Updates
August 2026 | Website Refinements
Throughout July, the website underwent a broader visual redesign, with substantial refinements made across both desktop and mobile.
The updated design introduces a more considered layout, with greater emphasis on typography. The homepage has also been reimagined with a custom introductory experience across desktop and mobile, followed by a gradual reveal into the main content that establishes the editorial tone of the site from the first screen.
These refinements continue the broader effort to make the website a practical resource for anyone researching curly hair, specialist haircutting, or preparing for an appointment.
July 2026 | Curly Hair Questions
A new Curly Hair Questions page has been added and expanded as a practical resource for people trying to make sense of curly hair advice.
It now provides clear, practical answers about curly hair, dry cutting, curl types, products, frizz, pricing, washing, preparation, salon results, specialist choice, and the difference between general curly hair advice and what actually works in daily life.
The page is intended as a useful starting point for anyone trying to make sense of conflicting curly hair information online.
June 2026 | Website and Booking Updates
Several website updates have been made to help visitors understand the salon more clearly before booking.
A new Finding a Specialist article has also been added to the curly hair resources. It explains why broad search terms such as curly hairdresser, curly hair salon, or curly hair specialist can be useful but incomplete, and why visibility does not always mean the right fit.
The new Why This Works page gives a fuller explanation of the thinking behind the work, including why hair is rarely just a surface concern and why many women arrive after years of unsuitable advice or repeated salon frustration.
There has also been a small change to the booking process. Due to payment-processing requirements, the deposit stage now opens in a separate payment window before the booking is completed. This does not change the appointment format, pricing, deposit amount, or preparation requirements.
The website’s AI Assistant is now presented more plainly as a way for visitors to ask direct questions about the salon, bookings, preparation, suitability, policies, and how the work operates. It is currently accessible from the homepage, contact page, and selected specialist pages throughout the site.
Together, these updates make the service, booking process, and wider thinking behind the work easier to understand before attending.
May 2026 | Twenty Years in Australia
This month marks twenty years since arriving in Australia.
Eighteen months later, Tom Zappala Haircutting opened in Melbourne as a private upstairs studio. Over time, it has developed into a specialist salon for women seeking a quieter, more focused, and more thoughtful haircutting experience.
The work has become increasingly centred on dry cutting, natural texture, careful consultation, and hair that is easier to live with beyond the day of the appointment. Many clients arrive with curly, fine, thin, thinning, multi-textured, or otherwise difficult-to-shape hair, often after years of frustration with conventional salon outcomes.
Twenty years after arriving in Australia, this milestone reflects both longevity and refinement: a clearer salon, a more focused service, and a stronger understanding of what many women need from their hair and their hairdresser.
April 2026 | Recognition and New Article
Tom Zappala Haircutting was included in Concrete Playground’s “18 Best Hair Salons in Melbourne” feature.
The article noted:
“Tom Zappala's studio is a rare pull in Melbourne: there are no photos of his work anywhere. It's a safe space for women who have complicated relationships with their hair. With over 35 years of haircutting experience (and curly hair himself), Tom provides intelligent and long-lasting solutions that cut through the marketing tactics aimed at so-called challenging hair types.”
The recognition reflects the salon’s private, one-on-one approach and its focus on intelligent, long-lasting haircutting for women with curly, textured, fine, thinning, or otherwise difficult-to-shape hair.
A new essay has also been added to the Editorial Archive:
How moving from shapeless hair to a resolved haircut can change self-perception, often before the shift can be clearly understood.
March 2026 | Urgent Access Booking
A new Urgent Access Booking option has been added for time-sensitive situations that fall outside the standard appointment schedule.
This option may be suitable for travellers, visitors to Melbourne, or clients with a genuine deadline who cannot wait for the next available standard appointment.
Urgent Access bookings are arranged case by case and may be offered outside normal operating hours, including early mornings, evenings, or closed days where possible.
This is a separate premium service and is not part of the regular online booking system. Standard appointments remain the usual and preferred way to book.
February 2026 | Website Consolidation and Improvements
The website has been updated to make key information easier to find.
Several specialist explanations that previously sat across separate pages have now been brought into the main website structure, including clearer information on the homepage about the nature of the salon, who the service is for, and how the work differs from a conventional salon appointment.
The update also includes technical improvements to the site’s structure and schema so that search engines and AI tools can better understand the salon, its specialist focus, and the relationship between the main service pages, curly hair resources, and editorial archive.
The aim is simple: clearer information for clients, stronger organisation across the website, and a more accurate public representation of the work.
January 2026 | Preparation Notes Updated
The preparation notes have been updated to make the requirements for each appointment clearer.
The service depends on being able to assess the hair accurately in its natural state. For that reason, hair must arrive clean, product-free, untied, unstraightened, unbrushed-out, and worn as naturally as possible.
Over time, the notes have become more detailed because small differences in preparation can affect the way the hair sits, moves, expands, collapses, or holds residue. The added detail is not intended to make preparation difficult. It exists to remove ambiguity before the appointment.
Same-day clean, genuinely product-free hair is not an aesthetic preference. It is a professional requirement that allows the work to be carried out accurately, comfortably, and consistently.
The updated preparation notes are available on the website and should be reviewed carefully before booking and again before attending.
The goal remains simple: clear preparation, accurate assessment, and the best possible conditions for the haircut.
December 2025 | Instant Answers Integration
The Instant Answers assistant is now integrated across key areas of the Tom Zappala Haircutting website.
It has been added to help visitors find clear answers about services, pricing, eligibility, preparation, booking, and salon policies without needing to search through multiple pages or send an email for basic information.
The assistant does not personalise advice, negotiate policies, or make booking exceptions. It reflects the published structure of the service and is designed to clarify information already available on the site.
The system will continue to be refined over time, with updates focused on accuracy, consistency, and usefulness for visitors navigating the website.
June 2025 | New Pricing From 1 July
From 1 July 2025, all appointments at Tom Zappala Haircutting will be priced at $400.
The service remains a flat-rate, one-on-one specialist appointment. The price is the same for every client and every session, regardless of hair thickness, density, curl pattern, length, or complexity.
This change reflects the time, focus, and level of work involved in each appointment. The structure of the service remains unchanged: private consultation, dry cutting, basin work where needed, and a carefully finished result designed to support the hair beyond the day of the appointment.
The website has also been updated to explain the service more clearly, including preparation requirements, suitability, pricing, the Editorial Archive, and the Instant Answers assistant.
Thank you for your continued support.
Behind the Work
Context and longer-form writing on how the salon is structured, how the work is explained, and how the thinking behind it has evolved.
→ About the Salon→ Explore the Editorial Archive