SERVICES AND RETAIL
What is the best part about working in the esthetics industry?
We have a name that we use to describe the way we make people feel at Paradise Salon, Spa & Wellness: The Paradise Effect. People come in and leave feeling amazing. I thrive off of the smiles we put on people’s faces because of our products and services.
Why did you decide to implement makeup services into your spa menu?
With Perry Nixdorf
Owner of Paradise Salon,
Spa & Wellness
Carson City, Nevada
I had makeup services in my previous salon. I brought those makeup services over to Paradise when I established it three years ago. It is important to have makeup services in your salon because it is a convenience factor for clients; it is a retail extension. We can introduce them to types of makeup they might not be familiar with at the same time they are coming to us for different services.
What is the most difficult part about offering makeup services in your facility?
Trying to balance makeup services with the demand of our regular services. Depending on the time of year, there are months when we sell much more makeup retail than others. Around the holidays, especially Halloween, we have special promotions that help us generate more makeup revenue than other times of the year. For example, around Halloween we have a Zombie Crawl where we specialize in providing zombie makeup lessons. Once you sell a client on your makeup and services, most of the time they are more inclined to come back again.
Which of your makeup services is the most popular?
Our makeup touch-ups. A lot of the time guests come in for our other services and end up getting a quick makeup touch-up as well, which leads to sales because of the quality of the products we provide. The quality of makeup products you use is very important. Clients need to have that “aha” moment and from there the product sells itself.
What kind of special treatments do you offer?
We offer makeup analysis and instruction, makeup application, microblading and permanent makeup. For special events and even day to day, we do makeup for every occasion that the client would want to have their makeup done for. For example on Halloween, we offer zombie makeup and tutorials. We also do bridal and bridal party makeup.
MAKEUP AREA
What is the size of your makeup area compared to the rest of your spa?
Our makeup area is about 80 to 100 sq. feet of our 7,266 sq. foot facility.
What prompted you to choose the size/design for each specific area?
The building I bought for Paradise was previously a physical therapist’s office. They had already created the basic structure of the building. I took the room that they had as their office, which is located right by the reception desk as you walk in the front entrance, and converted that to my makeup room. It is also located right next to where we have our retail area. Our clients come to the retail area and can see the makeup services we provide and the space we have dedicated to it.
TEAM MEMBERS
How many makeup artists do you have?
We have two makeup artists on staff. One of them helps with all of the makeup services and also works at the front desk. Our other makeup artist specializes in body painting and themed makeup. Both of them do a great deal of makeup retail sales.
Where do you find new hires?
Facebook and Instagram. A lot of the time, makeup artists are posting their best work on their accounts and from there it is just a matter of searching for the particular type of makeup artist you are looking for.
What specific qualities do you look for in a member of your staff?
They have to be genuinely nice people who are technology savvy. All of our appointments are kept in a computer software program that we use and our staff members need to be able to navigate that.
How do you keep members of your staff incentivized?
We give our employees a raffle ticket for each product they sell. At the end of the week we have a little mini raffle where employees can win something small such as an eye shadow or a lipstick. Once a month we do a raffle for a larger prize or appliance such as a flat iron, curling iron or blow dryer. The more products they sell, the more opportunities they have to win these prizes. We also have partnerships with our distributors and they provide us with really nice gift packages that we also raffle off to our employees.
MARKETING
How do you promote your makeup services?
We use a software that tracks how many times people have visited the spa and how long it has been since their last visit. This system automatically generates emails that not only thank the clients who have recently visited our spa, but also automatically sends emails to clients who haven’t come in lately as a reminder. We also send out a monthly newsletter covering all of our upcoming promotions and specials for the month. As for the day to day promotion of sales and promotions, we use Facebook.
Our makeup artists are very big on Instagram. They post fantastic pictures of their work and always tag Paradise, which is another successful way we promote our services and grab hold of new clients.
INSIDER TIPS
What advice would you pass along to other spa owners who are thinking about adding makeup to their spa menu?
Commit yourself thoroughly to the process. Treat retail as its own business. Have enough products to fill your retail space and make a statement. Just putting the makeup on the shelf isn’t enough. Make sure you have a properly trained staff and a high level of knowledge of the products you are intending to sell.