Being someone’s trusted hairstylist isn’t something Amber Turner takes for granted.
“There is no feeling like someone coming in who has been down in the dumps and you help them leave with a smile on their face, feeling good about themselves,” she said.
“Us hairdressers don’t get enough credit, we are ‘hairapists’ – we are basically therapists who do hair.”
Amber rents a chair in Revive on Aberdeen’s Diamond Street, delivering cuts, colours and creative ‘dos to the people of the city.
Now 36, the mum-of-two has more than 23 years experience in the business and was named Scottish Hairstylist of the Year at Scottish Hair & Beauty Awards in December.
Starting out
At the age of 13, Amber had her fingers crossed for an easy work experience week in her uncle’s salon.
She was instead given a placement in Angels, a salon based in Aberdeen at the time, and the unexpected change ended up shaping her entire future.
Teenage Amber “just wanted to be like the girls” working there, so got a Saturday job before leaving school to work fulltime, and became a fully qualified hairstylist by the age of 17.
The “giant family” within Angels became her world, and she received incredible training along the way.
The owner, Tracey Devine Smith is still a source of inspiration for Amber.
“The things she used to do on stage for competition, it was just unreal how she could make someone go from looking so ordinary to looking completely different,” she said.
Amber stayed at Angels until she was 22 before moving to Ice, and went on to set up her own salon in 2011.
After nine years she made the tough decision to close, which turned out to be a smart choice as lockdown hit around a week later.
Memorable haircuts
Amber has taken part in competitions all over the UK in the last 20 years – earning herself the top spot in national awards on more than one occasion.
Competing has taken a backseat since having her children, but she hopes to pick it back up in the future as she reckons it’s her “forte”.
Though she thrives in a competitive setting, her reason for doing what she does isn’t fuelled by awards and titles.
The impact she can have on people becomes most apparent when she works with clients who are struggling.
For three years in a row before Covid, Amber closed her salon annually to dedicate all her time to Friends of Anchor’s Courage on the Catwalk.
“It was very rewarding, but it was so sad,” she said.
“The first year I did it there was a woman who had terminal brain cancer, she told me her story and by the time I finished her blow-dry my face was soaking, I couldn’t stop crying.
“Life is so cruel.”
Some of the most memorable appointments of her career also include fulfilling people’s last wishes of their final hairdo.
Trusting clients
Amber takes pride in the fact she has “never done the same thing twice”.
“My clients are very trusting and just come in and say ‘right, on you go’, she said.
“It’s very rewarding, nothing compares to that and making people feel amazing is the best feeling.”
She loves trying new things and often thinks back to the first time she was allowed to properly let loose.
“At a competition in Manchester when I was younger, with the junior Angels team, we were all on the floor doing what we had to do but none of us were winning,” she explained.
“The things that were winning were really strange and I was last to go so Tracy just said ‘do something ridiculous’.
“I went on and I gave my model a huge mohawk with cornrow sides, spray painted, it looked ridiculous but I won.”
On a more normal day, Amber enjoys colouring hair as “there’s no right or wrong” and doing bridal hair as she “loves being part of a bride’s day.”
Claim to fame
When it comes to Amber’s clientele, she believes they are “not your everyday clients”.
There are also a few famous faces in the mix.
When Fame Academy came to Aberdeen, Amber remembers cutting Lamar’s hair in his hotel room while they watched Spongebob Squarepants.
One of her now regular clients also revealed to her while in the chair last year that she had been the Queen’s hairdresser at Balmoral.
Ever unflappable, Amber is clearly sought after.
For more informationor to book an appointment, check out her Facebook page @HeadKaseAberdeen
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