LOCAL FAVOURITE: Bare Beauty House, Manly
We love to support other small local businesses, shine a light on their expertise and get some great tips and tricks for you. We caught up with Bare Beauty House owner Naomi Browner for her hair and beauty tips for mums with young kids.
Bare Beauty House is a chilled hair, skin and beauty salon, offering ‘guilt-free’ services using sustainable and cruelty-free products and in-salon eco practices that are kind to the body and the environment.
©Little Manly Photography
You’re celebrating the salon’s 3rd birthday this month - congratulations! What have been your most popular services and have they changed over the years?
Thank you. We are very excited to have made it through the last three years. I’d have to say the most popular services have been our balayage, mani’s/pedi’s and facials. More recently we have seen a strong demand for hen's parties and a cheeky girl’s day out where clients more often than not have blow-dry’s and manicures, paired with a tasting platter.
©Little Manly Photography
What services do you suggest for the following life stages and why?
Pregnancy - When you’re pregnant, I would suggest a pregnancy massage to relieve any tension, move around any fluid that doesn’t want to budge and help keep you relaxed. When I was pregnant, I couldn’t do without it as I had a lot of fluid build-up in my legs and pressure on my lower spine (thanks kid) so the massage really helped me!
Post birth - A blow dry or mani/pedi is what I would recommend after Bub arrives. When they’re little they often sleep through most shorter treatments and these services can really help you feel more like yourself in such a chaotic time. Our nail polish dries in five minutes and remains chip free for 10 days, so you get longevity out of the manicure and you don’t have to worry about not being able to pick up your little one.
Busy toddler mum - A busy toddler mum needs a low maintenance service but something that will keep her feeling good day to day. Which is where the balayage comes in! You will just need to sneak into the salon when your little one is in day care / with Dad or the grandparents, as it’s a longer service. The benefit is you can last up to 12 weeks of enjoying what you see in the mirror day to day!
©Little Manly Photography
What are the most common beauty/hair issues you get asked about?
The most common concerns for new mums are thinning hair. After that luscious pregnancy hair leaves us, it can be quite disheartening especially for those mums that, like me, have fine hair. You can feel almost bald. For this I would suggest a good scalp treatment. A healthy scalp means healthy hair as the follicle can grow through quicker and thicker as there is no build up or dryness. There are in-salon and at home options for this as well. On top of this having regular trims to help thicken your remaining hair.
The other concern for hair is the flyaways around the hairline that magically appear overnight and just won’t go away! I’ve got a great little mullet growing out haha. For this, having a smoothing treatment works a treat. It will smooth the hair down so it doesn’t take on a life of its own and helps blend it in with the rest of your hair. We can just do the smoothing treatment on your hairline if that’s the only area of concern.
I find a lot of new mums have issues with dry skin or even find their skin breaking out. This is due to our hormones being a little out of whack. Using serums paired with a hydrating moisturiser will help the dryness, and for breakouts a serum that is specific for spot control is the winner, pair this with a good cleanser and ensure you are using it! They are extremely effective and can help reduce the life of the spot as well as making them less irritating.
©Little Manly Photography
What’s your favourite hair/skin/beauty treatment?
Oh, do I have to pick a favourite?! I LOVE a blow dry, it’s my weekly treat and always makes me feel put together. When I really need some TLC (which is a lot more often these days) I opt for a HydraFacial. It’s got a little of everything as it leaves you with an instant glow up, is anti-ageing and you get a little massage as well!
©Little Manly Photography