Today we’d like to introduce you to Irene Mathews
Hi Irene, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I began my journey during my teenage years when I went natural, cutting off all my hair “the big chop”, and learning how to care for the hair that grew out of my scalp. I watched hundreds of hours on YouTube about natural hair care, I learned how to read ingredients and became a product junkie (I prefer to call it product connoisseur 😌).
During this same time I super over plucked my eyebrows so much so that my cousin had to tell me, “Hey you should probably stop plucking your brows and let them grow out a bit.”
So I used minoxidil (a men’s hair-growth product) to regrow my brows and, of course, used YouTube University to learn how to manage and shape my newly thick brows. This was around the same time super thick, fluffy, boy brows were in—a la Cara Delevingne and Lily Collins. I learned how to thread my eyebrows and it was on from there.
Fast forward a couple years, I’m graduating high school and headed to join the Army. I know right, a pink collar, self-care girly started her journey as a grunt. But stay with me as these skills came into play during my tenure in the military.
I get to basic training and they essentially take everything from us. We couldn’t have anything sharp (including tweezers), but I managed to, thankfully, sneak my head scarf into the women’s bay so I didn’t look crazy because my hair was still on the short side.
The drill sergeants gave this cord called 550 cord which we used for utility purposes to tie knots and secure equipment, et cetera. Inside the 550 cord are these tiny pieces of smaller thread that I began using to thread and maintain my eyebrows.
The other women in the bay started noticing that I had well-kept brows and they asked me what I used. I told them I knew how to thread and they, of course, asked me to do theirs.
This became a crucial skill for me because I would, in turn, ask them to braid my hair and it became a sort of bonding ritual and almost a currency for me while I was in that very unique experience with other women with limited resources for self-care and upkeep.
Jump forward to me about to get out of the military. I had been stationed overseas in Italy, traveled to over 10 countries and was now back in the states, post-pandemic and stationed in Georgia. I pondered on what I would do next as this career was coming to an end for me after 5 challenging, but fulfilling years.
I had achieved my dream of becoming a Sergeant and making E-5 in under 5 years, amidst many other career and personal accomplishments. But I knew, at that point, that the military was not something I wanted to do forever.
I asked myself, as many people do during a career change: What are my passions? What is something I could do forever—or at least for the foreseeable future? What am I skilled at and/or have a knack for? What are my natural talents and gifts?
I thought back to giving my mom a cute face mask when I was 10. I recalled cutting my hair at 15 and completely learning from scratch product ingredients, product knowledge and what was good for my specific hair type. I recalled growing my eyebrows back and teaching myself how to thread.
I remembered doing all my own beauty treatments while in extensive combat and vocation training and it was some of the only times of peace and quiet I got in those stressful moments.
I got it.
I had finally narrowed it down.
I would be in the beauty field! But I remember my mom telling me about her experience at cosmetology school and saying she didn’t really like the field and the people she was around. Too much gossiping, she said. And I thought to myself, I HATE doing hair lol, especially my own.
I had also recently taught myself how to do makeup when I got back to the states but I wasn’t really interested in that either.
But my most RECENT self-study was none other than skincare as it was picking up on the algorithm with all the talks about retinol and figuring out your skin type. (I had started using retinol which was a big mistake in the hot humid sunny South haha my skin was so tight and dry!)
Skincare was an interest that I could get with. And after some research, wouldayaknow! Skincare is a career field in the beauty industry called Esthetics. I determined that I would become an esthetician.
I could learn hair removal (one of my passions and skills), I could learn skin care in depth and I could perform relaxing facials and body treatments.
I researched the best school in Atlanta (Atlanta Institute of Aesthetics which is sadly closed now), toured it, moved to Atlanta, and began school just one month after getting out of the military. I am not one to waste any time! 👏🏽
After beginning school, I would quickly set up my studio in one of the rooms in my Townhouse and that is how I began practicing facials and offering my brow services to clients. I began social media marketing and building my clientele slowly but surely while also building my confidence and skills.
While we were in school learning it, I was practicing it in real time and learning how to create my own services, try out advanced techniques and most importantly, give a great experience.
I loved school and I loved learning about the skin. I also loved performing services. It was so relaxing and was a treat to get facials all the time and be around such amazing passionate ladies. I’m so grateful to have had such a good experience.
After school ended, I continued offering services, obtained my state license and eventually began working at a waxing studio for professional development. Working at Waxing the City was an amazing experience. It was right next to my nail shop right outside my Townhouse and I saw them building it. I applied online, interviewed with one of the owners and they hired me!
I’m so grateful for the detailed, thorough training they gave us there. I was really lucky and spoiled with finding a brand new place that was willing to train me and the other girls. We were all fresh out of school and they taught us how to give a good experience, recommend products and get repeat clientele.
Sidebar: I also met my estie bestie there and we are still besties to this day. Shout out to Shiley at Shirley Esthetique! She does amazing lashes, brow waxing and French Facials.
This was amazing for me and exactly what I desired to learn and transfer those skills to my business. I began adding retail products and giving my clients long-term solutions, treatment plans and a better experience overall.
