The Wellness Club

Salon an Oir is passionate about wellness and has created “The Wellness Club” to support you on your journey to wellness. Join the club to receive 10% off the Aromatouch Technique (essential oil application Treatment in Salon an Oir) aswell as 25% off products and discounts on events, classes and workshops set up by The Wellness Club. Club Members can also avail of secret sales and the most amazing loyalty program where you can earn free products and treatments

It is €35 to join the club or FREE when you purchase one of doTERRA’s wellness kits.

Wellness Consultations available in the salon or via Zoom to advise on the best wellness kit for your needs. These take 40 mins and cost €35.

Join The Club

DoTERRA Essential Oils

Back in September 2016, I introduced doTERRA essential oils to the salon. Before this, I would have just picked up an essential oil in salon services or in the chemist. I never stuck to a particular brand, just always made sure it was 100% pure. I would use an essential oil during massage and facials more for the aroma. It makes a treatment more of an experience for a client when there’s the relaxing scent of lavender in the room and on the hot towels as I remove a mask.

But the funny thing was, I was allergic to lavender! Imagine that, a beauty and massage therapist that always worked in spas, allergic to lavender essential oil! :-0 It would affect me similar to hay fever; my sinuses would block, I’d have a runny nose and I would sneeze. To make sure my nose didn’t drip on my clients (YIKES! could you imagine the embarrassment for me and how gross for the client :-s ) and that I didn’t sneeze just as my client was just drifting into deep relaxation or even sleep, I would put tissue up my nose! Not a great look at all and id be mortified if my clients saw (I would put an eye pillow on my clients eyes before putting tissue up my nose and not remove until after I had taken it out), but it stopped my allergies during the treatment (I’d still sneeze afterwards though). This was the reality of my working life until I discovered doTERRA. I took one sniff of their lavender essential oil and knew i would never again pick one up in the chemist. doTERRAs lavender essential oil smelled softer and much nicer than any I had used before and NO SNEEZING! I couldn’t believe it. So many questions ran through my head. I could not understand how and why I wasn’t having my typical hay fever symptoms but I knew I wasnt going to purchase just any brand from a chemist again and so I created an account with doTERRA there and then and purchased a family essentials kit for €150. (which at the time, I didn’t think I would use all 10 of the oils in it but I was excited to try them)

Over the coming months I used doTERRA’s oils in my treatments but also started to use the oils at home (which I had never done before). I used lemon in my water, the lavender on my sons eczema, peppermint to freshen my breath, and on guard in the steamer to clean the floors with. I soon noticed I had less bloating and improved digestion and my sons skin was looking better than ever. Now I knew for sure there was something special and different about these oils and that’s why Im writing this blog as I feel everyone should have them in their lives.

Before I go into why doTERRA is different to other essential oils, I’ll explain what essential oils are.

Essential oils are naturally occurring volatile aromatic compounds found in the seeds, bark, stems, roots, flowers, and other parts of plants. They are essential for the plants existence and help protect them from environmental threats, as well as helping them to heal, repair and flourish. When we use them, they can help support healthy cellular function and have been used historically for health care practices, food preparation and beauty treatments.

Why Choose/use doTERRA Essential Oils?

doTERRA essential oils are free from fillers,contaminants, pesticides, chemical residues or artificial ingredients.

doTERRA essential oils are sourced from a global network of growers to ensure the most pure and efficacious essential oils. This point is very important to the quality of the essential oils. We can all, for example, grow basil on our window cill in the kitchen, but the quality and medicinal properties of the basil grown on our window cill is not going to be the same as that grown in Egypt (where doterra source their basil essential oil). That is because everything from the temperature, soil and environmental factors determines the quality of the oils.

After doTERRA have sourced where in the world produces the best quality oil, after they are harvested and distilled, they are then rigorously tested for standards of purity and potency

Because of all these things doTERRA Essential oils are CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade and can be used 3 ways: AROMATICALLY, TOPICALLY and INTERNALLY.

Empowering Solutions

Taking essential oils internally has changed my life. Remember, you can’t take any brands of essential oils internally, and initially I didn’t feel comfortable taking them this way. I started with lemon in my water and the tiniest amount of peppermint to freshen my breath. Once I felt comfortable with this (and was still alive! lol) I then got braver mixing on guard with honey for my sore throat and when I was very sick with a viral infection I used a mix of essential oils in a veggie cap to make a natural anti – biotic (oregano, frankincense, on guard and Melaleuca) and I was better in half the time (I know this for sure as my husband was sick at the same time and I was back on my feet sooner than he was). Now obviously these are my own personal experiences and I cant say that they will definitely cure or prevent diseases, but what I will say is its empowering to have the oils at home and to try them for a couple of days when ailments first appear. I have experienced first hand the powerful benefit of just a single drop of these oils and they have little or no side effects. Obviously if my ailments or symptoms persist I will go to chemist or GP but so far this year I have not needed to so the oils have worked for me.

