Stockbridge · Edinburgh · est. 2019
Hairdresser & nail designer
A two-chair bothy on St Stephen Street. Cuts, colour and gel work done slowly, in a room that smells of coffee and beeswax.
01 — The work
I keep the list short on purpose. Everything below is something I've spent years getting right, and I'd rather do four things well than twenty adequately. If you're not sure which one you need, tell me what your hair does on a wet Tuesday and we'll work it out.
Cut · 60–75 min
Cut on dry hair, in the chair, in daylight. It's slower and it means I'm cutting what your hair actually does rather than what it does when it's wet and pretending. Curls get cut curl by curl. Fine hair gets a blunt line and no thinning scissors, ever.
Nails · 45–90 min
Builder gel overlays, structured manicures, and freehand art done with a 000 brush and a very steady hand. I do a lot of quiet, grown-up nails — a milky base, a single hairline of terracotta, a gold leaf fleck at the cuticle. Nothing that looks like it came off a nail-art reel unless you ask for it.
Colour · 90 min–3 hr
Balayage, root melts, and full-head colour using ammonia-free lines and a lot of sectioning. I'm honest about what's achievable in one sitting — if your goal is four shades lighter than your natural, that's a six-month plan and I'll tell you so at the consultation rather than at the basin.
Occasion · by quote
Weddings, graduations, the work Christmas do. I do a trial at the studio first — always — because the only way to know whether a style will hold through a ceilidh is to build it once and watch what it does. Travel within Edinburgh is included; the Lothians is a small add-on.
02 — Prices
Prices are for the appointment, not the clock — I don't rush the last twenty minutes to hit a slot. Longer or thicker hair may add a little; I'll always say before we start, never after.
Cash, card and bank transfer all fine. Cancellations inside 24 hours are charged at half, because that chair doesn't fill itself.
03 — The studio
I took the lease on a small back room off St Stephen Street in 2019, after nine years on salon floors where the music was too loud and the appointment book was somebody else's problem. A bothy is a wee shelter — somewhere you go to be out of the weather. That's roughly what I was after.
There are two chairs, one basin, and a window that gets the afternoon light at about half three. The kettle is always on and there's usually shortbread. I work alone, so the person who answers your message is the person who cuts your hair — which means I'm slower to reply than a reception desk, and I'd rather that than the alternative.
I trained in Glasgow, spent four years doing colour in a New Town salon, and picked up nails properly during the year the salons were shut, when I was doing my own at the kitchen table like everybody else. The nail side has quietly become half the business.
"Bring a photo. Bring three. I'd rather see the thing you actually want than guess at it."
04 — Visit
Look for the green door between the bookshop and the wine bar — the studio is up the wee stair at the back. Buzzer marked Beauty Bothy.
| Monday | Closed |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 9.30 – 18.00 |
| Wednesday | 9.30 – 18.00 |
| Thursday | 11.00 – 20.00 |
| Friday | 9.30 – 18.00 |
| Saturday | 9.00 – 16.00 |
| Sunday | Closed |
Late Thursdays are kept for colour appointments and bridal trials. Buses 24, 29 and 42 stop at Raeburn Place, two minutes' walk.
Tell me what you're after and roughly when suits — I'll come back with times. For anything urgent, ring the studio on 0131 555 0142.