Hidden Beauty Story

VERSION 2.0 - 1 year later updated version !!! (same picture lets just pretend i haven't aged to the 3 year it was taken lol!)

Here goes ............For the past 24 years I've been a self-employed barber and beauty therapist. After Lockdown in 2020 I decided to close down the business and transfer my customer base to a mobile service which was very welcomed and beneficial at the time, as you can image with the drastic 360 with social and essential gatherings. Not having a clue what we were doing or if it would work me and my partner (at the time may i add ) but my crazy idea (i came up with whilst mopping the kitchen floor) into action designed and customised a regular van from a rough plan on a scrap of paper from the kitchen draw and a mock up of the lay out in masking tape on our drive and transformed it  in to a mobile barber room on wheels i mean what an idea !!!!  and then i went on to modify it further into a mobile  treatment room, where I carried out signature massages and facial treatments. Although the times of covid carried great despair for others it had a massive life changing impact on career progression up to date.

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This is where I found my love  for skincare formulating and then later, bath, body, hair care and home fragrance products !

All stemmed form my facial packages  created to help young clients that were suffering with teenage skin conditions (skincare achievements photo pictured below). As this unfolded I came up against a number of stumbling blocks from side effects caused from shop brought products, mainly because  they were to strong for their fragile skin types. So coming out of 2020, I started going on formulating courses and began to build my experience in formulated my own basic skin products face washes creams and face masks etc.. Thinking i was the next Paula's Choice lol! I intensively studied, researched and went on to completed numerous qualification in organic and holistic skincare formulating. This was my solutions to gain control over what ingredient were used in my skincare to avoid  using shop brought products that contain extra ingredients not needed and not beneficial for my skin. Which also aliened with the direction my new holistic massage therapy was heading towards.

 

Needlessly to say i did not become the next Paula's Choice and as i dug deep  into what was involved in creating a skincare brand,  desperate to tame this burning passion of mine,( rolling of the eyes) and driving everyone in the house crazy with my ever growing ingredient collection taking over rooms and my demands of pamper nights to test out my new makes,  i quickly found out i wouldn't be able to tackle the complex skin conditions i had been treating through my facial packages, due to the level of testing and financial commitment that would be involved and was looking unlikely i would be able to afford to send even 1 product off to be assessed. Feeling disheartened i but all my energy in to my mobile barber amd massage practice.  

 

But not worry all was not lost, the increasing collection of  Qualifications i had obtained gained me access to UK cosmetic formulating suppliers and  i was able to purchase skin safe products bases and ingredient to use within my facials and more importantly  for young children to be able to get involved with pamper days without using highly fragrance and harsh chemicals , allowing them to explore the world of beauty without harming there skin in the process.

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Of course me being me, i had not give up on this skincare brand i dreamed about most nights lol! and although i had jumped into my love of fragrances and began to blend my own perfumes as well as dupe designer perfumes and aftershaves. I continued  researching and formulating with ingredients that served purpose to my own skin concerns and our teenagers combination/ sensitive  skin types at that time as well as haircare products for my children who's hair didn't fit in to the categories of those on shop shelves which was either to oily or not  nourishing enough!

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I want to start this next section with "never never ever give up on what you want to achieve" there is always a way, may not present itself in your timing but if your patient and keep pushing through it WILL happen . I believe the power of the universe and a my religious faith (some may disagree) have made this next phase in my career possible. After 4 long years a opportunity was presented to me that was not only financially achievable but meant that i could target those skin concerns id spent years of formulating and researching.  My lovelies Hidden Beauty's skincare range is now under way!!!!!! AND i have already launched my very own  fragrance line i had once thought would remain a dream.​

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With my biggest dreams  come true and my  Mobile massage and pamper parties well established and doing rather well may i say, i still need to finance this opportunity (i say through clenched teeth) without bankrupting myself lol!​

 Which bring me on to my next burning passion "teaching" yes that right amongst all of my many perfected long standing talents, i teach pupils ranging from year groups 7 to 11, in Independent Schools and referral units. Delivering classes in hairdressing, barbering and beauty skills, as well as educating them of what ingredients are in there current skincare routine to avoid damaging there delicate skin, creating awareness of the dangers from  following Tik -Tok and social media trends which are not appropriate for this age group. I will very briefly say (as this is getting so long and surprisingly still have my to reveal lol!) they thoroughly enjoy our selfcare cosmetic making session and are ecstatic of the improvements of there skin and that's evenly communicated across both boy and girls !!! Hughley rewarding job description, i honestly feel so blessed to have and have had such a enjoyable career for over 2 decades. 

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Teaching and working with adults and students with mental health and behavioural difficulties has been a passion for many years. My teaching abilities came to light back in 2016 when I was studying my accounting qualification to assist in the running  of my barber shop business. My tutor had seen adequate qualities within me and prompted me to take up a tutoring job at Wolverhampton college and Birmingham finance and business school. Where i taught disadvantaged adults level 1 and 2 AAT Accounting, and  achieved exceedingly high exam results, with classes reaching over 50 student at each centre per week . This Part of my life was massive eye opener to what i  thought i was capable of doing, as id initially freaked out by the proposal and almost talked myself out of it thinking there's no way i can go from walking round a chair cutting hair for the last 16 years to teaching a subject like accounting. Ever time i think OMG i cant do this (which is a weekly occurrence lol!) i cast my mind back to time in my life!!!

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AND this my lovelies is the story of the face behind  Hidden Beauty, the journey from start to finish, the full cycle of events, failure, unreasonable goals, self sabotage to determinations, hard work and success. This may be the end of the story but its only the beginning of my next journey and thank everyone who has supported me and the business over the years, you all have driven me to finally create a website instead of managing orders and booking from my phone.

I still have a lot to bring to the table and loads to get done for upcoming products and services, I've created this website myself, i design and print all product labels cant believe how far I've come. Every days a learning curve, I'm ready to boss this business......... a little older with deepened frown lines lol! but a heart and soul full of  fire, resilience and perseverance, oh and to my detriment, a brain of never ending ideas lol! looking forward to reading this back in a year or so and updating my progress!!!

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To be continued..........

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Yours sincerely (coz i feel like I've just wrote a letter lol!) 

or should it be "Signed By" (coz its as long as a short book looool!)

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Donna Marie xxx

Owner and creator of 

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