Would you like to try the oils?

Create an account with dõTerra in the month of August and salon an oir will give you your membership fee(€25) back in a voucher* for the salon.

http://www.mydoterra.com/wellnessoilsanoir

Advantages of having an online account:
🔹25% off retail price
🔹Shop at your convenience day or night
🔹Products delivered to your door
🔹Doterra is more than just essential oils, it’s an online health store with food supplements, weight loss products, skin and hair care products
🔹ME…im here to help with any queries you may have and to educate you on the oils
🔹FREE PRODUCTS**

* Ts&Cs:
-voucher is valid September,October and November ONLY.
-voucher can only be used on treatments above the value of €50
-voucher not redeemable against products
-voucher can not be exchanged for cash

** receive a FREE PRODUCT when you spend 125 pv before the 15th of the month. You can also receive free products by joining the loyalty rewards program and building up points that can be redeemed against products.

Please feel free to contact me if you are unsure which oils or kit best suits your needs. I’m here to help you with your doTERRA journey 🙂

Orla Kerley x

DoTERRA Launch Event

On The 21st January 2017, the salon celebrated its 2nd birthday. To mark this milestone, I combined the birthday celebrations with the launch of doTERRA Essential oils. The evening started at 5pm. Clients arrived to a drinks reception with a choice of still or sparkling water with a drop of lemon, orange, grapefruit or peppermint essential oil. Team doTERRA , myself, Linda and Sharon were there to help people with their choice and to educate them about the benefits of ingesting the oils in this way. This was a great ice breaker as everyone spoke to eachother about their choice of drink…the water was flowing and glasses were topped up often as everyone wanted to try other essential oils.

doTERRA Launch Event

At 6pm Linda and Sharon gave a class on the essential oils. This class was very infomative and interactive as the oils were passed around for everyone to smell and apply topically if they wanted. Everyone was so interested and had lots of questions for the girls. After the class there was time for 1 to 1 chats with team doterra and at this stage everyone was peckish, so we all moved into the dining area where some yummy nibbles were served; crackers and hummous, fruit and lemon (EO – essential oil) dip, lemon EO cupcakes, orange EO brownies, and peppermint EO energy balls. This was a great talking point and everyone loved the flavour from the essential oil treats.

At 7.30pm, I gave an aromatouch demonstration in the salon. The aromatouch is a very relaxing treatment which combines 8 different essential oils, applied to the back and the feet to create a feeling of overall wellness.

At 8.30 the evening was almost over and it was time for the raffle (tickets were sold during the drinks reception). Spot Prizes for the raffle included vouchers for: Salon an óir, Hallmark jewellery, Button & co, Cherub Couture Cakes, Charlys Cheesecakes, Mini Musos, and Fear free birthing as well as products from Dermalogica, Vita liberata luxury tan and PHYTS natural skincare. Also included were a diffuser from Redhaus Interiors, a pair of earrings from Hallmark, a doTerra introduction kit and an amazing hamper that everyone had their eyes on from TEVA pharmaceuticals.

I couldnt believe the generosity of local businesses and because of the amazing prizes, €410 was rasied on the night for The Solas Centre. The Solas Centre is in Waterford and provides a free cancer support service to those affected by cancer and their families. It relies on events and donations to enable them to continue this amazing service and they were delighted with the funds raised. This was the second event I have organised to raise funds for them and I will continue to do this on the salons birthday every year.

After the raffle we marked the salons birthday with a cake and everyone received a goodie bag with samples of phyts and doterra orange essential oil and a discount card for the aromatouch treatment.

The evening was a huge success and I could not have done it with out the help from alot of people. Firstly, a big thank you to everyone who attended the event. you all made the stress of organising it worthwhile and the evening enjoyable. now to thank the people who made it all possible; Barry from tramore print for printing brochures, leaflets, stickers, discount cards and a pop up banner all at very short notice. Wayne Scholtz Design for designing it all. Wendy Devlin for doing the cake toppers, all the local businesses for donating spot prizes for the raffle. My Mom for helping me clean and prepare the house for the event (it was a CRAZY day), my husband for looking after our son and organising babysitters, Dena for being my model for the aromatouch treatment and of course this event could not have happened without team doTERRA, Linda and Sharon. Not only did they drive from outside Dublin to give a class on the oils, they helped me organise the event from start to finish and even helped with baking. The event really needed the 3 of us to get around to talk to all the clients and to keep it flowing and interesting for those attending.

Lastly I would like to thank Amy Kirwan from NewAims Productions for coming along and capturing the event… have a look at the beautiful video she put together.

