Malibu Art & Beauty

MALIBU

Art & Beauty Center

BY JIMY TALLAL

Art and Beauty is part of the Malibu character — in the people and natural landscape. Businesses and services recognize the value of being accessible, relatable, and proactive in delivering products and services to the Malibu resident and visitors alike. Malibu Art and Beauty Center has some of the best services Malibu has to offer.

MALIBU CIGAR

An online review of Malibu Cigar describes it as “Hands down, the best cigar lounge in Southern California.” And for good reason — there’s nothing else quite like it.

To start, owner Rick Loehr provides a welcoming atmosphere. “To me, you’re a VIP as soon as you walk in the front door,” he said.

Customers walk in to a wall of glass and counters with over 60 brands of imported quality cigars beautifully displayed in their wooden boxes. They come from countries like the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica; with brand names that cigar aficionados instantly recognize – Partagas, Arturo Fuente, Oliva and Davidoff; to name just a few.

Customers are invited to partake of their purchases right there on the premises - they can sit in the indoor cigar lounge with its comfy chairs, big ashtrays and big screen sports televisions; or they can walk upstairs, sit at a table on the rooftop outdoor patio, and enjoy the close-up whitewater ocean view.

Rick has found the perfect business: “I love people, I love cigars, I love the ocean and I love being in Malibu every day.” "People come here from all over the world – all states and all countries…I get bums and billionaires and everything in between,” he joked. Just that day, he had sold cigars to tourists from Taiwan and a businessman from Boston.

“It’s all about enjoying the cigar with good friends, and meeting strangers who will become your friends,” Rick said.

He smoked his first cigar in the year 2000 at a friend’s house. “I was handed a cigar, and I tried it and fell in love with the taste,” he recalls. He’s enjoyed cigars ever since; and became a self-taught expert, learning about cigars through reading and visiting factories where they’re made – observing how manufacturers roll the tobacco and cigars; and how the tobacco is aged and fermented.

MALIBU BARBER SHOP

Malibu Barber Shop has been in the same location since the 1960s, making it a true “Old Malibu” original. It kept the same name through three different owners even though it’s more than just a barber shop – probably half the business is women’s hair.

It’s a small two-chair barber shop, with Dali Holman mainly providing the barber services and Carol O’Rourke largely serving the female clients. The owner Rosemary Hemm is now semi-retired.

“It’s like family when we’re both working. It’s very comfortable,” Carol explained. “It’s a very special shop. It seems like every man in Malibu comes here. I joke to my customers, ‘If you want to meet a man, come to Malibu Barber Shop.’”

“Dali is amazing – she cuts one man’s hair after another every day; and she’s so kind, and she remembers all of their names,” Carol continued. “She also waxes ears and noses, and they adore her. We get everything from Pepperdine students to doctors and filmmakers.”

Women avail themselves of services that include color correction, perms, hair straightening and hair extensions – especially when they need to be film ready. Carol is expert at hiding missing hair and scars.

She reports that the latest trend for women is long hair with silvery-gray highlights and extensions.

The latest hair style for men is very short and shaved with floppy curls on the top; or else clipped and asymmetric. MALIBU GALLERY ART & CUSTOM FRAMES

Owner Louis Torres has a true passion for finding just the right frame for each project; and loves what he does. Malibu Gallery Art & Custom Frames has been around for over 40 years in various Malibu locations. Torres became an employee there in 1993 after working at Fast Frame stores, and took ownership in 2007. Over the years, he’s built relationships with many satisfied residents.

The shop has thousands of well-organized sample picture frames on the wall – layer after layer – every kind imaginable; and Louis loves helping clients choose just the right one.

“I encourage people — especially couples — to play around with the frame samples. I’m not a salesperson,” he joked. “The eye doesn’t lie. It has to look good.”

While a large part of the business is the custom framing of artwork and photos; Louis also enjoys some of the more challenging and unusual projects that involve preserving memorabilia like jerseys, hats, and little cars.

He describes the Malibu market as being more “high-end” when it comes to customer tastes; with more demand for an elegant look, archival preservation and matting, museum glass, and more ornate frames using 22K gold paint or oak wood.

“My clients have good taste and expect quality, and that’s what I strive to provide,” Louis explained. “I try to frame things for life.”

Other services include local pick-up and delivery, art installation, frame restoration and preservation, and the ability to print photos or art to fit an old frame.

MALIBU SUPER LASH SPA

Malibu Super Lash Spa is the first and only full-time, full-service lash bar in Malibu. They’re in the business of providing expert lash extensions for customers who want longer and/ or thicker eyelashes – or just a whole new eyelash look. Malibu Super Lash offers styles of lashes that include classic, hybrid, wispy, volume and mega volume.

To the uninitiated, getting eyelash extensions involves an eyelash technician hand-gluing individual “fake” lashes (made of mink hair or synthetic hair) on top of the natural lashes. None of the glue ever touches the eyelid and the entire process takes 60 to 90 minutes. Lash Spa does everything custom for each individual, and never uses pre-made lash fans.

The extensions look real, but are only semi-permanent – they begin to fall off just like natural lashes after a time. But, while they last, they require less maintenance than wearing mascara or false eyelashes every day.

Malibu Super Lash is very proud to have “Jen” as their eyelash technician and co-founder. She grew up on a farm in Mongolia, learned her craft in China, and is said to be a descendent of Genghis Khan. Co-founder Rich Olson calls her “the best in the world” at what she does.

