{"id":490328,"date":"2026-05-18T08:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T08:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/490328\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T08:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T08:47:08","slug":"the-dublin-hairstylist-to-a-listers-its-nearly-easier-to-work-with-celebrities-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/490328\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dublin hairstylist to A-listers: \u2018It\u2019s nearly easier to work with celebrities\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Behind the effortless bounce of rapper Bad Bunny<\/a>\u2019s curls on Saturday Night Live<\/a> last year was a Dublin hairstylist who has begun to build a name among New York<\/a> celebrities. <\/p>\n

The Grammy<\/a> winner\u2019s look was created by Marc Ballance, who was brought in for his ability to work with short, curly, textured hair. <\/p>\n

\u201cI did the same thing I would do with anyone else, he loved it and requested me from then on,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

Speaking from New York, Ballance is about to fly out to the south of France to style hair for client\u2019s wedding when he answers the phone.<\/p>\n

Is he nervous with A-list clients? \u201cWhen at that level of celebrity, they are so amazing at what they do and so professional. It\u2019s nearly easier to work with them than normal clients.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ballance grew up around hairdressing. His mother, a single parent, opened a south Dublin salon when he was four. \u201cI would go from school to salon.\u201d As a teenager he did work experience at Ballance Hair. \u201cI remember the music blaring and everyone was in good spirits.\u201d <\/p>\n

He enjoyed it so much that he left school aged 15 and began training at a Dublin city centre academy and later at London\u2019s Sassoon Acadamy. He worked on innovations at his mother\u2019s salon in Leopardstown, which won Dublin salon of the year in 2023. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt 23 or 24, I thought there has to be more.\u201d He moved into styling hair for film and TV, where he\u2019d go to Italy, Paris or Malta for jobs, including working on productions such as the Count of Monte Cristo mini-series. <\/p>\n

It was meeting John Barrett<\/a>, the late Limerick-born hair stylist to New York\u2019s rich and famous, that began his move stateside. Barrett helped Ballance get his visa, which came through shortly before Barrett\u2019s death in 2023. Ballance worked in Barrett\u2019s salon which spans the penthouse level of the Bergdorf Goodman department store.<\/p>\n

But Ballance says his experience on this side of the Atlantic \u201cdidn\u2019t mean anything\u201d. He had to start at the bottom working as an assistant on minimum wage. <\/p>\n

It was a different celebrity, musician and actor Nick Jonas<\/a>, and a connection from Ireland, which helped Ballance\u2019s continued rise.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first did Nick\u2019s hair he was on a job in Ireland. We would talk about golf and the people,\u201d says Ballance.<\/p>\n

With most actors he worked with after on films and TV jobs in Europe, Ballance rarely saw them again.<\/p>\n

Not so in New York. It\u2019s a \u201cgreat base\u201d, even if celebrities aren\u2019t living there, they will end up working there, and there are opportunities you won\u2019t get anywhere else, he explains. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0An Irishwoman in New York: \u2018You can be who you want here if you learn to climb the ladder\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

So when Jonas came to New York in 2024 to present a Tony award, making his return to Broadway, Ballance got the call.<\/p>\n

\u201cJonas ended up living here for a year and a half.\u201d During that time, Ballance would style his hair, including for the Met Gala and began getting referrals. \u201cThat word of mouth recommendation\u201d is really important. <\/p>\n

Luxury salon, IGK, noting his growing client list, offered to sponsor his next visa. <\/p>\n

Ballance feels the relationships are key at this level and being Irish has really helped. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you get to a level of hair, everyone is talented, so it\u2019s how you are around people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Abroad:Abroad: Marc Ballance in New York <\/p>\n

Ballance will often travel to clients, working in their homes or backstage. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s how to manage their personalities and make them feel comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here, Irishness can be an advantage, he says. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn other places they put people on a pedestal. But Irish people treat everyone the same way and this helps the interaction.\u201d He adds: \u201cWhen you say you are Irish the guard goes down a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Ballance, the key difference at this level, is before the shampoo or scissors come out. <\/p>\n

\u201cI talk to them about what is going on, how has their hair been, what is making them come back. I spend five or ten minutes talking. I can see a client relax a little, thinking \u2018they are getting me\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n

Many clients will arrive with \u201cinspo\u201d photos, but Ballance tries to dig a little deeper. \u201cInspo photos are great for an endgame but you have to figure out how to put their lifestyle on it. Are they a single mother with young kids or getting a blow-out every day?\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0A trailblazing hairdresser returns to the chairOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The industry has changed since Ballance started, with much of the work beyond the salon floor. Social media has become an important part of his job. He explains that if you do the best haircut in the world but it\u2019s not on social then it doesn\u2019t benefit you. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I started 15 years ago, you checked in and out of work. But now, if I\u2019m not in the salon I\u2019m on my phone booking or creating content.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy out where I am. I never really had end goals,\u201d he says. \u201cI just say yes to everything.\u201d <\/p>\n

New York is living up to its reputation – \u201cit really doesn\u2019t stop\u201d. For Ballance, taking the same approach seems to be working. <\/p>\n

Are you Irish and living in another country? Would you like to share your experience in writing or by interview? You can use the form below, or email abroad@irishtimes.com<\/a>. Irish Times Abroad submission guidelines here. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Behind the effortless bounce of rapper Bad Bunny\u2019s curls on Saturday Night Live last year was a Dublin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[75],"tags":[52,18,117,19,17,2213,43748,968],"class_list":["post-490328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-dublin","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irish-abroad","tag-leopardstown","tag-new-york"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}