Opening her doors 10 years ago in the centre of Sydney’s iconic King Street in Newtown, Ruby Rebic from leading beauty salon Dolce Vita Beaute looks over what has been an extraordinary decade of change in the industry.
Ruby spent only 12 months in her first King Street salon before she had to move further down the street to a venue four times the size to cater for her booming business.
Ruby has developed a huge following not only locally but also across Sydney and in the celebrity set for her attention to detail and the skill of her treatments. Her ‘Gift of the Brow’ is a classic example, showing her expertise in redesigning a face purely by artistically sculpting the eyebrow.
“The importance of a perfectly designed eyebrow should never be overlooked, first impressions always count and your face is the first thing the world sees. Eyebrows frame the face, and having the right eye to individually design the eyebrow is something you are born with,” explains Ruby.
Ruby has witnessed a kaleidoscope of beauty treatments and trends that have all sculpted DolceVita Beaute as a business.
How has the industry changed in her 10 years?
“Spray Tanning, which is now so common, really kicked took off around 2003. It took me two years to work out what tanning solution to use as most of them smelt horrible and had a strong orange base. Finally the solutions improved majorly and once that happened, the trend really hit.
“Mineral Makeup has been another sensation. It hit the shelves in 2009 and we were blown away by how much people loved it. Other makeup brands would not move off our shelves and now we couldn’t maintain a beauty counter at Dolce Vita without it.
“And five years ago, we noticed a drop in waxings as intense pulse light (IPL) hair removal hit the market. However it has been very interesting as waxing has picked up again because people had many misconceptions of IPL. IPL hair removal has made waxing more comfortable for clients as the hair is finer, but it does not mean you can give up on waxing all together.”
Ruby still remembers her first client, a young man who saw the Dolce Vita Beaute sign on the street and walked in for a facial. He was so impressed he booked in his partner for an appointment the next day. The two men have continued religiously to book a facial there every four weeks for the past 10 years.
“My most rewarding moment is to be able to say I am still servicing my first ever selection of clients. I am looking forward to personally celebrating my 10 year anniversary with all of them,” Ruby explained.
Proudly a part of the diverse suburb of Newtown, Dolce Vita Beaute set itself apart from other salons to deliver services to cater for the broad range of clients Ruby receives.
“We are not your average suburban beautician. Being Newtown, our client base is incredibly diverse and we have developed a treatment list that can cater to these needs of everyone from Mums and Dads, to students, doctors and nurses from the RPA and transgender clients.”
Ruby could not imagine Dolce Vita Beaute calling anywhere home other than Newtown and constantly gives back to the community that has given her so much. “We support local schools and colleges and are an annual contributor to Sydney University orientation week,” she said.
After thousands of waxings, peelings and plucking’s Dolce Vita Beaute is looking forward to thousands more as they celebrate their 10-year milestone.
Visit www.dolcevitabeaute.com.au to find out more