Wedding Dress Wednesday

wedding-dress-wednesday

On Wednesday 21st September, I, along with hundreds of women(and some brave men) Dared to Care in aid of the Irish Cancer Society, and wore our wedding dresses all day long.

Cancer has hit my family hard in recent years so its a cause close to my heart. And while there are numerous events in aid of the Irish Cancer Society, this was the first one where I thought I could definitely get involved in….a great excuse to get the wedding dress out and wear it again 🙂

As well as wearing my wedding dress all day to raise funds, I decided to donate money taken in from waxing on that day to help reach my target of €500 (every Wednesday is Waxing Wednesday where there’s a 25% discount on waxing treatments, therefore that was the majority of the treatments done on that day)

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My day began with driving my son to Montessori. Driving was difficult! The skirt of the dress covered the gearstick and puffed up to the steering wheel… Maybe I should have got a chauffeur for the day (next time :-D). When I got to Jack and Jills, the kids were so excited to see a real life princess. All the kids were smiley and excited, except for my boo:-(… I don’t think he believed that I was going to work. But I had my work shoes on and I had gotten him to help me turn everything on in the salon earlier that morning so I reminded him of that, gave him a kiss and left to go to Tesco before starting work.

I had to go to Tesco for milk but also to get a selfie with the Manager (my husband dared me to get a selfie with the manager and then he’d donate €50) so in I went and I thought I’d get the selfie over and done with first. Thank God the manager knew about Wedding Dress Wednesday and so was very warm towards me and happily stood in with me for a photo. He wished me well and I walked up and down the aisles to get my few groceries.

I rushed home to start my working day. My first 3 clients came together. I looked after them one at a time but while they waited, there were tea biscuits and homemade cake to nibble on as well as magazines to flick through. There was a lovely atmosphere in the salon all day and clients shared their wedding stories with me.

After 4 clients it was time to pick up my boo from montessori. As I walked in the kids were excited about “the princesses” return and so was my boy. He jumped up(looking proud as punch) and announced “that’s my mummy”. As I turned to leave, Chelley handed me an envelope with some sponsorship money that some of the other parents had left for me after hearing what I was doing. I couldn’t believe it. So nice!

I dropped Benjamin over to my sisters house and returned home to have lunch and a chat with Dermot and Dave on TODAY FM. Today FM wanted to show that wedding dress Wednesday was happening all over the country so I was who they spoke to from Waterford. I was so nervous but the guys were so nice and it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. Have a listen

That interview along with regular posts through out the day on social media, helped the donations to come in. I could not believe the generosity of people and by the end of the day I had surpassed my target of €500 and raised €697.99

So I would like to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart. Those who donated online, in Tesco, in Jack a Jills and especially those who got waxed by a crazy girl in a wedding dress for the cause. The support that day was amazing and its a day I wont ever forget.

Orla 🙂

Hen Parties an Óir

20160513_191912 On Friday the 13th May I had the pleasure of pampering a hen party over at the lodges at Waterford Castle. The Bride-to-be and her three closest friends arrived to Waterford the night before the hen festivities were to really kick off and Salon an Óir was there to provide an evening of relaxation, as well as beautifying the nails ahead of the partying.

On arrival the girls were very relaxed and ordering a take away. I set up 3 pamper stations; a massage bed in a bedroom upstairs, a pedicure bowl with exfoliant, a mask and heated booties in the sitting room and a manicure station at the kitchen table.

20160513_194437 Before the girls got too excited and chatty I whisked the bride-to-be away for a relaxing PHYT’S massage. The room was dark and cosy and soft music played in the background. We couldn’t hear a sound from the girls downstairs and the bride-to-be really relaxed. I finished the massage with the sound of tingsha bells and tiptoed out of the room to begin manicures on the other girls.

In the kitchen the girls were discussing which colour of shellac they would choose and if they wanted an accent nail or not. All the girls went for pastel colours which was a perfect choice for the Summer weather and suited their spray tans beautifully.

I also set up a DIY pedicure station for the girls to use at their own leisure and this was a hit. The girls soaked, exfoliated and applied mask to their feet as well as popping on heated booties. They took turns and helped each other out and had a bit of a giggle in the process. 20160513_194237-01

It was a fun evening of girly chats and pampering that I thoroughly enjoyed, just as much as they did, and I look forward to heading back to the lodges at Waterford Castle for the next pamper hen party at the end of the month.

Spring is in the Air

20150326_164743_1 Did you get out today? What a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and there was no wind for a change! It has been a long miserable winter but today spring was in the air and the misery of winter will soon be gone.

Well aside from the weather it hasnt been that miserable…Christmas was an exciting time for me with our young son, Benjamin and the early part of the year brought with it more excitement again. Two birthdays in two weeks, would you believe!

