The Golden Scissors hair spies visited all 12 shortlisted stylists and salons to help us decide on our award winners. Weekender reporter Niamh Mullen caught up with them straight after their appointments to get feedback about the experience. You can listen to their impressions by clicking on the 'play' buttons here.
For their efforts, the spies landed a FREE hairdo, but there's no such thing as a totally free lunch. They had to report back to the judges on the friendliness and professionalism of the hairdresser as well as the overall experience in the salon. Their comments and a checklist of items for them to rate formed an important part of the judging process.
All six stylists got excellent feedback for friendliness, professionalism and the quality of their advice. The spies all said they were satisfied with their hairdos. There was also much praise for the shortlisted salons. Hear all about by clicking the adjacent links.
A collection of the best or most controversial comments from our hair spies. (Clips are in MP3 Format)
Were our hair spies welcomed with open arms, or left standing at the door waiting for attention?
Our hair spies vet the finalists' ideas for new looks
Not all finalists scored top marks on all counts. Our hair spies talk honestly about where our hairdressers and salons fell down.
We all want different things from our hairdresser, but a good attitude is key. Listen to how our hair spies got on with their hairdressers.