Best Esthetician

GOLD WINNER

Natalie MacDonald, Blair Beauty Bar
6247 Quinpool Road
website

SILVER WINNER

Stacy Landry, Adorn Salon + Spa
1308 Saint Margarets Bay Road
website

BRONZE WINNER

Andrea Bowness, The Ten Spot
5165 South Street
website

It was winning the BOH gold award in 2018 that inspired Natalie MacDonald to go out on her own and create Blair Beauty Bar. The former Waxon esthetician now has her own shop on Quinpool Road. “Best of Halifax Kicked my ass into starting my own shop,” MacDonald tells The Coast. “And it’s been way more successful than I’d ever imagined.” With seven years as an esthetician under her belt, MacDonald specializes in body waxing, brows and lashes, but prides her shop as being gender and body inclusive. “I don’t have gendered service lists, I’m trying to create a vibe that doesn’t really exist in Halifax yet,” she says. “Anybody can come in, get a wax, they’re welcome. They don’t have to misgender themselves just to book a brow wax.” MacDonald thanks all her clients for supporting her through the pandemic. “Lockdown was so hard but my clients showed up for me in such a big way,” she says. “I actually took on a bigger expansion during lockdown. So in the next couple of months there’ll be some other people, but for now it’s just me.”