GOLD WINNER
Malyssa BurnsInterlude Spa Dartmouth, 58 Ochterloney Street
salon website
SILVER WINNER
Brittany AucoinCabaret Hair and Esthetics, 578 Sackville Drive
personal website, salon website
BRONZE WINNER
Robyn BoutilierLakehouse Salon & Wellness, 300 Prince Albert Road, suite 118
personal website, salon website
The first time Malyssa Burns took a pair of scissors to her own hair, she was three years old. “I cut my own bangs, and I didn’t even do a bad job,” she jokes. In her 15 years as a professional hairstylist, the Dartmouth-based Burns has worked hard to build a rapport with each of her clients—and to get to know each of the people beneath the ’do. That, she says, is the key to a good haircut. “The colour can [complement] their eyes and their skin, and their cut can look good on their face, but what's their personality like? Because I feel like that really has to reflect in their hairstyle,” she tells The Coast. It’s been a difficult year for Burns. She lost her spouse, beloved battle rapper Pat Stay, to a tragic stabbing in September. (“I was ready to leave [Halifax],” she says.) But the community support she’s seen in recent months has kept her going. “I didn't expect it to this magnitude,” she says. “It’s restored my faith in this city.”
