Made in Common Cassie Lawrence crowned Bendigo’s best hairdresser

We asked, you voted and now the number one hairdresser has been revealed. Bendigo’s best hairdresser has spent a decade going above and beyond to take the crown.

Made in Common hairstylist Cassie Lawrence was voted as Bendigo's best hairdresser for 2021. Picture: Zizi Averill

For Bendigo’s number one hairdresser her service isn’t just about dyes, trims and foils – it’s about making her clients feel beautiful inside and out.

The votes are in for the best hairdresser in Bendigo and this stylist has spent a decade going above and beyond to take the crown.

Cassie Lawrence has been based out of Bendigo’s Made in Common studio for four years.

But she said her career went in a different direction at the beginning.

Ms Lawrence said she discovered hairdressing was her calling at 21 while studying nursing at LaTrobe.

“I always like hair and making people feel good,” Ms Lawrence said.

“It’s that feeling that you get when someone else feels good about themselves.”

At Made in Common Ms Lawrence said she and her fellow stylists were their own business owners, running their client lists and schedules.

The Bendigo business is a salon and clothing store.

The smells of waxy candles, clean clothes and hair products lingers in the View St store in Bendigo’s arts district.

Made in Common hairstylist Cassie Lawrence was voted as Bendigo's best hairdresser for 2021. Picture: Zizi Averill

The store shows off colourful clothes, funky decorations and local artworks at the front of the store, while busy stylists like Ms Lawrence work in the salon at the back.

“It’s a good vibe,” Ms Lawrence said.

“People are always upbeat when they’re here.”

Ms Lawrence said it had been a tough two years for hairdressers as some of the first businesses to close and the last to open under Victoria’s sixth lockdown.

She said the latest lockdown was the most difficult “because it was so up and down with our emotions”.

But the Strathfieldsaye local said the lockdown was just another “juggling act” for her between running her business and being a mother-of-two.

“We have a good relationship with our clients and they are so understanding,” Ms Lawrence said.

She said this emotional connection and intelligence that was often undervalued by people who have the “ misconception” that hairdressing was a “dumb” profession.

“People say ‘oh you’re just a hairdresser’, but it’s so much more,” she said.

“You’re also a counsellor.

“You’re a friend in the end because you go through all their ups and downs.”

Made in Common hairstylist Cassie Lawrence was voted as Bendigo's best hairdresser for 2021. Picture: Zizi Averill

Ms Lawrence said she was “stoked” to be named by Herald Sun and The Bendigo News readers as the best hairdresser in the Bendigo region for 2021.

More than 1000 hairdressers were nominated across Central Victoria with Strathfieldsaye’s Melissa Grundy from Tra‘hair by Melissa the runner-up.