GOLD WINNER
Julien Grey, greyarea waxing & brows91 Sackville Drive
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SILVER WINNER
Andrea Bowness, The Ten Spot5165 South Street
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BRONZE WINNER
Natalie MacDonald, Blair Beauty Bar6427 Quinpool Road
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Julien Grey is on a mission to turn the beauty industry inside out. An openly trans esthetician, Grey has built a reputation within Halifax’s queer community for providing a safe place where trans and non-binary folks can receive services “that make them feel more at home in their body.” Grey says they’ve heard “all the horror stories” of clients being turned away from haircuts or brow waxes at other spas—or estheticians who have braved beauty schools only to face transphobia within the industry. “People shouldn't be denied services for the body parts they have, especially if it's irrelevant to the situation,” Grey, who uses they/them pronouns, tells The Coast. To earn Best of Halifax honours from The Coast’s readers had Gray feeling “a little shook.” “I'm just a little guy, right? The people on that list [with me] are very, very talented people with lots of people that love them… So that means a lot to me.”
