Madison Lincoln Hair & Nails

Opening the door to feeling great

WE HAVE MOVED! NOW AT THISTLE AVENUE, MASTERTON

Six years after he opened the door to his hair salon in Upper Plain Road, owner Jordon Watene has moved Madison Lincoln Hair & Nails to bigger premises. It’s now situated in Ngaumutawa Road’s brand spanking new Poplars Business Park.

With your hair and nails both transformed, you’ll step out of Madison Lincoln feeling renewed.

Jordon and his wife Steph say that Madison Lincoln (named after their children) is “in the business of making people look and feel great”. Hair options include cuts, colouring, extensions, styling and treatments.

A self-proclaimed ‘hair nerd’ with a love of streetwear and a slightly concerning sneaker addiction, Jordon has a passion for creative cutting both precision and free owing. He focuses on the personal style of each guest who sits in his chair. Whether it’s super short fades, long lush locks, or classic bobs - he’s got you covered.

Jordon describes himself as the creative director of Madison Lincoln. For him, hair is important but even more critical is the ability to “relate to people and create an in-studio environment where both clients and staff feel good.”

Clients having their hair done are

pampered, and Lincoln Lounge Nails is the perfect addition to the Madison hair experience. Steph, the mistress of nails, specialises in soft gel extensions and gel polish manicures. She has a true passion for nails & loves nothing more than sending her guest out with hands that will have heads turning.

A new chapter

@ Poplars Business Park

Having outgrown the Upper Plain Road premises and moved to Poplars Business Park, Madison Lincoln now has the space for nine stylists and a nail technician to operate at the same time, as well as room for future additional team members.

Situated near LW & Co Building Company, Sugar Café, and Festival Hire, Madison Lincoln is in the perfect place to meet the needs of its highly loyal and ever-growing clientele. The parking is great too.

The journey

Jordon has come a long way since starting out in hairdressing aged just 17, doing work experience one day a week at Masterton’s (then) Maggie B’s, while still at school. It wasn’t long before the work experience became

an apprenticeship.

“School didn’t really work for me,”

Jordon says with his trademark smile. “I went there to eat lunch and play rugby.”

And it was at school that he met Steph. Born and bred on an isolated farm in Bidford, Steph went to Wairarapa College with her twin brother, where Jordon noticed her. “He got my number off a friend,” she laughs, “but I thought he was someone else when agreed to a rst date.”

That rst date was at Masterton Master Fried Chicken. She can’t remember what they ordered but being vegan Steph probably only had chips. She can remember what Jordon looked like: “he had really interesting hair - all different colours and bits sticking up all over the place.”

Like Jordon, Steph is naturally calm and peaceful. She says she keeps life simple through having routines, doesn’t like stress, and that she and Jordon each thrive off each other’s calmness. She does yoga and has enormous respect for nature. Each morning, Steph gets up early and takes their dogs for a walk out into the country near a river. “It clears my head,” she says.

Like Jordon, Steph was pulled to beauty therapy at a young age, doing

a course in cosmetology and nail technology at UCOL straight after leaving school at age 16. She worked as a beauty therapist for a few years and then became pregnant with their daughter.

“Everything in our lives has happened naturally and organically,” she says.

Family ties

After moving from school to an apprenticeship at Maggie B’s, Jordon stayed for eleven years. In 2017 he decided to go out on his own, choosing the Upper Plain premises after noticing the empty shop while visiting his grandmother who lives just around the corner.

And the new address in Poplars Business Park is not that far from Upper Plain.

Just as relationships with staff and clients at Madison Lincoln are important to Jordon, so too is family. His roots go deep into Ngati Kahungunu (Hastings) and his wife and children are the lights of his life.

“Steph and I have been together since our late teens,” Jordon says. Their children are aged 11 and nine, with nine-year old Lincoln diagnosed as autistic. “He’s an awesome kid but full-on.”

MADISON LINCOLN HAIR & NAILS SERVICES AND PRODUCTS

HAIRCUTS:

Check out the costs of a cut on Madison Lincoln’s website –there are discounts for children, students, and gold card holders, and different rates for men and women.

HAIR COLOURING:

Options include full and halfhead foils, root re-touches, balayage (which gives you a sunkissed look), colour corrects, and global colour.

