RIDGEWAY – If you’re looking for a place in Ridgeway to work on your eyebrows or lashes or apply special occasion makeup, you’re in luck. Esthetician La’Kia Simmons opened her shop, K Allure Beauty, three months ago in the heart of town, where she also offers waxing.
“I’ve been in love with makeup for as long as I can remember,” says Simmons, who works as a flight attendant for half the week and runs her business the other half.
She says it was during the pandemic, when things slowed down at her job, that she saw the opportunity to pursue her passion as an additional career.
“During COVID, I got the opportunity to attend esthetician school, and there the owner kind of taught us about being entrepreneurs, so it actually made me want to go out and start my own business,” She says. “I had the opportunity to work for other companies before I decided to branch off on my own.”
Her shop, K Allure Beauty, is located just across from the interior design business operated by her mom and aunt. She says she was surprised to see just how in demand beauty services have become despite the pandemic.
“I realized during school [during the pandemic] these women are not taking a break from wanting these services done. They were making appointments,” Simmons says. “Everything was stopping around us, but the beauty world didn’t seem to stop…. we would literally have people coming in all day long.”
Unlike a cosmetologist, who focuses on hair, face and skin, an esthetician is focused on the skin.
Simmons says she does several of the services allowed by her license as an esthetician: fake lashes, lash extensions, brow and lash tinting, brow shaping, waxing on the face and body, and full-face makeup for special occasions.
Simmons says she’s been a flight attendant for six years, and has always kept up with trends in makeup, lashes, and brows by watching others on Instagram and Facebook. Before going to school to become an esthetician, she was also a freelance makeup artist.
And she’s always been a fan of waxing over shaving, she says, because waxing results in thinner, finer hair and avoids some of the issues – like ingrown hairs and hyperpigmentation of skin – that can happen from shaving.
She says the small, private shop is just what she wanted. It provides privacy for herself and her clients.
Seeing their reaction afterward, she says, is a big part of what drives her.
“I just love people’s expression once it’s over. They’re just like, ‘Oh my God, it looks so good!,’” Simmons says. “It boosts their confidence.”
In the future, she plans to add facials also, she says. That’s something she’s certified to do as an esthetician.
She’d also like to add additional services, such as dermaplaning and laser treatments, she says, but those require the supervision of a medical professional, which she hopes to partner with in the future.
K Allure Beauty is open Thursdays and Fridays 10-7 and Saturdays 10-5 and is located at 106 South Palmer Street in Ridgeway. Simmons can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] and by phone at (803) 904-7612. The online schedule page is located at HTTPS://Kallurebeauty.as.me/.
