Building a Lash & Brow Bar Clients Can’t Resist

They may be currently trending, but lash and brow bars aren't new. Melisa Petty and her business partner Shanel Poe opened The Brow Lounge in Greensboro, North Carolina in 2007. They had worked in the waxing business together before. Because they both enjoyed making eyebrows beautiful and liked working as a team, it was an easy decision to start their own business. The first business proved successful enough for them to open a second location several years ago to serve the Lake Norman, North Carolina area.

The Brow Lounge offers clients perfectly shaped brows, along with a full menu of other beauty services, including facial and body waxing, eyelash extensions, lash and brow tinting, and organic spray tanning. Privately labeled brow stencils and powders, tweezers, brushes, and mascara can make up your retail offerings.

For those looking to open their own lash and brow bar, Petty has three key pieces of advice:

• • • Have your client base already built up before you begin
    • Specialize and be really good at what you do. It's hard to be great at a lot of different things
    • Put on a happy face

"Today we had a client tell us, 'I love coming here because everyone's always so happy and positive,'" Petty relates. "That's what we like to hear, because we always want to provide a good environment and for our clients to feel great about themselves when they leave."

Welcome walk-ins

Eyebrow services are especially in high demand, but they're often an impulse service. Don't require that your clients set an appointment.

Provide visual examples

Have plenty of before and after pictures to show your clients. The differences can be dramatic and persuasive.

Use a simple menu

Have an easy to read menu that's short, sweet, and fun. If you have enough technicians, you can offer lash extensions and perming, lash and brow tinting, and eyebrow shaping by waxing, tweezing, or threading. If you don't have enough trained technicians, we can help with convenient protocols and training materials.

Offer your knowledge

Be the experts in "brow mapping." Everyone's face is unique and if you can give each client the brow size and shape that fits their face perfectly, your lash and brow bar will be a great success. Offer suggestions based on current trends, but listen to your clients. Not everyone likes pencil thin brows or naturally full brows.

Demo products

Demo the products that you carry in your retail boutique, like lash conditioners. If you offer a retail makeup line, such as Mirabella, think about providing quick eye makeup tutorials. These can really boost your revenue! If time allows, only do services on one eye first and hand your client a mirror for comparison. It's a great way to increase retail makeup sales.

DIY workshops

Consider offering clients DIY workshops such as:

• • • • Eyebrow Repair 101
      • Hello Bright Eyes – How to Highlight Your Eyes with Makeup
      • Filling in the Blanks – Brow Stenciling
      • Applying Strip Lashes at Home

Now that you know why you need a lash and brow bar and how to create one, what else do you need? Fortunately, you don't need a lot of supplies. Here are a few of our favorite products that make setting up your lash and brow bar easy, putting you on the road to success:

Lash & Brow Kits

These easy, all-inclusive kits contain everything needed to add a new lash or brow service to your lash and brow bar, without making a large investment.

Intensive® Professional Kit – This kit offers all of the products, promotional materials, and supplies to immediately generate revenue. It includes enough product for 150 services, with a potential revenue of up to $5,200!

VLash® Lash Extension Success Kit – This kit offers the highest quality lash extensions—tapered, polished, and beautifully curled. It includes enough product for 100 services, with a cost per treatment of only $3.25, but a potential revenue of up to $15,000!

VLash Curl Lock Lash Perm Kit – Safe and gentle for even the most sensitive of eyes, easy eyelash perming eliminates the need for daily curling. This kit includes enough products for 30 services, with a cost per treatment of only $4.33 and potential revenue of up to $3,320!

Collagen Pads

These collagen pads are simple to use and product remarkable results.

Prosana® Aqua Collagen Eye Pads – For deep hydration, plumping, and tightening, marine collagen refreshes and revitalizes the skin around the eyes.

Prosana Pure Collagen Eye Pads – Target the eye area with freeze-dried collagen pads that are designed to provide intensive hydration and fight the look of fine lines.

Prosana Crow's Feet Eye Pads – Help diminish the signs of aging by lessening the dreaded appearance of crow's feet. These pads decrease surface wrinkles, deep furrow, and fine lines.

Wax & Tweezers

Plum Smooth® Sweet Plum Soft Wax – Perfect for sensitive skin, including the face and brow area, this wax is designed for use with pellon or muslin waxing strips. This wax pulls the hair, not the skin, for practically painless waxing.

Tweezerman® Stainless Steel Slant Tweezer – Perfectly aligned, hand-finished tips grab hair every time. This tweezer has been the choice of makeup artists, celebrities, and beauty professionals for over 30 years.