Langford, BC Beauty and Salons

Ethno Concepts owner Pulcherie Mboussi has spent more than 20 years seamlessly blending hair extensions into her clients' manes. Pulcherie and her staff also specialize in weaves, braids, dreadlocks, and cornrows. A collection of wigs cover strands, and a kaleidoscope of makeup products preps faces for daytime and nighttime wear, as well as special occasions such as prom or trips to the post office. Ethno Concepts also stocks African staple foods such as fufu, cassava leaves, palm oil, and attieke.

It wasn’t until aesthetician Sandra Jones planted roots in Victoria in 2005 that she was able to really showcase the aesthetic skills she acquired as a student and apprentice in Georgia. Today, Sandra can be found at Wake Up, Made Up, located within the Fernwood Holistic Health Care Centre, where she beautifies clients with synthetic Xtreme Lashes extensions, DiamondTome microdermabrasion treatments, and permanent makeup.

Sandra creates thicker lash lines that last up to 4 weeks by applying each extension individually, and she brightens complexions with skin-sloughing diamond-tip microdermabrasion wands. For more permanent beauty services, she draws on a range of pigment hues—including peony, rose, and red—to create natural-looking permanent makeup for the eyes, lips, and brows.

Nomi Salon’s staff caters to all walks of life because its staff is comprised of people from all walks of life. Stylists from nations such as Japan, Canada, and Hungary use their specialized knowledge and skills to reform hairscapes and offer a variety of services such as the application of a conditioning mask that infuses hair with moisture. After hair is treated to whichever service, stylists can arrange it to suit your desired look or the look suggested by a helpful sketch that your mother drew.

Chop Shop Hair Company's growing franchise of rock 'n’ roll–themed hair salons outfits customers with hip hairdos at locations across the lower mainland. The salons were the brainchild of best friends and business partners Daniel Hudon and Michael Procter, who in the spring of 2005 established a new breed of haircare centre that boasted decor marked by hot-rod chrome, black leather salon chairs, and 1950s garage accents. At each location, both men and women get glammed out with chic pixie haircuts, beehives, and pompadours at toolbox-style salon stations. A full colour bar splashes new hairstyles with bold hues and transports patrons to a time when letters were still handwritten and each hug was actually a pat-down searching for communist pamphlets.

Reveal Laser specializes in gently healing signs of facial aging and tissue damage with cold lasers. Every technician on staff has completed a comprehensive course in the Swiss technology, which is mild enough to treat those suffering from rosacea and couperose. The light is engineered to promote cellular renewal and the production of collagen—a compound responsible for firm, youthful skin—to lift under-eye bags, soften wrinkles, and diminish scars. Microdermabrasion precedes most cold-laser treatments, clearing pores with an exfoliation technique that eschews the suction and tugging common to other forms of microdermabrasion. Keeping with the centre's ethic of gentle care, the team puts on teddy-bear hand puppets to apply products from Forlle’d skincare products, which nourish complexions with natural ingredients.

The stylists at OM Vogue—with more than 10 years of experience—shy from coating hair in obscure chemicals, opting instead for all-natural and organic products. They might comb their own local OM line of hair and body formulas into thirsty strands or inject colour with Simply Organic serums, which are ammonia-free and harvested from free-range rainbows. They administer new cuts, perms, and spa "side orders"—such as a mini manicure or eyebrow wax—between the salon's striking, red walls. There, translucent flower decorations hang beside a portrait of Audrey Hepburn, who peeps over her shoulder at each station's silvery, cushioned chairs.