Change is Coming: Makeovers!

Monday was so special for members of our Luxe Team. We got to start an amazing project with some great partners. Our owner, Darlene Arias, loves a great makeover and has wanted to do more of them for a long time. And let’s face it, don’t we all? From The Swan to What Not to Wear to The Biggest Loser, it is fascinating to see people who are deserving (and with inner beauty to spare) match their insides to their outsides with a little help. How could anyone resist such a happy ending?

In honor of Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, Luxe Salon & Spa was honored to spend time with two strong, brave moms. Laurie Morton’s  son Jack was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma in March of 2010. Jack went through a very intense protocol for 14 months. He had his final treatment scans in May 2013 and, we are thrilled to announce, is cancer free. Now, the Jack Morton Foundation raises money for research to find a cure for Neuroblastoma and mom Laurie, who is a runner and raises money for the foundation doing just that, needed a simple overhaul. We warmed up her hair color and makeup, keeping it simple, but elegant, for this active mom!

Mom Stephanie Wheeler and her husband Brian Perdue lost son Cade just 17 days after discovering that he had high-risk Medulloblastoma with leptomeningeal metastases (meaning the cancer had spread to the covering of his brain and into his spine). Complications with brain swelling caused him to pass away at the way-too-young-age of 2½ very suddenly and tragically. His family misses him every day and mom Stephanie, needed a fresh start to her beauty routine. We were thrilled to help in even this smallest way and let the local community know about The Cade Perdue Foundation, which is dedicated to raising awareness and funds for advancing research and treatment for childhood Medulloblastoma. Stephanie was ready for a major change and choose to go red after seeing a model on our website.

ter a spray tan, some makeup changes and her new hair color, Stephanie looks amazing!

Luxe Salon & Spa also got to meet two great contributors to EVMB. New mom Kristin Przybylski had just given birth five weeks earlier! This new mom and entrepreneur came to us as a victim of ombre gone awry on short hair and in need of an easier beauty routine (Don’t remember what it was like to be on a newborn’s schedule?). Luxe helped Kristin find the right shade of auburn brown that will be easy to maintain and left it long enough to pull back on those stay-at-home with baby days. Some easy, natural makeup brought out her eyes!

EVMB Contributor Andrea Boring is a hard-working triple entrepreneur and a fabulous mom of twin Kindergarten boys! When she is not running her businesses, she wrangles her two cuties and writes about her experiences on EVMB. Caught in the rut of everyday life, Andrea hadn’t cut her hair in nearly four years, but yearned to go back to beloved long bob style with a little blond. She knew she needed a major overhaul to look more professional, but still craved something that was low maintenance. Luxe took Andrea really blonde, which makes her beautiful blue eyes pop and gave her the style she craved – the longer bob. She can wear it wavy or for a more polished look, round brush it dry as it is in her final photo.

It was such a pleasure to have these wonderful women in the salon to work with and we were grateful for all our partners: EVMB and Niomee B Photography! It was such a success, we’ve decided to search for more candidates who are deserving of a makeover because of challenges they have recently faced.

We of course want to thank our very brave and patient models (in beauty not everything runs perfectly on time, despite best practices). We’d like to introduce these lovely models more officially when the professional photos are available — though some of you may recognize them from the photos below. Together these women are the inspiration for an even bigger project that we will be unveiling next week in partnership with East Valley Moms Blog and Niomee B Photography of Chandler. We want to thank these companies for working with us and for bringing their hard work and talents to this amazing project!