Vancouver’s upscale Yaletown neighbourhood is certainly not short on beauty parlours. There are hair salons; nail boutiques; makeup shops; eyebrow bars; even places dedicated entirely to eyelashes. Still, AJ Woodworth felt something was missing.
“There was nowhere in the city I could go to get both my hair and makeup done professionally,” she says, reclining in a chair inside her new venture The Glamoury, a mere day before its official opening. With long brown hair and big, beautiful eyes, Woodworth, who admits she never leaves the house without makeup on, is perhaps best described as fabulous. As for The Glamoury, a luxury salon specializing in hair and makeup, it certainly hits the right aesthetic marks: lush, dark greens are accented with rich florals and pops of gold and black (designed by local favourite Ste Marie), while silky black robes embroidered with the parlour’s logo hang in wait for guests (branding was done by another Vancouver staple, Glasfurd and Walker). The Glamoury offers full hair washes and blowouts, as well as dry dos for on-the-go; there is a menu of makeup looks to choose from if the whole shebang is desired, as well as options for simple touch-ups at lunch or before happy hour.
Woodworth, who lived a former life as a country music singer (she was the 2011 British Columbia Country Music Awards’ Female Artist of the Year), puts major emphasis on personalization and curation. When a customer arrives, she fills out a short form, indicating exactly what she wants done, even signifying whether or not she would like her stylist to chat her up or leave her to her thoughts. The Glamoury also sells a small selection of beauty and cosmetic products that Woodworth says are hard to find elsewhere in the city; she excitedly tours around the shelves, gushing over the Foreo Luna cleansing device and pointing out her favourite shades of nail polish (dark, perhaps unsurprisingly). There is also a line of house makeup products made especially for The Glamoury, and coffee or bubbly upon arrival; a painting done by Woodworth’s grandmother even adorns the washroom. It’s pairing small details with big statements, culminating in a place for women to go, to gab, to get a little spruced. There must be a word for that.
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