Besides lash extensions, the Lash Spa also does lash lifts and lash perms for natural lashes their Lashes Gallery is on Instagram @super_lash139. VIOLET MALIBU HAIR SALON

The “Violet” salon is across the street from “Billionaire’s Beach” in part of “Old Malibu” near the pier. Located in an updated cottage with loads of gorgeous bougainvillea and a side entrance, it sits back from Pacific Coast Highway just far enough to be very private.

Celebrity stylist Lindsey Carsey is the mainstay here, along with her assistant Sara. Carsey began working in the hair business at the young age of 15 as a “towel girl”/ cleaner at a salon in Montana, and it sparked an enthusiasm in her. She attended the premier hair school in the U.S. – Vidal Sassoon in Santa Monica, and was immediately hired by Sassoon Beverly Hills as an intern.

She eventually bought her own salon off Rodeo Drive - the youngest female in the history of Beverly Hills to do so. She kept expanding until she owned five salons and a haircare product line. After more than a decade, she sold off those businesses and later moved to this Malibu location.

For about the past 18 months, Lindsey has been focusing on representing various product lines on Home Shopping Network, developing a new highend line of haircare products which will be introduced in a couple months, called “Violet,” and catering to her celebrity clientele. She is considered to be one of the top five hair extension experts in the world, specializing in Great Lengths Hair Couture.

Her Malibu shop usually has just one customer at a time by design, and the blinds can be closed for total privacy. Customers fly in from all over the world, and sometimes, she flies out to see them – especially those in the rock world.

Besides her hair extension work, she offers cuts, color and weaves.

“I purposely kept it low-key. This is a destination location,” Lindsey explained. “I rarely post on social media and keep my celebrity clientele private.”

When asked if she could divulge just a few of her celebrity clients past and present, she relented and gave out a few names that wouldn’t mind, including: Tori Spelling, Andrew Dice Clay, Jerry Springer, Paris Hilton and the guys in Metallica.

EXCLUSIVELY AT CONEJO HARDWOODS

CONEJO HARDWOODS

QUALITY SINCE 1981

BY HAYLEY MATTSON

For centuries wood has been an architectural staple, from structure to style. No other material has proven its versatility and beauty so definitively. Wood defies time and taste, it is as the international design house BOTTEGA LEGNA declares, “Purity In Form.”

“The more carefully we select our materials and curate our design in proximity to the wood’s origin, the more purity we feel in our souls. We want it to touch the spirit and mobilize our reverie,” Francisco Mondet, the Director of Sales for Conejo Hardwoods, said. “May all wood be used in such a way that we take a deep breathe to reflect on how precious our existence truly is.”

CONEJO HARDWOODS has branched out into many areas of the custom home building and remodeling industry to become one of California's leading material suppliers. The company passion and obsession with quality has only grown with time and experience, and they see no end in sight. Malibu Times Magazine had the pleasure of sitting down with Francisco Mondet, the Director of Sales for Conejo Hardwoods, to tap into the roots of who Conejo Hardwoods is and discover the source of their respect within the industry and their clientele.

MTM: First of all, who are you, and why are you in business?

FM: We are a lumber company obsessed with delivering premium natural wood products to local communities and professionals who seek to elevate their spaces with superior quality, beauty, and value.

We have thrived for over 40 years because our passion and dedication towards excellence in all we do is who we are. We pursue every client, inquiry and challenge as an opportunity towards simply becoming better.

MTM: Who is your client?

FM: That is a lovely question. Our client is our purpose and reason. Our client is smart and demanding of the absolute best quality and value,

period. They range from astute homeowners, critically-acclaimed designers, architects and builders. Ultimately, anyone who knows what is great and expects greatness with impeccable service.

MTM: What has surprised you most in current design trends, relative to wood and custom home building?

FM: The influence of an international style has taken more vigorously than ever. American culture has finally understood and embraced the relevance of worldly aesthetics and materials. Similarly, those European brands who have best delivered these novel materials and styles include BOTTEGA LEGNA, MÖLINO, FESTOOL, RIVA SPAIN, and many others. Their refined presentation and quality of craft is something the human spirit cannot deny. It’s simply an altogether superior experience.

FM: Without question, the most notable value which is driving all of our decisions is that of Curated Partnerships. From trade partners in Europe, North, Central, and South America, we continue to anchor ourselves not only to World Class materials but — equally if not more importantly — excellence in relationships.

The remarkable humans who share our unrelenting passion for beauty and quality also happen to bestow tremendous integrity, and this always transcends into a rich experience. Ultimately, a business is only as good as its partnerships.

MTM: What are your core offerings, and how has this changed over your 41 years in serving Malibu and neighboring cities?

FM: Our principal interest has always been wood. From architectural grade soft and hardwoods, hardwood flooring, live edge slabs, hardwood decking, plywood, moldings, reclaimed wood, and every accessory imaginable. The changes have come by way of evolving fashions and trends. For instance, decking used to be nearly all redwood, yet once tropical hardwoods and thermally modified domestic hardwoods arrived, everything changed.

On this front, our partnership with MÖLINO: Decking + Cladding has been an absolute game changer. MÖLINO is a buying collective in the decking and cladding space which gathers the strength of all group members and delivers a superior offering where previously was never available. This is exactly what we seek to provide our loyal client base.

MTM: What does the next chapter hold for Conejo Hardwoods?

FM: Our next chapter includes a complete reincarnation of space and process, where we have critically analyzed our four decades of business and improved upon every aspect. We evolved our physical spaces and how they function, as well as our human resources and how they connect with our clients. This work is already underway and showing marvelous fruit.

Visit Conejo Hardwoods in Westlake Village at 31275 La Baya Drive | conejohardwoods.com.