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Enter the French doors of the opulently decorated VAIABEAUTY salon and you feel instantly welcome. Enthusiastic, personalised service is assured by the owner and lead therapist Vaia Pappas (pictured), whose passion for creating customised beauty therapy is a stand out feature of her Surry Hills (Sydney) based salon.
Fusing over a decade of industry expertise with personal charm, Vaia and her team of qualified beauty therapists are able to treat the skin, body and personal grooming needs of her loyal clientele.
In addition to beauty therapy training, Vaia has a Diploma of Naturopathy and a Bachelor of Health Sciences. These credentials assist Vaia to provide individualised skin treatments for her clients and will be put to good use when she opens a day spa at the same location later this year.
The VAIABEAUTY day spa will incorporate holistic practices like reiki with body treatments such as salt scrubs and mud wraps.
Vaia Pappas told Australian Women Online, “It was always my dream to own my own business. I wanted to follow in my mother’s foot steps who was a young business woman herself when I was growing up and in my heart I knew this was always the right business for me.”
Raised by two parents who were each running their own businesses, Vaia Pappas didn’t need to look any further than her own family for inspiration and advice. “My parents have been my mentors and have given me lots of encouragement.”
Vaia says she chose to enter the beauty industry because she has always wanted to help people feel better about themselves. “People are becoming more aware of their needs and taking time out to really look after their themselves – their skin and their well being.”
“If you are good at what you do, the beauty industry is one of those industries where you can offer your services to people as a business. When I opened the salon in 2006, I knew it was time to move into the next stage of my life.”
I asked Vaia what advice she had for other women wishing to start up a new business. “Like any business, to see growth you need to set goals for yourself and the business. You need to stay focused on your goals and be patient.”
Vaia says she contributes her success as a business owner to having a loyal customer base. “Customer service is number one at VAIABEAUTY and my clients really support my business by referring new clients to me.”
“My clients’ overall well-being is always an essential part of every treatment at our salon. We use a hand-selected product range of cosmeceutical skin care from MD Formulations, PRIORI and Decleor as well as i.d. Bare Essentials make up to spoil our clients and take care of every beauty need.”
I asked Vaia what sets her salon (pictured right) a part from other beauty salons. “It is a very intimate setting and is very personalised in that every treatment is tailor-made to suit every individual customer’s needs and nothing is ever a problem.”
Vaia sits down with every new client and discusses their individual needs. “Whether it’s just for general well-being, or problematic skin, or if they’re stressed and need to relax, we will focus on their needs.”
People come to see Vaia for a variety of reasons including: having the perfect eyebrows, improving their skin, and general relaxation. In addition to beauty treatments, VAIABEAUTY offers clients a soothing massage to relieve stress and tension. Vaia told me she likes to relax with a regular massage and some exercise.
“The massage business is booming because of the workload and tremendous pressure we tend to put on ourselves,” she said.
I would like to thank Vaia Pappas for speaking with Australian Women Online.