General News
19 November, 2021
Local beauty salon thrives in COVID times through collaboration
THE official opening of Cairns Beauty Bar on 16 November marks the beginning of a new era of collaboration within the local beauty industry post- COVID-19.
Founder of Cairns Beauty Bar and mum of three, Heidi Healy, said she decided to take a risk to grow her business during the pandemic and collabo-rate with other beauty salons in Cairns to offer a complete experience for women.
“I’ve known Emma Akers from Allure Cosmetics for a long time; we’re good friends and very hard-working women. We came up with the concept together, and we approached well-known businesses, so we only provide high-quality services,” Ms Healy said.
“With COVID, the lock-downs and the mental health impact on people, it almost felt like Cairns died a little bit, so we wanted to create a space to empower women and make them self-indulge.”
“What got me into beauty is the reaction that I get from my clients when we offer these services, so I just want to make people happy and make them feel good with themselves.”
Ms Healy said that the positive response from the community has been overwhelming, and they aspire to keep growing. “During the beginning of the pandemic, I had to shut down my salon La Belle Lash & Beauty for three months, and my husband was laid off work. I had to take a second job in childcare, completely opposite industries. We were struggling,” she said.
“Because it was such hard times, I didn’t know what to expect when I reopened, but my clients were all coming back, I was getting too busy, and I had to get another employee, and it just skyrocketed from there.”
“Now that the foundation’s grounded, we’re in the works of approaching more local businesses. As of today, we offer lash extensions, brows, facials, mas-sages, hairdresser, cosmetic injectables, micro-needling, teeth whitening, waxing, tanning, nutritionist, and makeup,” she said.
Ms Healy said that the future is starting to look more favourable for small local businesses.
“I would say to other business owners to hold on a bit longer, we seem to be coming to the end of the pandemic, and brighter times are ahead of us,” she said.
