SERVICES AND RETAIL
What is the best part about working in the esthetics industry?
With Keri Martino-Pickett
Salon + Spa manager
&
Kim Aiello
lead esthetician of Makeover Salon
Spa in South Easton, Mass.
Esthetics is all about skin. We believe makeup is the perfect complement to that. Every day we are learning more about how to bring the natural beauty out in each of our clients. We have wonderful and exciting jobs that give us new opportunities to make our clients feel beautiful every single day.
When did you decide to implement makeup services into your spa menu?
We have offered makeup services for 25 years and we keep them strictly as part of our esthetics department. We generated a great team of makeup professionals throughout the years, which has allowed us to easily provide the service.
Which of your makeup services is the most requested?
It really depends on the time of year. If there is a holiday party or wedding, we can do anywhere between eight and 12 makeup applications per day. People come in and ask us how to use makeup quite often and we offer airbrush makeup services that are very popular as well. People don’t necessarily know what they want from their makeup service until they come in. They leave it up to us to make them look their absolute best and each client requires a different one of our services.
What kind of makeup treatments do you offer?
We offer a number of makeup services including traditional makeup application, airbrush makeup application and eyelash application.
MAKEUP AREA
Please describe your makeup area compared to the rest of your spa.
We have five treatment rooms. One is for massage and spray tan and the others are for our esthetics treatments. We have a tranquility lounge that is located near the front of the facility and is used as a private waiting room for clients waiting for our makeup and spa treatments. Our two makeup stations are located in our cutting room at the entrance of the spa.
What prompted you to choose the design of your makeup area?
We want to be able to draw attention to the fact that we do both makeup and esthetics here, which is why we highlight our makeup area near the front of our facility. The cutting room, where are two makeup stations are located, is the first room you come into when you walk in. We have 23 cutting stations on our service floor, but we also have a small nail salon and massage area located in our facility. For those clients who may be shy about being seen without makeup, we have the tranquility room where they can wait.
TEAM MEMBERS
How do you select your employees and makeup artists?
We have a total of 63 employees. This includes our hourly staff, management, customer service and business support. About 50-52 of those employees are service providing in our spa. Our esthetics department consists of four specialists. All four of our estheticians are also very well celebrated and recognized makeup artists in our area.
What specific qualities do you look for in your makeup artists?
We look for employees who can offer us more than just makeup artistry. We expect our makeup artists to be experienced in esthetics as well so they very much understand the needs of the skin. We 100 percent encourage our staff to continue their education, whether in the makeup industry or learning a new type of facial. We keep our employees updated on any classes that may be available to assure they are up to date with the latest technologies and trends. This promises us, as well as our clients, that the employees here understand exactly what they are selling and performing.
MARKETING
How do you promote your makeup services?
Having our makeup services located at the entrance of the spa gives our clients coming in for other treatments the opportunity to see the makeup services we provide right when they walk in. Also, a lot of the time our makeup clients will go to an event and look completely stunning and get asked where they got their makeup done, which is a great way for us to acquire new clients on a normal basis.
Are your estheticians trained to promote different services after each treatment?
Our front desk staff is trained to always ask clients if they would like to add makeup services to their next appointment for a special event.
How do you use social media and email platforms for promotion?
We post daily on Facebook and twice a day on Instagram. If I see someone leaving looking fabulous I am sure to always ask their permission to be on our social media channels. We also do before and after photos, but we believe “after” photos themselves make a great impact and are a great way to promote our work on social media.
INSIDER TIPS
How do you perform consultations?
We do complimentary consultations for 15 minutes. We always recommend, especially if it’s a first-timer in our salon, that they make a trial appointment before their special event. This allows the client to see exactly what they will be getting done and to make any changes. The trial service takes just as long as the regular makeup service and just as much product is being used. That being said, we charge $60 per makeup session regardless of whether it’s a trial or the day of. If the client chooses to have lashes applied it is an additional $15.
What makes your business UNIQUE?
Our energy in this location is fantastic. We bring the city into the suburbs. We have all the technical know-how, the experience and the knowledge. We are continuously educating our staff and we are always on trend with new advances in the industry. Between our technical background and how we promote our company through social media and through our website, we believe we have the qualities that really help us stand out.
What advice would you pass along to other spa owners or those just starting to offer these specific services in their spa?
Don’t fear the unknown. Figure out how to not only learn new things, but also embrace them. This industry offers room for constant growth and change and if you stick with only one technique and one niche, you will lose out on so many opportunities.
