Celebrity stylist Anthony Nader has tended to the locks of pretty much every star you can imagine. In fact, he is so used to dealing with five-star clientele the last time I was in his award-winning Sydney salon RAW we had a conversation that went something like this …

“Wow. That girl was super pretty,” I said, staring after a client who had just left the salon.

“Yes, she so was,” responded Anthony, before asking a salon assistant if she was a regular.

“No,” said the assistant, blinking hard.

If I remember correctly the assistant’s got a little high-pitched right about this moment here. Which made both Anthony and I pause briefly. But then he looked at me and I looked at him and we shrugged at each other before he said “No idea who she is.”

To which I rather cleverly responded, “She totes pretty though eh?”

And then we got right back to whatever it was we were talking about before I spotted this undeniably beautiful woman. Which was probably our families or some random beauty industry tittle tattle or how much Sydney property is these days.

Look, I admit it. It’s not a traffic-stopping story in and of itself, but it does prove a point – and an important one. Anthony Nader is a world-famous, celebrity stylist who doesn’t much care for fame and glory. The fact is if you’re famous he’ll treat you exactly how he treats everyone else. That is – with respect and kindness and dead professional hair advice.

And he should probably get some kind of award for that frankly, but the industry doesn’t really work like that. Which is a shame. But there you go. Anyway – guy is talented and a decent human being too. Plus, he can help you find the stylist you’ve always dreamed of and in doing so, ensure you get the hairstyle of your dreams.

And here’s how you do that … you ready?

“There’s one simple way to do this,” says Anthony.

“One very simple way that I have always believed in and I swear by today even after close to 30 years in this business. And it is … word of mouth. Ask your friends, your family, anyone who has hair that you love.

“If you see someone on the street and you love their hair ask them who cuts it, who colours it, who styles it. Don’t ever be afraid to ask that million dollar question “Who does your hair”?”

Once you discover this magical salon book yourself in for an appointment just to talk ideas. Correct. Tell the salon staff you want to come in and talk to their stylists about what sort of work they do and also, get their ideas as to what they they think will work for you.

Take a reference or two (tear out a page of a magazine or screen shot a style you love) and be honest with the stylists you speak with about why it appeals to so much. Listen (that’s a big one!) LISTEN to what said stylist then tells you. And be prepared to consider a style that’s similar to if not the exact one you had in mind.

A good stylist will be able to interpret the style you love and be honest about whether it will work for you or not.

“It may not be a good cut for you even if Beyonce or J-Lo has it,” says Anthony.