THREE STYLISTS VIE FOR TOP SPOT IN ULTRA-COMPETITIVE ‘BEST STYLIST’ CATEGORY

By Andrea Busche

Many of us lack a filter when it comes to sharing personal details with our hair stylists: major life news about job promotions, weddings, and babies is all par for the course. Our stylists hear it all.

And on top of that, we often leave their chairs feeling confident, and looking so much better than when we came in. So, a close bond, with the loyalty flowing both ways, is often a natural occurrence.

So, it’s no coincidence that the competition was fierce for the “best stylist” category in this year’s Duluth News Tribune Best of the Best competition. This category brought in nominations for 123 stylists. Over 4,000 votes were cast for the top 20 nominees.

Our top three

Today, we’ll highlight the top three nominees:

Third place – Raya McMurtrey-Horst, owner of Hair by Raya located inside Serenity Spa, at 1705 Tower Avenue, Suite 102 in Superior.

Second place – Natasha Fre- itag, owner of Natasha Freitag Hair Artistry at 4850 Miller Trunk Highway, Suite 3 in Hermantown.

First place – Kali Moll, owner of Fox and the Hare at 425 North 59th Avenue West in Duluth.

All three women have their own service specialties and their own unique style – but they all count their loyal clients as a major reason for their success.

Specialties

McMurtrey-Horst is both a medical esthetician and a stylist. She offers laser treatments, microblading, facials, waxing, and skin penning, in addition to hair treatments.

But her specialty is hair color, including unique techniques such as root smudging and balayage. She is grateful and humbled to be a nominee

“It means so much to me – it’s a great honor. You go through a lot with your clients, and they become like a little family,” she said.

Freitag offers cuts, color, and hair extensions. Her personal specialties include custom color, balayage/hair painting, and hair extensions.

“Being nominated for an award like this is truly an honor,” Freitag said. “Being recognized for all of the hard work and dedication I have put into my career feels great! I feel honored for the relationships I have made with my clients. They turn into friends, and some are even like family! They are a huge part of the success I have had, and I can’t wait to continue to pursue my dreams with my business, continue to grow, and build relationships with my clients.”

And, our winner, Moll, operates her salon in a studio out of her home. Here, she is a one-woman operation, and is open by appointment only.

Moll specializes in specialty color treatments, including hand-painted color, foils, blonding, and balayage. She also does consulting and offers online content under the name The Cultivated Stylist, together with another stylist friend, McKenzie McCullough, which is available to view on Instagram.

“Duluth is such an amazing, cool city with so many talented artists and makers,” Moll said. “It’s an honor to be grouped with these other nominees.”