HAIR STYLING:

If you’re after at ironing, curls using tongs, or up-dos, they’re all available at reasonable prices.

HAIR TREATMENTS:

On offer are Olaplex, aura smoothing, and conditioning treatments to restore the health of your hair.

HAIR EXTENSIONS:

These are a Madison Lincoln speciality.

NAILS:

Steph can give you a full set of soft-gel extensions or, alternatively, remove them. She also offers polygel in lls, gel polish manicures, nail art and soak offs.

PRODUCTS:

There are products designed to increase the volume or your hair, or repair, colour or smooth it. Other products hydrate, protect, cleanse, control oil, or curl. Madison Lincoln sells a range of Angel, Evo, Teknia, Color WOW and Olaplex products for your hair to condition, spray, cream, treat, or mask. Masks work by moisturising, adding softness and shine, and helping to detangle and improve manageability.

Jordon, Steph, Madison and Lincoln Watene at the new Madison Lincoln Hair & Nails premises.

Hannah’s been hairdressing for more than 15 years, since leaving Wairarapa College. She grew up in Carterton, but now lives in Masterton with husband Joel and a cat called Milo.

Jo Houston, SENIOR STYLIST

Described by many as the human hairdresser version of the Swiss Army knife, Jo can adapt and whip out whatever technique is necessary to give you the hair you want. She’s learned all the tricks over many years of experience in the hair game and can create stunning, bespoke and on trend looks for her loyal followers. Jo also loves a big restyle. You’ll have to wait a week or two to book her, however, because she and husband Daniel are currently on their longanticipated OE in Europe.

Lisa has always done hair and wouldn’t want to work at anything else. What does she like most about being a hair stylist? “Every day is different. Customers, conversations, hair styles, techniques – they’re always changing.”

Maddie Oakly SENIOR STYLIST

Based in Masterton with builder husband Aaron and their three-yearold (with another one on the way), hairdressing is the only job Maddie’s has had since age 15.

“I love it,” she says. “I love making people feel better before they walk out the door. I also like encouraging people to consider changing their look.”

Victoria Johnson SENIOR STYLIST

Victoria is another of Madison Lincoln’s loyal stylists. She’s been with the salon for six years, and fully qualified for three.

Leah Tafa , MASTER COLOURIST

Brand new to the team, Leah brings 11 years of hairdressing experience to Madison Lincoln.

Jordon

“if you’re after a vibrant colour and an on-trend cut, then look no further than Ashlee.”

With partner Ondre (a team leader at JNL) and a dog named Korah at home, Ashlee is very settled in the district and the salon.

Customer Ngaire says she’s been with Hannah since she started at Madison Lincoln about two years ago. “She’s a good listener,” Ngaire says. “We’ve shared some great stories. And she’s a fabulous hairdresser. She knows how to make me feel good.”

Hannah is also “a guru of hair for weddings and balls,” Jordon says.

Customer Bev, aged 91, comes in weekly for a wash and blow wave –“it’s the only thing do for myself,” she says. The day the Wairarapa Times-Age dropped in, however, she was giving herself a treat in the form of a perm.

“Things are always changing in hair styles and techniques,” Jo says. “I used to do perms a lot for women of all ages. Now, it’s mainly teenage boys asking for them.”

A customer, also called Lisa, says she’s happy to put herself into stylist Lisa’s hands for her regular colour, cut, and straightening. “I trust her,” she says. Jordon refers to his stylist as the Queen of colour.

Firmly established in Wairarapa with her stock agent partner, and with their two girls at Wairarapa College, stylist Lisa manages to find time out of work hours to run, swim, and get to the gym. “She’s an elite athlete,” Jordon says.

Customer Tracey was in for a trim and some foils the day the Wairarapa Times-Age popped in, looking relaxed and happy to be there and be pampered. Jordon says, “if you’re all about hair that makes a real statement, then Maddie is the stylist for you. She’s a modern-day Picasso.”

Maddie is also the hair extension extraordinaire of the team, sending guests out with long, lush locks. “Let Maddie loose on your hair today … you know you want to.”

“I love colour, particularly foiling,” she says. “I’m a perfectionist and so foiling is very satisfying.” Jordon says, “Victoria brings a fresh eye for modern hair trends to the studio. She has a bag of tricks involving all the latest hair colouring techniques.”