The first birthday celebration was for the salon which celebrated its 1St birthday on Thursday the 21st January. The day started off with a coffee morning where all the proceeds went to the Solas Centre. In total €383 was raised which will help provide cancer support services like counselling and relaxation therapies to those affected by cancer, their families and their carers. So a huge thank you to all who supported the coffee Morning.

The afternoon of the Salons birthday saw special offers on Phyt’s facials and products. Natalia from Phyt’s, was on-hand throughout the day with skincare advice and her reveal imager digital skin scanner. All-in-all, it was a very busy and stressful lead up to a very successful 1st birthday for my salon.

The second celebration was for my own 30th birthday! I know, right! lol. I have been spoiled by my husband, my son, my family and my friends. We had a beautiful meal out in 1920’s themed dress to celebrate the end of my roaring 20’s.

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So not a bad start to 2016… it has been busy and enjoyable. Fingers crossed that the weather improves soon and that the golden Spring sunshine floods through the windows of Salon an Óir not just on the once off but day after day after day.

Show and Tell

PhotoGrid_1452283858845 — Orla Kerley, owner of Salon an Óir

Today, the 8th January, is National show and tell day so I think it’s the perfect time to show you who is behind Salon an Oir and tell you a bit about myself.

I knew from a young age that beauty was my passion and after school, went straight into training in CTI Waterford in 2004 & qualified with CIBTAC ITEC & CIDESCO in Beauty and Massage in 2006. My passion for the beauty industry is as strong today as it was all those years ago and this drives me to continuously learn new treatments and do further training.

In 2011 I got a diploma in makeup artistry from LA Makeup Academy in Dublin. Bridal Makeup is my favourite type of makeup to do. Its such an honour to be a small part of a brides big day and I absolutely love it. Some of my work has been in magazines such as RSVP, irish weddings and My Waterford.

More recently I have taken part in an advanced waxing course with waxlogic and Phyts natural skincare range. Although I had already got a certificate in advanced waxing years ago, it’s always good to re-train and learn new techniques. Noiren from waxlogic was so knowledgeable and I’m so excited to have her brand as well as her waxing techniques that I learned in the salon. As for PHYTS, the products and facial treatments are 5star and any client at a top day spa would be impressed with it. These training days were particularly exciting as I had chosen these brands for my own salon, Salon an Óir.

After having worked in spas for 8 years, my vision for Salon an Óir is to deliver a spa experience. From slippers to herbal teas, a heated bed to hot towels and even pebbles on the floor to look at while your having your back massage, I like to deliver more than just the treatment you booked. As well as what I can deliver, the location delivers peace and tranquillity with the quietness of the countryside and has the wow factor with the views of the mountains and the copper coast.

I hope clients can see and feel how much I love my job. And I’ve no doubt I’ll be learning about a new treatment or product line soon as my passion continues to drive me.

20160108_114053 — Kilfarrasy Beach, Copper Coast

PHYT’S Promotion Day – 11th June 2015

I’m delighted to now be able to offer PHYT’S 100% natural and organic facials at Salon an Óir. It’s a range that I’m passionate about because it contains no chemicals or synthetic perservstives but also because they do not test on animals and use recyclable and biodegradeable packaging, making it good for you but also good for the environment.

As well as having your professional PHYT’S treatment in the salon, I stock retail products so you can take care of your skin naturally at home inbetween your facial treatments.

On Thursday 11th June 2015 Salon an Óir will be having a promotion day where a skin consultation complete with a digital skin scan and a facial to suit your skin will be just €30! There will also be special offers on products so the perfect time to purchase your homecare products.

Looking forward to introducing you all to PHYT’S Active Organic Skincare. I have no doubt you will all fall in love with PHYT’S like I have.

For more information on PHYT’S visit http://www.phytsireland.ie

A New Year, A New Start

“The thought of leaving him for 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, fills me with anxiety, sadness & guilt.”

After nearly 11 years in the beauty industry, I have finally decided to open my own salon. Until now I have had no desire to be a business owner. I have been quite happy to have my set hours, look after my clients, and go home without having any worries about the salon, its bills, insurance, marketing or tax returns etc. So what’s changed?

Well, 7 months ago I became a mother to the most precious baby boy, Benjamin. I’m really enjoying motherhood and being with my boy everyday that the thought of leaving him for 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, fills me with anxiety, sadness & guilt. On the other hand I do want to get back into the world of work. Beauty is my passion and I have been missing it. In order to find a balance between my work as a beauty therapist and my new job as a mother, the idea of being self-employed has become more desirable.

With that I decided to stop thinking and just do it. So heres to 2015; a new year, a new start, a new business, a NEW ME!

Follow my journey and watch my business (and I) grow.

Wish me luck!!!