Meet Shandell
SALON OWNER
My Story
My salon journey began as a young child when my grandfather found me cutting the hair off my Barbie doll. He introduced me to hairdressing, teaching me scissor-over-comb technique and ingraining in me a passion for changing the hair of the men around me: my father’s, grandfather’s, brothers’ and neighbours’ hair.
About the time computers were coming of age, my life took a detour and I ventured off to study business. I also got to live, work and travel abroad. Despite that, my passion for hair and beauty never really left and when I returned to Australia, I realised that hairdressing was the job for me.
For more than a decade, I’ve dived into the world of hairdressing. I’ve journeyed to the USA to attend the Vidal Sassoon Academy and I’ve managed and worked in a number of Brisbane salons. Each task, each experience and each role has lathered up into what I know today. And that’s how to do great cuts and how to treat my clients with kindness. Today I’m proud to welcome you to my beautiful little salon, Bardon Hair Design.
5 Minutes with Shandell
What inspired you to open Bardon Hair Design?
It wasn’t until my friend asked me if I wanted to rent a chair from her that I thought about owning my own salon. The fundamentals didn’t work out for renting a chair, but it opened up my mind to looking at bigger opportunities. I jumped on the computer and found this space in Bardon. The owner met me and we spent 3.5 hours chatting away. It seemed so right. I just love coming here day in day out.
It must have taken nerves to open a salon just as COVID was making headlines. Any secrets?
I had a lot of life experience prior to launching my salon in Bardon – from working overseas, to cutting hair and repping for hair product. I saw so many ways of doing business and I got to know what worked for me and what worked for a client. I’m not about fast turnover and no responsibility. Owning this salon is a big chunk of my life and I just want to create a pretty space for women and provide the best services at a reasonable price.
In the hair dressing world, you are either a colourist or a stylist. Which one are you?
I always thought I would be a stylist. Full stop. I love the finishing touch and the end result. Then, when I started learning about colour, I started to see why it is so important. People are either a ‘cool’ or a ‘warm’ tone. If you put the right colour on (their hair) they can look amazing. Until I did my colour course, I never truly understood it. Now I love colour as much as styling. Sorry, but I’m both!
Who is your favourite type of client?
I really love working with the modern woman, no matter their age or their stage in life. They are so busy juggling work, social lives, school schedules, and keeping the house functioning. They come in here with hair scraped back into a functional pony and their day scheduled to the minute. If I can make their life easier by ticking a few tasks off their list and they leave feeling beautiful, then I have done my job. I love seeing someone transformed from flat to full-confidence in a matter of hours.
What do you mean you can help tick tasks off the list?
The salon is more than hair styling and cutting, I also offer beauty treatments so my clients can really maximise their time. In between foiling and cutting, I can do a brow wax, lip wax and eyelash tint … that’s three things that can help make you feel a million dollars. The best thing is it may not add any more time to your appointment. It’s multi-tasking 101. And, it comes with a friendly cuppa. (Make that four things!)
If you only did one cut, colour or treatment today, what would it be?
Easy. It would have to be the Vidal Sassoon concave cut. It looked sassy in the 1960s and it looks on trend right now. It’s a style that has defied decades and it still turns heads. From the moment I went to the Vidal Sassoon Academy in the USA and really honed my technique, I knew it would be my favourite.