Skinotive Studio in Acomb nominated for best salon award

Skinotive Studio, and owner Laura Tyssen, have been nominated by Press readers for our Best Beauty Salon competition – honouring the top businesses in York.

Readers can vote for the Best Beauty Salon 2024 by picking up a copy of The Press newspaper until Saturday, October 12, with the winner set to be announced in the week commencing October 21.

Laura Tyssen (Image: @maidofmemories__) Laura opened the business almost two years ago, after a career in sales combined with a role as a personal trainer.

She said: “It was so lovely to learn I’d been nominated.

“I’ve really had to work hard over the last year, and I’m grateful for all my clients and it’s so rewarding when I get a recommendation from them to a new customer.

“It’s such a nice feeling and it makes me think I’m in the right place, and we’re doing well.”

Laura said after the coronavirus lockdown, she decided she really wanted to do something with more meaning.

She said: “I wanted to work for myself as well, so I invested in some training to get into the skincare industry.”

She worked part-time in her new chosen field at first, the first ten months spent working evenings and weekends, mainly working on friends and family, giving free treatments in the first six months to build experience and gain exposure.

Laura said she really invests in her clients for the long term (Image: @maidofmemories__)

Laura said: “During lockdown, everyone was sat at home, no-one was going out, no-one was wearing make-up.

“I think a lot of people realised they wanted to take care of their skin and they didn’t quite know how to do it.

“I saw a gap in the market where you could take a client through a consultation, discussing their skin, any concerns, before coming up with a programme, a plan, advice and recommendations on skincare at home.”

Laura said with her main focus being skincare for the face, she identified how her service is an investment for the client and for her – bespoke to the client’s needs and outcomes.

Starting in her kitchen, Laura soon transformed the gym she had set up at her home in Acomb when she was a personal trainer into her salon and said that the premises is a big part of the culture she wants to create.

She said: “I like to call myself a medi-spa.

“Visting a specialist like me and the treatments I offer is usually a very clinical environment, and rightfully so.

“I wanted to create something that was obviously just like that, but I also wanted it to be a really nice, welcoming and comfortable environment, where people can genuinely relax.

“I took a lot of inspiration for the salon and its furnishings from a trip to Bali in January, where I visited a spa nearly every day!

“Everyone who walks in says its lovely, they can’t believe it’s a salon in the back of a garden.

“It was carefully curated that way to give a spa-like feel, down to the aroma, the furnishings and the bed.

“It helps the client relax which is genuinely important when they are coming to see you for skin, because it’s so personal, it’s big thing, even to go and trust somebody and that the process is going to work.

“I think clients can tell that I care, and that I’m invested in helping them.”