A New Take on Takeaways, with Lisa Conway

This article was published in Professional Beauty.

Let me explain.

Last week I was feeling exhausted. I was at the tail-end of a couple of very large projects that I’d been working on for months. I needed a pick-me-up and some serious ME time.

So I stood in front of the mirror and I made a list of all the takeaways I needed.

The first one was to ‘take away’ the lines on my forehead, so I made a botox appointment. Next up was taking away the hollowness around my mouth so while I was having that appointment with my cosmetic nurse, I got her to take that away, too.

Now do you understand my kind of ‘takeaway’ and why it’s guilt-free?

Next, I needed to take away my 50-year-old eyebrows and replace them with absolutely stunning ones like the ones I took for granted when I had them in my thirties.

In order to do that I had to take away the grey hairs by tinting them, then take away the unwanted hairs and shape them. I used a threader for this takeaway and, while she was there, I got her to take away the peach fuzz on my whole face.

Finally, I completed my eyebrow transformation with cosmetic tattooing – to take away the sparseness, of course!

Now, it was my eyelashes’ turn. I decided to takeaway the natural mousy brown colour and replace it with a rich, glossy blue-back. Sha-boom!

I outsourced my next takeaway to two people, a fabulous Chinese massage therapist and my osteopath. Between them, they managed to take away the pain in my neck and shoulders. (Writing a book leaves you with some serious upper body creases to iron out.)

There was no stopping me – I was on a takeaway roll of epic proportions. A deep peel, microdermabrasion and oxygen facial soon did their magic, taking away all those fine lines I don’t need around my face.

Last, but by no means least, I indulged in a spray tan to take away that Melbourne-in-winter skin colour and replace it with a beautiful healthy glow. Sigh. I’m in takeaway heaven, and there’s not a kebab within sight.

I told you I needed a lot of takeaway! In the aviation world, it’s called a D-Check. That’s the term used for when the aircraft is grounded for an overhaul. That was me last week – deep in D-Check. One fast week of downtime and I look amazing. What really counts is that I feel amazing, too.

What has my take on takeaways got to do with your beauty salon? I want you to understand that all that takeaway I did last week tells a story you can present to your salon clients to engage them in considering that they’re worth spoiling and deserve to be pampered.

‘Takeaway’ is just a different way of delivering the tale about something we already know to be true. Have a think about all the items you could add to a takeaway menu for your salon: freckles, blemishes, age spots, scars, redness and an entire section on unwanted hair.

I invite you to take away my takeaway narrative. Re-shape it to fit your salon and re-tell it to your clients as part of that ‘suggestion’ conversation you need to be having with every client, every day.

Share my story with your clients. Give it whatever positive spin works for you and your business. Maybe you can work with this angle: Everyone is busy; I don’t know anyone who isn’t. Being busy can be a trigger for all sorts of action. Many busy people turn to food (that other takeaway) to help relieve stress when they’re under the pump. They get a small, short-term win. In contrast the look-good, feel-good benefits of the takeaway I describe above lasts for days, weeks or maybe even months.

Tomorrow, try selling your clients the hair and beauty takeaway instead of the fast food one. It’s an easier tell-and-sell when you consider all the benefits a client can gain directly from your skills, your team, in your salon.

Showcase to each client that you’re the takeaway expert. Tie it all up with a ribbon called exceptional experience and you’ll soon have them lining up for their own ‘takeaway’ fix.