Hairdresser Hayley Britton has grown from cutting hair in her garage to now have clientele across Perth’s south.
With 14 years behind her, Ms Britton is preparing to expand her brand House of Haylo to Bull Creek, joining its flagship salon in Como’s Mends Street Arcade.
“I even went out to Kondinin for many years and serviced the Wheatbelt region along with servicing all my Perth clientele — I used to work seven days straight for years,” she recounted.
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READ NOW“And then saved up to buy my first salon in Como.”
Ms Britton backs an “organic, low-toxin” approach for her clients, using ammonia-free, naturally derived hair colouring products.
It wasn’t always the case for the business owner, who said chemically based hair colouring products almost stopped her career in 2017.
“I was very sick, I was experiencing lots of headaches, hormonal imbalances and gut health issues,” she said.
“Every time I applied colour, I was sneezing and coughing. My hands were covered in dermatitis.
“It’s very common in the hairdressing industry.”
Ms Britton said after doctor and naturopath visits, she made the decision to use products which had less chemicals.
“When you’re mixing it up, it hits you,” she said.
“I’d be coughing and sneezing and then because of the smell of ammonia, they mask it with a lot of artificial fragrance.
“With the natural colour there’s no fumes, then they don’t have to put all these extra chemicals in as well.”
The stylist began the transition to low-toxin products that her salon now champions.
Its philosophy is to use safe products that will still “cover the greys”.
While Ms Britton said there was a wave of support and newfound success for House of Haylo, she still faced challenges “like any small business owner”.
The mum of two said she had grappled with raising her two sons — now four years old and 10 months — as well as building her business when COVID struck.
“I had nine staff before COVID hit and then due to COVID I pretty much lost all the staff and had to start from scratch again,” she said.
“My older boy was (also) only three months old when I lost staff, so I thought I was going to be having maternity leave.”
Ms Britton said building her small business had been a journey that saw her “bounce back” from hard situations.
House of Haylo will open its second salon in the Bull Creek Central Shopping Centre on November 2.