a better cut, the starting point is the same: a proper consultation with a stylist who listens.