A Liverpool mum has built her own beauty empire which is loved by her celeb clients including Coleen Rooney.
Emma McAllister has been working in the beauty industry for more than 20 years working on glamorous cruise ships and then running a successful mobile beauty business.
Now the 38-year-old who runs EM Hair and Beauty Clinic on Picton Road in Wavertree has launched her own luxurious skincare range which uses vegan ingredients including facials, hand creams, pillow spray, lip balms, body lotions and scrubs and even plant-based candles which you can massage with.
The mum-of-two from West Derby told the ECHO : "It's gone crazy, the range is selling out as soon as it comes in stock. It's been a really tough year so to see my clients coming into the shop for the products is amazing.
"I've had the clinic for four years now and run a separate laser hair removal business. It was only open for nine months and then lockdown hit, I was really starting to build a clientele and then we had to shut. I've been really struggling to get help but I'm hoping my products really take off."
Emma has always been driven to succeed. At 16, she trained as a beautician and worked in a salon briefly before landing a dream job working on cruise ships travelling all over the world.
She said: "I've been to America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Barbados all over. One of the things beauticians are told are these success stories about being able to see enough money to buy your own shop, so I thought I'd give it a go.
"At 20, I travelled to London and trained with Steiner which run spas on ships - I wasn't shy but was a big experience for me. At the end of my training, I was put on a ship and I had such an amazing time. In fact, I met one of my best friends on there and we're still best friends today, she lives in South Africa."
After around a year on the ships, Emma was about to start another stint when she met her husband and instead ended up working at a salon. Later, she decided to go mobile and with her savings bought a car to use for her work.
Emma, who has two sons aged 11 and four, said: "I did that for about 15 years. Three weeks after giving birth, I trained for my NVQ Level 4 in laser hair and tattoo removal. I was renting a space in a friend's shop because it was hard to be mobile with machines for treatments."
Eventually, she decided she needed to look for her own shop, opening her salon in Wavertree. She has built up a loyal clientele over the past four years including celebrity fans.
The skincare specialist added: "My friend Coleen Rooney is one of my clients and also Leanne Campbell and a lot of the ladies from Hollyoaks like Jessica Fox are regulars too."
The last year also saw Emma set up a training academy, where she offered courses in all aspects of beauty including waxing, facials, lashes all of which are fully accredited. When the pandemic hit she wasn't going to give up on what she worked so hard to achieve, so Emma sent the time during lockdown to develop the skincare range.
Receive ECHO newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates by signing up here
She said: "I want to offer luxurious skincare and beauty products to my clients but at an affordable price. I'm selling into local salons as well who are using the products for their facials, pedicures and nails as they are made in the UK, feel luxurious and they are vegan as well as being affordable to the customer."