I am now currently at my first studio right next to The Battery (near Cumberland Mall) doing exactly what I love doing which is Elevated Brow Services and Luxurious Results-Oriented Facials. I still do the same services I’ve done from the beginning and have been very passionate about. Brows and Skin.
I have, of course, removed some services and added some new ones as I’ve gotten more and more advanced training. I’ve adjusted my protocols to give the kind of facials I enjoy doing which are longer, more luxurious facials. My shortest facial is around an hour and 20 minutes because I love giving a thorough consultation and spending time with my clients and their skin.
I want my clients to feel heard and to leave my space feeling relaxed, refreshed and rejuvenated. The time and attention I spend with my clients on their brows and facials really makes them feel like I care and they aren’t just a number or a box to check off and get to the next person.
I love the freedom and flexibility of owning my own business and being able to give each client the time they deserve. I take max 3-4 clients per day because it’s quality over quantity here.
I do miss working from home but I am enjoying having the separation for now. Although what I do never feels like work.
I plan on continuing to grow my clientele and serve more and more women just like me. Women who love caring for themselves, pampering themselves and luxuriating in peaceful environments.
Sometimes black girl luxury feels like a political statement, as sometimes it is. Like former Vice President Kamala Harris said “do you think you just fell out of a coconut tree?!”
We don’t exist in a vacuum. We are a product of everything that came before us. We, as black women, didn’t get to just BE or just exist or rest and relax or even sit down, without it being a political statement.
I want women, and especially black women, to enter my space and leave levitating! I want them to leave everything at the door and be transported to a place where there are no worries. Things in life can get heavy but I want when they come to me for them to feel like they can finally breathe and let all the tension go, even if just for an hour or two.
This is why my clients come and they fall asleep and wake up glowing and radiating from the inside out. This is truly one of the biggest joys in my life and I feel privileged to have this gift, this skill and this calling.
If you are considering the beauty field, do it!!!! And if you are looking for a Facialist or Brow Artist in the Atlanta area, please don’t hesitate to come and see me.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I honesty feel like my road has been paved by God! I have favor where I never expected it. I feel so lucky and so blessed to have gotten everything I desired out of both of my careers as a soldier and now as an esthetician.
All my struggles have been mostly personal more so than with my career but it has made me so strong and resilient and also not afraid to take risks, fail, fall, get hurt and try try again!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Haute Visage is French for Elegant Face! I specialize in all things face pertaining to skin and your lovely brows.
I offer Luxurious Results-Oriented Facials and Elevated Brow Services.
Some services I offer include Dermaplaning and Chemical Peels as well as Brow Threading, Tinting and Laminations.
As opposed to solely focusing on corrective skincare, I give the full spa experience. You’ll receive your tea of choice and a facial gown.
You’ll experience the sensations of peaceful music, essential oils and a full face, neck and décolleté treatment.
I am most proud of giving my clients customized, well-thought out, thorough treatments and services.
When I hear “wow, no one has ever spent so much time on my brows” and “you were so detailed and thorough!” and “this was my best facial ever!” it really lights me up.
I pour so much into my business so women (and men as well) can feel like they don’t have to think about a thing when they come to my studio. They can leave everything at the door and truly relax and bask in the beauty & self-care service they came to receive.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
My advice for those who are starting out is to try everything! I was taught waxing, facials, body treatments, lashes and more in school and I figured out what I gravitated toward the most and niched down from there.
You won’t know what you enjoy until you try it out and there were so many of my fellow classmates who came to school doing lashes and left doing body treatments or facials, or even just adding services to their menus because they discovered how much they enjoyed it!
I’d also say, don’t follow what someone else is doing. It is easy to get FOMO and completely jump ship on what you’re doing, who you’re serving, your marketing strategy, your message and your brand identity by watching someone else’s. Your essence and the life you breathe into your business and services is yours and yours alone.
It’s great to have inspiration and even try out some trends, but never lose the soul and essence of YOU and the things you do and love.
For example, it seemed “easy” to me to completely shift to corrective facials because that’s what I see a lot of people doing and they seem to be successful with that but I know that I love spa treatments and I know there is a huge market for people wanting to have a good facial that provides results but is also relaxing and spa-esque.
I personally love ASMR and massages and relaxing facials and spa treatments and tea and essential oils and a peaceful environment. So I know me staying true to that will always attract the right people to me. My people.
You can always carve out your own path. It may take some time but the time will pass anyway so build something sustainable that you love and that you align with. Doing that will ALWAYS be worth the effort, time, attention and care it takes versus doing something that will burn brightly and then quickly fizzle out because it was a trend or because you weren’t even passionate about it in the first place so it wasn’t sustainable.
Lastly, always, always, always!!! keep learning. Everything is always changing and evolving. You have to be a self-starter and a voracious learner to continue to grow personally and professionally in whatever you choose to endeavor in ❤️
Trust yourself. You got this.
xx
Nene the Esty
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bio.site/nenetheesty
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/nenetheesty
