Recently, we had the pleasure in speaking to this beauty entrepreneur, Eve-Ellen Kavanagh, who is the owner of ‘For Your Eyes Only’ in Portmarnock Co.Dublin. Her salon is loved by Ireland’s top bloggers and celebrities. Eve-Ellen is an expert in brows and lashes and her treatment list includes embrowdery, Phi Brows and Eyelash Extensions. Read more here..
When did your career in beauty begin? I actually never studied any beauty therapy courses, I did a 4 year degree in event management in DIT. After college I went to California for a year and when I came back I wasn’t working so just decided to do a lash course to do as nixers until I got an event management job. But I just really enjoyed doing them and got busy very quickly so I decided to try give it a go. So really it started in 2013 when I trained in lashes. After that I went and studied other specialised brow courses.
Did you always want to own your own business and how did it begin? Yes, I had always said that I wanted to own my own business. I’ve always been a really hard worker, even through college I had 3 different jobs on the go at the same time. For Your Eyes Only started in a converted shed at the side of my parents house, which was ideal as it meant I didn’t have the risk of signing a lease and then the business not taking off. So I stayed there for 3 years, at that point I had hired another lash tech and then in 2016 we moved to a salon in Portmarnock as the business continued to grow and now there’s three of us.
What changes have you seen in the beauty industry in Ireland over the last few years? Probably the main change I’ve seen is a increase in cosmetic surgery e.g. Lip fillers, Botox. I’m still shocked when I have clients as young as 19/20 telling me their getting their lips done etc. – Although I think beauty in Ireland has come a long way, I think a lot of people are now looking for more natural looking beauty. Even with semi permanent eyebrows, years ago it used to be a block colour done with a machine whereas nowadays everyone wants subtle brows done in the hairstroke method- the more realistic the better. And likewise with tan, those tangoed orange days are gone. Less is more!
What do you love about your career? I love that it evolves constantly, I like that I feel in three or four years time from now I’ll probably be offering newer treatments that I mightn’t have even heard of yet. I like training in new things, it keeps it exciting! I also love making people feel better about themselves. I’ve done semi permanent brows on lots of ladies who lost their brows from cancer treatments or alopecia and it’s such a rewarding feeling when they stand up to look in the mirror and are just so happy.
What do you think are the biggest upcoming beauty trends? I still think brows are so massive in the beauty industry at the minute. I also think skin care is a huge thing right now, people are starting to learn about he importance of looking after their skin.
What’s a typical day for you? A typical day for me starts at 9am and generally finishes at 8pm. I would spend the day taking clients, answering emails/voicemails, looking after social media and doing stock orders. I’m lucky to live around the corner from the salon so can pop home in between clients if I need too.
What’s your best advice on how to be successful in business? I think to be successful you really need to invest your entire life into the business for the first few years. For me, building a loyal client base was what I needed to get me of the ground, so I worked early mornings, late nights, Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays, whatever it took to get the client and keep them. You also need to make sure to make time to work ON your business as opposed to IN your business. To make time to see where you want your business to go and set plans to get it there. Networking is also very important in the beauty industry, that’s where you will hear about a lot of new treatments or changes in trends.
What is next on your agenda? I would LOVE to get involved in training, I think that’s where I’d see myself going down the line. I’ve also always said I’d like to get into distribution, I went to Cosmoprof in Bologna last year which was incredible, I’d have loved to come across a new beauty product that I really believed in and to bring it Ireland. Maybe next year 😉
See more about Eve Ellen and her company here