Customer Helen, on a trip from Australia to visit family, dropped in to have her hair done and said, “When I’m in New Zealand, always come here for a hair do.”

Born and bred in Masterton, Victoria lives with her builder partner and their two-year old toddler. And with extended family from both sides also living locally, family is Victoria’s focus when not at work.

Leah was brought up in Wairarapa and attended St Matthews. After living over the hill for a while, Leah, her Police officer husband, and their two young sons moved back to Wairarapa last year. Even in her spare time, Leah says she lives, sleeps, and breathes hair. She even won an Australian award as a Transformational Stylist last year with a peach and coral shag mullet. While she’s winning awards, her husband is playing Bush Rugby. “I like creative, bright colours and balayage, lived in blonds,” she says. “I like making clients feel beautiful.”

Lisa Meaclem SENIOR STYLIST

Hannah Macklin SENIOR STYLIST

Bringing youth and all the energy that comes with it, meet Alecia. She loves her sports and is on the netball court every chance she gets.

Alecia is the studio’s protégé. She’s an absorbent hair knowledge spongesoaking up every piece of information that comes her way from the senior members of the team, and taking the best parts that each one has to offer to blend them into her own unique style.

“This is a great team,” Alecia says. She took an introductory course through UCOL while still at Wairarapa College and was instantly hooked on hairdressing.

Experts in

THE BUSINESS’S TRAINER AND ADMINISTRATOR

Fully qualified as a hairdresser for over ten years, Teegan was born in Masterton and has settled here with husband Dylan, a mechanic and electrician with Ordish & Stevens, and their two little girls. She keeps customers happy with bookings that work for them and supports the smooth running of Madison Lincoln.

In her down time, Teegan also uses her creative and businesses skills making and selling baby bids, headbands, scrunchies and more. Visit bows.to.toes.nz on Instagram.

Teegan Graham

Alecia Burt

JUNIOR STYLIST

Autism in the family

Jordon and Steph Watene juggle the running of their hair and nail business with raising a young family. With their youngest, Lincoln, diagnosed with autism, their hands are full.

Nine-year old Lincoln is non-verbal but can get his parent’s attention with his hands and body language.

“Lincoln is really into the movie Cars,” Jordon laughs, “which he’s watched every day since he was about 18 months old – sometimes in different languages.”

Lincoln goes to Douglas Park School and has a teacher aide. “He’s a happy kid and doesn’t want for much,” Jordon says.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects more than 90,000 New Zealanders, with an estimated 100 autistic people in Wairarapa. An autistic person may

experience challenges with social communication and interaction, have intense interests and a strong need for routines and predictability, and be hyper- or hypo-reactive to sensory input. They tend to have sensory needs that are different from those in the neurotypical population.

Jordon and Steph Watene are keen to support Autism New Zealand in its endeavour to raise awareness of autism, so that society will make more accommodations for people with cognitive, often not immediately visible, disabilities.

Autism New Zealand has uploaded to its website a guide to help parents seeking an assessment and diagnosis of autism for a child.

Autism can be de ned as a disability. FOCUS (under the umbrella of Te Whatu Ora) is the Needs Assessment Service Co-ordination agency for the Wairarapa region that provides a single point of entry for referrals to disability support services,

including for those with an autistic family member.

GPs, hospital paediatricians, and Work and Income may also be able to help. You can apply for a Disability Allowance from Work and Income, for example, for your autistic child.

Te Whatu Ora may be able to help with pull-ups for incontinent children.

CCS Disability Action may be able to help with early intervention schooling assistance and with Ministry of Health wraparound support and individualised funding.

Assistance Dogs New Zealand Trust

Contact details for Autism New Zealand’s Wairarapa outreach coordinator are: 41 Perry Street, Masterton.

OPEN 8.30am to 5.00pm, Mon & Fri.

E wairarapa@autismnz.org.nz

P 04 803 3501

FP 0800 288 476

Contact details for Wairarapa’s FOCUS are: Level 2, 49-51 Lincoln Road, Masterton.

OPEN 8.00am to 5.00pm, Mon to Fri.

E focus@wairarapa.dhb.org.nz

P 06 946 9813

FP 0800 900 001

Contact details for Assistance Dogs New Zealand Trust are: 9.30am to 2.30pm, Mon to Thurs. info@assistancedogstrust.org.nz 0800 966 342