Some Wine With Your Balayage? Beauty Biz Pairings That Help Salons & Spas Thrive

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that salon and spa owners need to be prepared for everything. Having streams of income besides in-person services can boost profits in the best of times and keep things afloat in the worst. This isn’t exactly a new concept — many salons already make retail products available to buy at checkout, for example. However, some modern beauty brands are going above and beyond by incorporating entire additional businesses into their existing models.

We’ve rounded up five stellar ways that modern business pairings work in the salon and spa industries. Use these examples as inspiration to build your brand and turn the in-person experience into something more.

Tattoos + Microblading + Coffee

Tattoos already blur the line between beauty and art, so adding related treatments to its list of services was a natural move for Supersweet Tattoo. The Los Angeles shop employs over a dozen talented artists who create Instagram-worthy body art on the regular, but Supersweet’s offerings don’t stop there — microblading and permanent makeup are also available. Traditionally, beauty gurus have to go to a medspa or specialized studio to get the semi-permanent eyebrow treatment that’s so popular right now, but Supersweet offers a different kind of vibe entirely.

As if that’s not enough, Supersweet also has a café with a variety of coffee, hot chocolate, and espresso drinks on the menu, as well as a healthy selection of merch that can be ordered from the website. Where else can you get an anime tattoo, an eyebrow refresh, a new hoodie, and a Chai latte all in one place?

Spa + Wellness Drinks

It’s not unusual for salons to offer their clients coffee or water while they’re in the chair, but some businesses are taking that concept to the next level with full-blown in-house wellness cafes. Take Boulevard customer Chillhouse, for example; with face, nail, body, and infrared treatments, as well as a healthy ecommerce selection that includes reusable nails, oils, apparel, and more, this wellness spa is already a master of trades. To make clients’ visits to the Soho-based flagship store even more chill, the brand offers an in-house cafe with a zen twist. Customers can order classics like drip coffee, espresso, and lattes, much like the offerings at Supersweet Tattoo, but Chillhouse takes that concept even further by enhancing these beverages with boosters and toppings that add antioxidants, energy, fiber, and other wellness benefits.

Even if your beauty business model isn’t the same as Chillhouse’s, adding a wellness-based drink menu could benefit almost any type of salon or spa. Clients can treat themselves to their favorite caffeinated concoction while they wait for their appointment to begin or the dye to set in, and those accompanying them have a space to hang out without getting in the stylists’ way.

Salon + Bar

Is coffee not your thing? How about a glass of chardonnay? There are few things as luxurious as sipping a nice bubbly, a bright rosé, or a rich red wine while treating yourself to a hair makeover, which is why many salons offer clients a drink while they’re in the chair. Grow Salon + Wine Bar, another Boulevard customer, has taken this concept to the next level: With services like cuts, color, highlights, balayage, and blowouts, this Texas-based salon enhances the self-care experience with a carefully curated wine bar. As one client put it, “I felt like I could truly sit back, relax, and get my hair done” while enjoying a mimosa.

Of course, because of federal alcohol regulations, opening a bar in your salon might be a bit more complicated than slinging coffee. However, for beauty businesses with primarily adult clientele aiming for a fun, sophisticated vibe, adding a bar to your biz could be the cocktail for success.

Waxing + Gifts & Sundries

Plenty of salons and spas offer some merchandise, but how many can claim to be “a destination gift shop & salon for people seeking thoughtfully selected gifts with a voice, an opinion, and most importantly, a heart”? That’s the story of Stark Studio, an LA-based full-service waxing and eyebrow salon. With an extensive list of services from microblading and lash lifts to hair removal from just about any part of the body you can imagine, Stark Studio’s talented estheticians are ready to help.

Then there’s the gift shop, which exists both in the physical store and online and offers a massive selection of merchandise. Seriously: The website boasts “face and body… fine jewelry, ceramics, pouches, totes, cookbooks, table books, kids books, kids toys, baby rattles, tea towels, blankets, and so much more.” Stop in for a quick brow wax and who knows what you’ll end up leaving with?

Curl Care + Online Courses

It’s a given that your stylists are subject matter experts, so why not share that expertise with the world? That’s exactly what Gina Marie Rodriguez, proprietor of The Cultivated Curl salon in Fair Oaks, California, decided to do. In addition to helping clients love their natural curls, coils, and waves in the salon with signature services and curl-friendly cuts, Rodriguez offers online workshops and live classes so that clients and curl aficionados can maintain their looks at home.

This genius idea should be utilized by more beauty pros, to be honest. Getting an online refresher on how to maintain a new color or ‘do is hugely beneficial for clients, and goes a long way toward building loyalty and long-term relationships.