New luxury spa for kids opens
Demand was so great, second salon was needed
CRACK open the pink lemonade and settle in for a chocolate facial. A luxury spa for children aged as young as three has proven so popular on the Gold Coast, the owner has opened a second.
Pampered Princess launched its new venue at Burleigh Heads yesterday after demand at the Coomera salon quadrupled in 2019 and cashed-up kids – or their parents – can have the ultimate Pampered Princess party for $600, with catering, party games and photoshoots for six girls over three hours.
Oh, and a throne for the birthday girl.
Owner Laura Jones said requests and bookings at the child-friendly beauty salon had grown so much, opening up a new salon was the only option.
“Basically our Coomera store was at capacity. We’ve grown about four times in the last year,” she said.
“We were starting to turn away bookings and we have a lot of clients who travel from the south.
“My long-term goal is to go national, so I thought I should probably start with another local store.”
Pampered Princess offered beauty services for little tackers as well as on-trend themed parties, high tea and makeup and hair workshops. It also provided massages, and had girls coming in for regular manicures and pedicures.
“When we do a party, we’ve got new guests, and among them about 40 per cent of (guests in) that party re-book. We have a huge repeat clientele,” Ms Jones said.
“Every experience is very magical.
“For the individual appointments (for young clients), they’ll do a princess makeover where they get a full pamper with a chocolate facial, manicure and pedicure, then at the end we play the song from their favourite princess movie and do a big magic princess reveal.
“One of the latest crazes is the coloured extension braids. You see them pop up all around the Gold Coast but they’re all $80 or $90.
“We do them a lot more reasonably priced. All of our products are vegan, naturally produced and locally made.”
Young guests of Pampered Princess received a welcome pink lemonade drink and a cupcake, as well as a hot pink satin robe to wear during the pamper session.
Some of the most popular options included a mini manicure with a hand massage and glitter nail polish, a mini pedicure with foot soak or a chocolate facial.
Ms Jones said themed parties were booked out months in advance, while a new range of Mummy-and-Me pamper packages had been introduced to meet demand from parents seeking a bonding experience.
Ms Jones said the salon was not just catering for young princesses either.
“(We get) heaps of boys, for all different reasons. They can be brothers or friends, or we get some boys that come on their own accord for a pamper as well,” she said. “They enjoy it more than the girls.”
According to news.com.au, mum Kylie Arthur started the Pampered Princess phenomenon in 2009 in Brisbane.
In 2010, the concept moved to the Gold Coast where Lucinda Parrish opened the store at Coomera, which focused on pamper parties.
Ms Jones, 33, said as soon as she saw the business was for sale in 2018 she “had to buy it”.
“It originally was a hobby business and they did a couple of parties a week,” she said.
“They had three staff and now we have 24. It has grown into a monster. With the demand so high I want to go nationwide as quick as I can.
“Our Burleigh store is four times bigger (than our Coomera store) to cater for demand.’’
Ms Jones originally studied education. But rather than teaching children she spent her career training corporate sales employees.
“I was sick of dealing with negative adults, and craved to work with positive children,” she said. “I just thought I could do so much with this business and it now has just taken off.
“I have introduced a range of new services, and it is now much more than pampering parties. Now we have individualised services, bigger parties, and sell princess products.’’
Pampered Princess hosted its grand opening yesterday at the new salon, 4/44 Dover Drive, Burleigh Heads.