Catch up on the latest episode of Made in Kent with Azaria Gayle
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00:00Hello and welcome to Made in Kent live on KMTV. I'm Azaria Gale and today we're looking
00:23at all things beauty. From spa experiences to hairdressers we see how Kent embraces and
00:30encourages self-care. But first let's have a look at a business that caters to both men
00:35and women with their separated salons offering a range of services. Arthur Navarro-Allen
00:41went down to Canterbury to find out more. In 2014 Chaps opened here in Canterbury originally
00:48as a male grooming salon. However in 2020 they renovated a steam room and turned it into Chapettes
00:55a female beauty salon inside of the male one. But what inspired them to make this decision?
01:01So we used to get lots of women coming in like the partners wives of our male clients and they
01:06were like you should do something for women and straight away we were like no no our unique
01:11selling point is that we're a male grooming salon and then actually it was myself I really missed
01:17doing all the female treatments like the industry's forever expanding and changing there's
01:22new treatments like dermaplaning microneedling aesthetics it just constantly evolves and I was
01:28like I really miss doing all those things on women so that was the idea behind Chapettes.
01:32When I first come in I thought it was really cool and I found that the treatment rooms were cool and
01:38I think it's really nice that everyone kind of works together. Yeah I just think it's a really
01:43good environment and the team got on really well and all the customers are good and I like
01:47having a mix of male and female because sometimes when it's just one it just feels a bit
01:52too much and I think being able to talk to both is really good. Yeah so when I originally came here
01:57it was for a haircut but where Chaps has kind of a full range of services so massage, cut throat
02:04shaving, sunbeds everything else it's kind of handy because you can do everything in one place.
02:10So what factors go into the success of a beauty salon like Chaps and Chapettes?
02:15What attracts customers to walk through their doors? So I think what's really important in the
02:19beauty industry at the moment is that things look instagrammable people come they share their
02:26stories you know share their treatments on their stories they post pictures when they're at the
02:30salon if it looks amazing I just feel like it's very eye-catching and people recognise the space
02:37when they see it so like oh yeah they go to Chapettes so a lot of it was like inspired by
02:43you know advertising and things like that but then a lot of it is actually
02:47myself and Carys have quite an eccentric taste in decor and things like that we like to just be a
02:55little bit out there so yeah it was just a mix of the both really. Yeah social media is a massive
03:01part in this industry and I think it's really important to keep posting because that's where
03:05most of your clients come from now like word of mouth is obviously really important but social
03:10media is such a wide place it can go really far you can get loads of customers from it. It's a
03:15really relaxed atmosphere all the staff are really friendly they're very flexible with bookings and
03:22and kind of like availability etc so yeah it's just a it's just a nice place to come to be honest.
03:27So in this day and age a lot of people will get their nails done get their lashes done then if
03:31you've got blonde hair that costs like 200 pound a time um so yeah yeah it's really expensive if
03:37you're having like a full head of highlights you'll be in the salon for like four hours
03:41sometimes so I think a lot of the time it's because they have more to pay out for whereas
03:47a man will come for his hair and his beard and a few grooming essentials every month
03:52it doesn't quite equate to having your hair nails and lashes done like every couple of weeks do you
03:57know what I mean. For her achievements in beauty and cosmetics at Chaps and Chappettes Charlie is
04:02a finalist in this year's Beautiful Awards for Beauty Therapist of the Year. We wish her the best
04:08of luck in the finals. Arthur Navarro-Allen for KMTV. Now the beauty industry is not just all about how
04:16you look it's also about the people from physical health to industry employment. I was joined earlier
04:23by Lewis to take a deeper dive. Thank you so much for joining me now we know that allocating time
04:29to self-care can have positive effects on your mental health but can it help with physical
04:34health at all? Yeah so engaging in self-care practices can offer a number of medicinal
04:40benefits that contribute to overall health and well-being. You have spa treatments, massages,
04:46facials they can all significantly decrease cortisol which is the body's stress hormone.
04:52Physical therapies like the aforementioned massages can also help improve circulation
04:57and enhance blood flow delivering essential nutrients and oxygen to the body. Exfoliation
05:04and hydration can also rejuvenate the skin by removing dead skin cells and unclogging pores
05:10and of course by promoting relaxation and reducing stress you can very easily improve
05:15quality of your sleep. Sleep as well is vital for your body's overall health and can improve
05:22the benefits that you get from the skincare routines that you're already doing. There are
05:27several establishments here in the county that provide these spa services and beauty treatments
05:32such as you've got the Skincare Central in Sittingbourne, there's Aurora Spa in Gravesend,
05:38Elite Beauty in Heron Canterbury and a range of other clinics where you can really look after
05:43your health through your skincare. Well how many of these businesses do we have here in Kent?
