A small bar specialising in grazing platters of South Coast produce has teamed up with Wollongong's curly hair specialist who has a penchant for sustainability.
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Paddock to Platter and Haylo Hair have joined forces on the southern end of Keira Street so hair clients can make salon visits "an experience" while the general public can also be tempted with delights. The menu boasts a whole page just dedicated to cheese.
"There's nothing like it in Wollongong," said Shannon Duncan who co-owns the venture with wife Hayley. "Everything on the menu I've gone through ... and hand selected the ingredients locally. For example, with a lot of our cheeses I deal directly with a farm down at Tilba ... and Nowra."
Having begun as one small hair salon originally in Mount Saint Thomas, Mr Duncan added the new dual venture was strongly about "paying it forward" and supporting other local suppliers.
That's the same for the salon, which also has a focus on the environment and uses no harsh chemicals, rather, products without parabens, sulphates or silicones - some of which Mrs Duncan has created herself.
Their recycling system includes a shampoo and conditioner "refill station" to avoid single use plastics while even the offcuts from people's hair are reused to benefit the global environment.
"We collect everybody's hair when they get a haircut and it goes into a hair bin and that hair bin gets collected every week [with a collection of other bins for recyclables]," Mrs Duncan said.
The hair then gets put into a "hair boom" which is used abroad to clean up oil spills in the ocean, as "hair absorbs oil".
"Ninety-five per cent of our salon's waste is recycled, so we've only got five per cent waste," Mrs Duncan said.
"We've got two little boys and it is really scary for their future if people aren't mindful about that kind of stuff."
Meantime, the philosophy on sustaining natural beauty extends to people so you won't find any images of models donning the latest styles on the walls of the salons with the staff promoting clients to be happy with themselves.
"I feel like there's so much emphasis on men and women looking and acting and being a certain way," she said. "I'm all into people embracing their natural beauty, no matter what hair type you are or skin colour you are. There's so much emphasis on being a certain way and that's 'perfect'."
The salon is the only business in the Illawarra following a version of the popular Curly Girl Method, helping people embrace and enhance their curls according to a regime (and global movement) championed by Lorraine Masse, who has taught Mrs Duncan the technique.
Paddock to Plate and Haylo Hair are currently both open Wednesdays to Saturdays.
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