At the ripe old age of 4 years old, I sat in my local beauty salon's reception area (waiting for my Nana) and made one of the biggest decisions of my life. As I looked around at the glossy retail area and the beautifully made up therapists, I knew there and then I was going to be a Beauty Therapist.
"What do you want to do when you grow up little girl?" people used to ask me. "I'm going to make people beautiful" was my answer... over and over again. I mean, I was four! I didn't know the proper terminology and certainly had no idea what a pimple was let alone a bikini wax!
Fast forwards to eighteen years old, I had a habit... a bad habit. I was a skincare and beauty addict and couldn't hide it. I bought products for the smell, the packaging, the brand, the colours, just any excuse. I had drawers and drawers full of cosmetics, nail polishes, wax strips, body polishes. I'm sure you get the drift.
I had just completed my A levels and knew that uni was not for me. Why go to uni when I could just get straight into doing what I had waited all these years to do... be a beauty therapist! Some people want to be a doctor, solicitor and dentist etc, I however wanted to be a beauty therapist. No, it didn't have quite the same 'ring' to it, other than my family, a lot of people (school teachers included) wanted me to do something a bit more corporate or high profile, but this was definitely not in my plan.
After doing a rather gruelling 2 years of beauty (nowhere near as glamorous as I thought it was when I was four!), I opened my own little salon in Manchester. It was definitely a learning curve and without doubt was an emotional rollercoaster to say the least!
(apologies for the old and fuzzy pic... it's all I could find!)
After 12 months, I relocated to a house in Sale and converted it into a private beauty boutique. Kitted out with 1940's music, wallpaper and furniture, it was very unique. It was in my little kitchen in Sale in 2008 I decided to create my own skincare products. I'd been thinking about it for a while and finally decided to take the plunge and do some courses.
My 1940s style beauty boutique
Who remembers this treatment room?
I became a fully qualified clinical aromatherapist around 2010 and really got into making my products. I never looked back from there. I learnt as I went and was forever interrogating anybody I could when it came to all the legalities of product making.
The original Cleansing Beauty Balm packaging
Eventually, the Cleansing Beauty Balm was born. It has to be my all time favourite product. It might sound silly, but even now when I smell the essential oils in it, I'm transported back to my little kitchen in 2008 where it all began. It has to be one of my all time best sellers and I know so many clients always have to have a pot spare (just incase they run out sooner than expected).
From The Cleansing Beauty Balm, The Face Oil was made, The Beauty Balm (I mean who remembers that? I'm actually thinking of bringing it back), my face creams and so on. There have been so many highs and definitely lows, but it's all been so worthwhile.
Hands up who remembers the flower wall?
Then in 2015, after a very random dream one night, I saw a 'To Let' sign in Hale village whilst having a spot of lunch with my mum. Weirdly, it was as I was talking to my mum about my dream I had the night before where I had a skin clinic upstairs in Hale village. Without even thinking I went to check out the premises straight after my lunch. It was lovely but just not right, but then another little spot opened up that hadn't even gone on the market yet... it was my little place. Absolutely perfect and just the right size.
I finally moved in there in August 2015 and opened my doors in the October. I just love being in the village so much. From here I feel like my brand has grown even more with new products such as the different face masks and my Tsui Apothecary brand of teas and oils and also even more advanced skin treatments.
It's been a long road since I started in 2003, but since I began, I've always felt like I was following the right path for me. I also want to thank so many clients who have been coming to me over the years (and some who are still with me from when I started my business back in 2005!). Thank you so much for your continued support, I'm forever grateful that I have got to live out my little dream since that day in the beauty salon with my Nana. Imagine if she never took me... wonder what I would be doing now?
Thank you so much for reading my story,
Lots of love,
Emmaline x