ST HELENS is full of hair and beauty salons transforming, treating and pampering their customers so they shine from head to toe with a new-found confidence.

Our hair and beauty features give business owners and managers, stylists and beauty therapists the chance to shine a spotlight on their salon and showcase some of their best work.

In 2023, we’ve heard from eight St Helens business owners in the hair and beauty industry and they’ve shared their career journeys, passion for their work and their hopes for 2024.

If you would like to appear in one of our Meet The Salon Owner, Meet The Stylist, Meet The Makeup Artist or Meet The Beauty Therapist features email heidi.summerfield@newsquest.co.uk

The Secret Halo

The Secret Halo

The Secret Halo

Gemma Dean has been hairdressing since she was 18 and has trained with some of the industry’s greats.

She opened The Secret Halo in 2019 specialising in hair dressing as well as hair loss, wigs and extensions.

Having suffered from alopecia and losing her hair at the age of 19, Gemma, who is from Eccleston, wanted to learn more about wigs and how to style them, so she could incorporate them into her job as a hairdresser.

The 32-year-old, who scooped the first of our Best of awards in 2022 tells us how she trained with Trevor Sorbie in London and how a pink Christmas gift sparked her interest in hairdressing.

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St Helens salon boosting confidence with new hairstyles and wigs

The Speakeasy Barbershop

The Speakeasy Barbershop

The Speakeasy Barbershop

One salon stands out as a haven for men looking for a good haircut and beard trim.

Simon Yates and The Speakeasy Barbershop features in Meet The Barber.

The 49-year-old tells us why they attract customers from all over the north west and how a barbers in Rotterdam provided the inspiration for the new business eight years ago.

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The traditional barbershop treating men like gentlemen

Self Love Salon

Self Love Salon

Meet The Salon Owner: Self Love Salon

Self Love Salon opened on Baldwin Street in St Helens five years ago with Claire Jones in charge and it’s gone from strength to strength, offering different therapies and treatments to their clients.

Forty-year-old Claire tells us why she wanted to open her own business, what the inspiration was behind Self Love Salon and what plans she has for the future.

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Meet The Salon Owner - Self Love in St Helens

Blush

Blush

Blush

Isobel Rushton is a local girl from Haydock – she grew up here, started a family here and even opened her own business here.

Blush on Clipsley Lane has just celebrated its fifth birthday and is going from strength to strength following a tough couple of years during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Isobel, who is 30, tells us where her passion for the hair and beauty industry started, why she decided to take the leap and open her own salon and how much she’s looking forward to the social calendar over the next few months.

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Meet the salon owner with a growing passion for hair and beauty

Scissor Sisters

Scissor Sisters

Scissor Sisters

Wendy Hyland loves hairdressing – she eats, sleeps and breaths salon life.

The 55-year-old has been in the industry since the age of 13, starting as a Saturday girl, and has had her own business for the past 17 years.

Wendy tells us why she wanted to be a hairdresser, when she launched her own business and her plans for the future.

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Scissor Sisters: Passion for hairdressing started as a teenager

Amy Rae Makeup

Amy Rae Makeup

Meet the makeup artist: Amy Rae Makeup

Amy Evans has a passion for makeup – it started when she was a little girl.

The talented 31-year-old has turned this passion into a successful career providing glow ups for clients over the past decade and thrives on helping people find the best version of themselves.

Amy tells us why she wanted to be a makeup artist from a young age, how she's created the perfect salon environment at home and her plans for the future.

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Meet the makeup artists creating gorgeous glow ups for more than a decade

Beauty by Rhianna

Beauty by Rhianna

Beauty by Rhianna

When she was a little girl, Rhianna Jones had dreams of owning her own salon and making clients look and feel beautiful and confident.

She’s now 27 and has been running a successful business for the past ten years, opening a salon in her own home in Prescot after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rhianna tells us how grateful she is to her clients, why she loves her job and her plans for 2024.

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Beauty therapist living her dream making clients look glam

Dominika Nails St Helens

Dominika Nails St Helens

Dominika Nails St Helens

Dominika Jedrzejczak opened her first salon two years ago but quickly outgrew the space and needed bigger premises.

Her business has continued to grow and Dominika Nails St Helens is still thriving in Golden Beauty by Dominika.

Dominika tells us how she’d always dreamed of owning her own salon and why customers love visiting her College Street salon.

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Salon owner has the golden touch when it comes to nails and beauty