My two girls, aged 3 and 2 had never had their hair cut prior to our visit to Kid's Garage (unless you include a never-to-be-repeated fringe cut in the bath by me). My 3-year-old doesn't like having her hair brushed, so I was nervous to say the least. I had visions of her waving her hands about and noisily refusing to even allow a comb near her hair, never mind the scissors!

I found a review here on WOMOW that gave me hope. A salon designed for kids set up in a garage is a much better prospect for two small potential runaways than either a salon in a strip of shops or a shopping centre.

3-year-old was awed by the garage setup with its bright colours and big mirror and sat (reasonably) still after selecting her Chup a Chup while Carole expertly cut the hair on a constantly turning head.

My 2-year-old loves having her hair stroked and brushed, so it's no surprise that she adored the experience. She did spend a bit of time poking her tongue out at the mirror.

Both girls were very impressed with their "beautiful style", as my 3-year-old put it. Glitter spray and braids are clearly the way to a little girl's heart.

In fact, they announced their new style to anyone who would listen for the rest of the day. The braids stayed in overnight and were only reluctantly taken out the next night at bath time.

Carole is friendly and professional and made this a definite experience to repeat.

Approximate cost: $20

My son likes to let his hair grow long and shaggy before he finally agrees to go to the hairdresser. I met Carole, the proprietor of Kid's Garage, on a course in 2010 and decided to try Kid's Garage for the "back to school" haircut for term 4. Carole is energetic, efficient and is great with kids. We were both happy with that first haircut and the value, but better still was the overall experience.

"Kid's Garage" is exactly what the salon is - a fun, bright salon set up in a garage. Describing it that way just doesn't do it justice. It is a really relaxed, cheerful place designed for kids with an edgy, artist-commissioned "graffiti wall", Nintendo, Wii, and the tried & true bonus - Chupa Chups! My son describes the graffiti wall as: "Awesome!"

The big difference for me with going to Kid's Garage is that getting my son's hair cut is no longer something likely to cause whining resistance. As long as he is going to Kid's Garage, he is happy to go along, check out additions to the graffiti wall and chat to Carole about what's happening at school. Win-win!

Approximate cost: $20