In 1993, Brent attended Vancouver Community College, and became a licensed hair stylist. For the first 10 years of his career he worked at a number of hair salons in Vancouver. During his time working at very busy salons he became adept at quick current easy-care haircuts and styles.

In 2003, weary of the hectic lifestyle in Vancouver, he decided to move to the slower paced community of Nanaimo. For 5 years he  enjoyed building a strong loyal clientele base. As well, he further developed his specialization in colour, and became a certified Joico advisor. He is also Red Seal and beauty safe (Level 2) certified.

The next phase of his hair styling journey took him to the close-knit community of Gabriola Island where he opened his own hair salon business, Brent G Hair Studio, a home based salon, where he enjoyed making new friends and building a strong connection in the community.

On May 18th, 2010, Brent moved into a larger commercial space at the newly constructed Madrona Marketplace on North Road in the main village shopping area, and expanded the salon to include spa services – massage, esthetics, and more. The name of the business was changed from Brent G Hair Studio to Brent G Hair & Spa to reflect the new services offered.

In February 2014, the salon was renovated back to a hair studio exclusively. The spa was a fun venture but not viable long-term due to it’s unpredictable seasonal nature. (A public bathroom is still available for customers at Mad Rona Cafe.) The name of the business also reverted back to the original name, Brent G Hair Studio, and Brent continues to provide a full range of hair services and Joico products (by pre-order) in the same convenient location in the village core. 

(Last updated June 2022)

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By Catherine Nutter
Reprinted with permission from the Gabriola Sounder.
Tuesday, October 14 2008

Have you been walking around the Island wearing a hat, headscarf or brown paper bag on your head lately? If your hair-doo is more like a hair don’t – if it looks more like a haystack than a lustrous, lovely lid do not despair. Your paper bag wearing days could be coming to an end.

Brent Gibson is excited to be opening a new hair salon on Gabriola. Brent has been styling hair for the past 15 years, first in Vancouver, and then for the past five years in Nanaimo.

“I really enjoy cutting all types of hair – from the absolutely straight, to the very curly. I’ve been styling curly hair all my life,” said Brent, referring to his own head of casual chic natural curls. “I’m a Joico certified colourist, and I’ve done my fair share of perms. What I really specialize in is doing low maintenance, fashionable haircuts for women, men and kids. My haircuts look great when you walk out of the salon, but they also morph into great styles as the hair grows. The whole point is to find a cut that will suit the person’s hair as well as their personal style.”

It’s a rare stylist who can work a great perm to give lift and height to a senior’s hair, and then turn around and cut an eight year old’s mane next. “I was a teacher’s aide in Vancouver before I went into hair dressing. I find that if you pick the right time of day to do children’s hair, that’s half the battle. Kids know that scissors are sharp, and they will sit still. I like to talk them through the process, I show them the clippers, let them know that they are noisy, but safe. I like doing kids’ hair.”

And Gabriolans can look forward to more beauty surrounding them, in the form of fabulous hair-doos, when Brent starts work at the salon full time. There are a couple of trends with hair right now, according to Brent. For men, texture is really important, with the choppy surfer styles being the most popular. For women, the bob and inverted bob are really popular, and long hair is always in vogue, with curls definitely making a comeback.

“For colour, highlights and low-lights are really prevalent, in warm browns and reddish browns. Blonde is always in fashion, but darker shades tend to be quite flattering. Too-light blonde tends to wash out fair complexions. You really want colour to enhance and frame the face, and above all, it’s so important to have healthy hair. Healthy hair always looks great, no matter what the colour.”