Barbara has no plans to hang up the hairdryer - after 30 years in Dumbarton

16.11.2022 - 20:23 / dailyrecord.co.uk

A much-loved Dumbarton hairdresser has said she has no plans to retire, after marking 30 years in the town.

Barbara McGowan opened Snip Snap in Dumbarton East back in 1991 shortly after returning from running a salon in South Africa.

And after three decades, she has loved building relationships with clients who have become friends, joking that they have warned her she can’t retire when she hits 65 next year.

Barbara told the Lennox: “It’s fabulous. It’s been a social place above all else.

“You try to help people with their worries. People are maybe worried about bills and don’t want to speak to their family about it. It’s a very personal service, that’s what I love about it and why I don’t think I’ll retire.

“It’s amazing, you wouldn’t believe the relationships I’ve built up.

“I don’t know how I take on all the problems right enough, but a couple of drinks and I’m alright again.

“I want to make people feel good about themselves. The chat is unbelievable at times, and it can be so fun and uplifting. Which is something amazing.

“I’m 65 in April and I keep being told that I’m not allowed to retire!”

Having started hairdressing as a teenager, Barbara says her love for her job has never been stronger.

She continued: “I started when I was 15. Before I worked in Fraser’s on Buchanan Street.

“When I got married I moved to South Africa and had a salon there with a friend for 15 years.

“I came back to Dumbarton in 1991 and have had the salon ever since.

“I don’t advertise anymore, I only do my own clients. People come in whose hair I don’t even do just to have a wee chat. I think it’s important in this day and age that people have that contact.

“During the pandemic I missed clients massively, and they said they were missing me. You play such an