05:49The hair and beauty industry is actually a significant contributor to Kent's economy
05:54and even employment landscape as according to DirectLine as of 2017 the southeast of England
06:01was home to 29,000 hair and beauty businesses which is actually one third of all hair and
06:07beauty businesses in the UK making the southeast as a region the highest concentration of these
06:14businesses. The hair and beauty sector is also predominantly made up of small independent
06:19businesses around about 75% of these businesses employ fewer than five people and 95% have less
06:27than 10 employees. It's also quite interesting to note that as of 2023 60.5% of all individuals
06:34working in hairdressing and barbering are self-employed which shows the vital role the
06:39sector plays here in Kent reflecting its economic significance and the opportunities it provides
06:44for employment and professional development. Kent can also be considered the home for education and
06:49training for the industry as many of Kent's institutions such as Canterbury College,
06:54Ashford College, North Kent College, Mid Kent College, they all offer a variety of courses
06:59in hair and beauty, hairdressing, makeup, beauty therapy and even theatrical makeup.
07:05These programs equip students with the skills necessary to excel in the industry.
07:09Thank you for joining me Lewis. Well now we've seen some decked out salons with multiple stylists
07:14and reviewed the industry figures. Let's move on now to what it takes to make it in the beauty
07:19world on your own. I'm joined now on the line with Katie from Main Studios in Deal to talk about her
07:26experience running an independent solo stylist and teaching salon. Katie thank you so much for
07:32joining me today. Thank you for having me. So how did you first get involved in the industry?
07:38So I actually went into hairdressing at the age of 22 so I was a little older as far as that goes
07:44and so I started an apprenticeship. I worked in a gorgeous salon for about five years and then I
07:50decided to go alone. So what inspired you to start Main Studios? So I really wanted to have
07:59full creative freedom and I think as somebody who always felt a little uncomfortable going to
08:05the salon I always wanted to create a space where my clients could have a real one-to-one service.
08:11I've got a gorgeous cut and treatment specialist that works alongside me as well as doing all the
08:18education and training that I do. I just wanted it to feel like a real safe space for my clients
08:22especially in this day and age self-care is so important so I really wanted to make sure that
08:27they had my complete attention from beginning to end. Perfect. Can you tell us a little bit about
08:34Perfect. Can you tell us a bit more about those teaching skills?
08:40So I completed my assessors and teaching qualification and found that I had a real
08:46passion for helping fellow hairdressers. I don't feel like the education is always keeping up with
08:52what we do day in day out in the salon so I specialise in a lot of lived in colour and the
08:58big blonding transformation so it's just to kind of encourage the students just to make sure that
09:04they are up to date with all the techniques. So how does that teaching compare to how it is day
09:11to day? So I think it's a really nice balance because I do find having the mixture of coming
09:17in to do the hair as well as the teaching you get a real sense of achievement from both areas
09:22and so you know you kind of change hats a little bit but I think being fully involved in the
09:27industry you know I can really teach as many up-to-date techniques as possible.
09:33Have you faced any challenges along the way as well? I think as a hairdresser you will always
09:38face challenges within our industry is always changing so you're constantly having to keep up
09:43with the latest trends. I think it's quite a known thing amongst us hairdressers that we're not only
09:48hairdressers anymore we're also social media managers, photographers, therapists so we really
09:53are an all-in-one kind of encompassing you know service now. That's really interesting and what
10:00advice would you give someone starting their own independent beauty business? So I would say just
10:06really focus on what you're doing don't look too much at what everyone else is doing because
10:11you know you've really got to have your own journey and always invest in your education
10:16that is my ultimate thing because you can always keep up to date with the trends that way.
10:21And have you found it difficult as an independent business competing with the bigger names out there
10:26in the industry? To be honest I think the hairdressing community is such a beautiful
10:33creative space I think you know you can really find a lot of support but you know I don't think
10:38you should compete I think you should just always look to you know inspire each other and help each
10:43other. Thank you so much for joining me well that's all we have time for today. Thank you so much.
10:56You've been watching Made in Kent live on KMTV. There's some more news throughout this evening
11:02with news made just for Kent. Don't forget you can always keep up to date with the latest news
11:08across the county by logging into kmtv.co.uk. You can also keep us on your social timelines by
11:14liking us on Facebook and following us on Instagram. Well have a great evening. Thank you so much.
11:21See you soon. Goodbye.
11:38you
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