A champagne reception for salon expansion

A pop-up beauty salon celebrated its expansion with a launch event and a visit from Miss England, Elizabeth Grant.

Staff at Mask Brow Bar and Beauty Lounge, welcomed the Preston charity ambassador to look around the new unit, in the first floor of St George’s Centre.

Shoppers were also invited to attend the open day and were impressed with the new look, which took six months to complete.

Owner Reena Parekh said: “When I started out in St George’s in 2010 I wanted to launch the concept of a brow bar, it was so popular I decided to expand and offer beauty treatments too and for that we needed a unit, which we moved into in 2011.

“We started to offer the clientele relaxing treatments such as Crystal Clear facials, Indian head massages or even a full body massage after a busy day shopping. For the clients that were working in town this meant they could pop in on their lunch to have their Shellac nails done brows threaded or even a quick manicure.

“We created a tranquil place to relax in a busy shopping centre and this proved to be a huge success.

“Then five years on, as the popularity continued and the demand grew, it made perfect sense to expand. We’ve expanded and refitted our unit, adding three treatment rooms on a second floor and everything is brand new.

“We’ve taken on three new members of staff and I’m continuing to recruit. We’ll be offering new treatments including semi-permanent eyebrow embroidery, called micro blading.

“Having started out in St George’s it was important to me to stay here – it’s in the heart of the city and I’ve built up a loyal client base here.”

Andrew Stringer, general manager of St George’s Shopping Centre, said: “Mask is an extremely popular salon and the demand continues to grow. Watching Reena’s business grow from a pop-up brow bar to a beauty salon in this new, expanded unit is great and I wish her and the team every success.”