SALON VIEW
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS,
darling
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Summer Hill institution Absolutely Fabulous Skin Therapy and celebrations are certainly in order, writes Michelle Ruzzene.
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS SKIN Therapy is a fitting name for the beauty salon situated in a gorgeous terrace in Sydney’s Summer Hill. Salon owner Trinh Grasso-Nguyen purchased the business in 2013 after a stint at home looking after her two children. “My husband and I came across this beautiful salon with a cute village feel and I knew this was it,” she said. “Even though I knew nothing of the beauty industry and nothing about running a business, I jumped in head first.” Trinh said what followed was a time of learning, growing, conquering and understanding in how to run a business, the beauty industry and managing and leading a team. “Even though I am not a therapist, I now know most of the clients by voice, what they look like, what treatments and products they have purchased, and a little about their personal life,” Trinh explained. Trinh said building personal relationships with her clients, fostering a local, community vibe and the salon’s focus on old-school values had seen the salon’s continued success. “There is a big trend moving towards machinery in the beauty industry,” Trinh said. “But we are still very much focused on human connection using our hands. We are the only salon in Summer Hill that performs high quality treatments that provide results, so it’s very important that local clients have somewhere fantastic they can go that they trust.”
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Trinh said her “back to basics” philosophy was why loyal customers kept returning to Ab Fab. “Our clients walk out feeling happy and good about themselves and their skin,” she said. “We don’t need 10 machines to achieve that.” The salon is Ultraceuticals exclusive with all five team members fully Ultra Academy Certified, and they were one of the first salons to bring the Ultra Consult program to their customers. Trinh said she was extremely proud to be one of the first in NSW to be accredited from Ultraceuticals as a gold standard, ‘Ultra Consult’ clinic. “We were chosen as the trial salon when they first in trial stage, and then a year later when it was officially rolled out we got certified,” she said.