Meet Lauren Graham at Salon Bliss
By Ashley Puderbaugh
Published January 2011
Women’s Edition magazine
For Salon Bliss hairstylist and makeup artist Lauren Graham, creativity is in her blood. Born into an artistic family—her mother was an interior designer and her father was a builder—Lauren says she always knew she would be involved in a creative field somehow.
She made the decision to pursue cosmetology when she was in high school. For one of her classes she was required to get a fashion-related job, and she started working at the Cutting Edge Hairstyling Academy. “They used me as their guinea pig and I loved it,” says Lauren. “It’s what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be. I loved talking to and helping people, and also being able to hone that creativity into a job.”
When Lauren graduated from high school, she attended Regency Beauty Institute in Olathe. While there, she focused on four specialties: precision cutting, color, extensions, and makeup. When she began looking for a salon to work at after graduating from the Institute in 2009, she remembered seeing Salon Bliss on her way to school every day.
Salon Bliss has been in Overland Park since 1993. Lauren says she hoped to get a space at the well-established, high-end family owned salon. “I came in, and it’s just a beautiful place. I decided it was where I wanted to start my business and grow,” she explains. Lauren started working there in April 2010, and says she has enjoyed working at the salon ever since.
“It’s obvious that Lauren is excited about her job,” says fellow Salon Bliss hairstylist and makeup artist Tammy Blankenship. “She’s very bubbly and outgoing, and her clients just love her.” Christopher Nash, a longtime stylist at Salon Bliss, says Lauren is pleasant to be around and always pays special attention to her clients. “She’s a great listener, and is focused on her work and her clients’ satisfaction,” he says.
Lauren says that she prides herself on her attentiveness to her clients’ wants and needs. She also believes that educating her clients is what sets her services apart from other stylists in the area. “It’s just finishing out what you set out to do,” she explains. “A lot of people get excited when they see their new ‘do,’ but think they can’t recreate the look at home. That’s just not true.” When Lauren cuts her clients’ hair, she talks about the products she is using and why and how they will work for them. She also encourages her clients to send her pictures of their hair or makeup when they do it themselves so she and the client can talk about how the client can do it better.
Lauren credits her 3-year-old daughter for inspiring her to excel in her career. “I do it for Lily. It’s just her and I, and I want her to have everything,” she shares. Lily loves emulating her mom. Lauren and Lily play “beauty shop” often. “She’s not a very good hair-brusher, but she loves to play haircuts and color,” Lauren says with a laugh. “She’s 3 going on 13, and is such a little diva already.”
Besides working at Salon Bliss, Lauren works part-time at Glamour Shots. When working there, she styles hair and does high-fashion, runway-style makeup. “I get to airbrush there, which I’m so excited about. It’s definitely a hobby of mine and something I love doing.” Lauren got her first taste of applying airbrush makeup when she landed an internship in 2009 at Full Moon Productions, which is the company that operates four haunted houses in Kansas City’s West Bottoms. “I applied the makeup onto some of the actors. It’s really fun to do gory makeup.” Most of the time, however, Lauren does makeup for bridal parties and high school dances.
Lauren finds that while all of her clients are thankful for the services and education she provides, those who get their makeup done appreciate training on how to recreate the look at home the most. “Makeup is a huge thing. I think sometimes cosmetologists take for granted all the knowledge that we have—we know how to do this all the time every day—but other people may not have a clue about how to apply a product or what brush is needed.”
Of the services that Lauren offers, her two favorites are coloring and blowouts. “Color is definitely the most fun. We’re girls. It’s color, you know,” she shares, laughing.
Client Jamee Nimmo seems to be blown away by Lauren’s knowledge of color. “She’s talented—she really has a gift. You can show her a picture or describe what you want and she makes that vision come to life,” Jamee says. “I get comments all the time on my hair and keep her business cards in my purse. And she’s not just a good hairstylist, but a great person as well.”
The blowout is what brings the whole look together, says Lauren, and she loves seeing the look on her clients’ faces when she turns them around to the mirror to see the final result. “Giving somebody a great cut not only makes someone look great, but it helps to enhance their inner beauty by making them feel good about themselves,” Lauren explains. “When clients leave with a great blowout, they have a little extra bounce in their step. Who doesn’t love that?”
When new clients first meet with Lauren, she sits down with them for a consultation. She learns about your hair, what you like and don’t like, what you want to change, and then makes sure that you both are on the same page about what she needs to do. “I really don’t like going into any kind of service with just a vague idea of what they want,” Lauren comments. “That could lead to disaster.”
For Tammy, that’s really the most important thing you can do for a client, and is why she trusts Lauren to do her hair, she says. “She does better than some of the others who have been in the industry a long time,” Tammy says. “You either have it or you don’t, and she does have it.”
You can book an appointment with Lauren by contacting Salon Bliss at 913-451-7780. Salon Bliss is located at 11904 W. 119th St. on the corner of 119th and Quivira Road. Lauren is available from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. For more information on Salon Bliss, visit the Web site.
