I can’t believe that Luxurious Glitter is heading towards its second birthday, it really feels like I only started it yesterday. What they say about time is really true! This got me thinking about it all, reliving the story in my head of how it all started and my incredible ever-growing team of fairies, so I thought I’d share it with you…
As some of you well know, I own and run Luxurious Hair & Beauty. Hairdressing was always my main passion and I started this journey some 18 years ago, as an apprentice. I worked evenings and weekends and worked my way up to a full-time hairdresser and then straight on to senior stylist and manager of a salon in Chelmsford. I had my first daughter (who’s now nine - stop growing, please!) and that’s when I decided the self-employed life was the route I wanted to go down. It fitted in perfectly with running my family and carrying on with a career I loved and still do today.
So, what would you really like to know about me?!
I’m a brightly coloured Disney and Harry Potter mad Mum of two with a third on the weekends. I’ve got a selection of bright tattoos to match and I’m planning on growing my collection as soon as we’ve stopped manically saving for the wedding of the year… ours! I live with the male version of myself (my beautiful dear ole Ben Elf), I’m a little unicorn, rainbow and anything that shines obsessed. Oh, and I have a slightly small (ok, massive) collection of Pop Vinyl and Irregular Choice shoes! And that's just the tip of the iceberg. There really is loads more!
So, how did Luxurious Glitter come about?
A good seven years into Luxurious, a world of beauty courses, a diverse hairdressing clientele and a mind that always seeks new challenges, I was needing something new. I was (and still am!) fully booked but I desperately needed a new path. Something fresh to get my creativity flowing and my teeth well and truly stuck in to.
And just like that, without knowing, my sister and niece had it all lined up for me... My niece Katherine was about to have her 9th birthday and wanted something different as a gift from her Aunty Claire. She asked me for a mannequin head and hairdressing bits which I lovingly obliged!
Katherine had a sleepover for her birthday and my sister though it’d be a great idea if I added a little bit of ‘me’ to the party and taught them all how to plait the mannequin heads and then their own hair. “It’s a great idea, isn’t it, Claire!”
So, there I was, teaching kids to plait hair and it was brilliant. The party was a hit and Katherine was thrilled to bits. This led to one of Katherine’s friends wanting the same party later on in the year. It was at this party I knew something was missing, but still wasn’t sure quite what.
December rolled around and a a good client of mine, Gemma, made a booking enquiry for an up-do for her Christmas party. Her exact words to me were “I want glitter in it! I think it’ll look amazing!”. In walks Gemma for her appointment with her pots of glitter. I placed the glitter in and it was MAGICAL!
And BAM, that was the start of the Luxurious Glitter spiral. Pretty much every client had glitter in their hair that Christmas and I started to introduce it to all the parties.
Next up was my niece’s 10th birthday. She had a plait party booked and I introduced glitter. It went down a storm and needless to say, Luxurious Glitter was officially born in its own right!
Our fabulous journey from standard to eco-glitter
There was a brief window of time at the start where we used standard glitter and after a few parties and seeing all the glitter waste, the idea just didn’t sit that well with me.
I tried a many suppliers until I found the perfect mixes for us. We’re super proud to stand against single-use plastic at our glitter bar. It’s a little more expensive and you’re limited on shapes and some colours but what you do get is guilt-free, sparkly satisfaction that when you’re slapping on the glitter, it isn’t going to end up as plastic fish food.
My kick-ass team and why are they fairies?!
Skip back a few paragraphs and you’ll be reminded that I love all things magical! Disney, Harry Potter, Pop Vinyl’s and crazy shoes. Fairies are amongst all the things I also love so naturally, my team adopted the cute nickname. They’re not your standard fairies though, as you’ll know if you’ve ever met them!
So, after doing a few parties on my own I decided I needed a little help. And that help came in the shape of Holly. Holly’s a client who was saving up for a house that also had a salon background and teaching. It made perfect sense to me, so I asked her if she’d like to be part of my new venture and of course, she said yes.
After Holly came Emma. Emma and I go back a long time and I knew she was super creative and awesome with face paints and now, glitter.
I met Meg on a bridal launch for Lucy Can’t Dance. Meg was a model for our first ever shoot and we got chatting about her makeup career and both decided the two went hand in hand.
With Holly, Emma and Meg on board, Luxurious Glitter grew wings and off it went. The parties started to come in and festivals started to happen. It was a natural and steady progression from kid’s parties to grown-ups wanting glitter and then we branched out to weddings. Our first wedding fair at Events Under Canvas came and everyone loved the idea.
Our team has grown loads. We now have crazy pink haired Natalie who I met at circus, an amazing glitter fairy with loads of festival knowledge.
Naomi, my very good friend, has been with me from the start. She’s my little ‘word nerd’ and as well as creating various websites for me, she edits everything I write (even this - hi, Naomi!). Well, I asked her to come along and play one day and she was a natural.
Lexie then jumped on board. With a fantastic career in makeup and beauty, I met Lexie at a wedding suppliers’ meet up. We hit it off and have been friends ever since! Lexie ran the London Marathon this year and to raise money, held a charity ball. I was there with our glitter bar and after seeing it in action, Lexie decided she wanted to be part of the team and the rest is history!
After Lexie came Amy. Amy was looking for something extra to do and as an ex-teacher with young kids who was desperate to play with glitter and all things sparkly, she was a total natural, too!
So here we all are. Me, Luxurious Glitter, and my bad-ass team of glitter fairies all ready to set up and sparkle at your next event. Not a bad result from one niece’s party, hey?! Fingers crossed there will be two new fairies soon, too.
And who knows where Luxurious Glitter will be this time next year?
Claire Xx
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