Body & Brow’s Kate Pridham and her team offer top-notch waxing services – and more – in New Albany.
BY LAURA ROSS | PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN WATSON
If you live in Southern Indiana, you don’t have to travel across the bridge to Louisville for top-notch pampering and excellent services. That’s the message Kate Pridham, owner of Body & Brow Boutique, 141 E. Spring St., wants you to know.
“I am from Louisville and I chased a boy (her husband, John Ashton) across the bridge and fell in love with him and with Southern Indiana,” Pridham said. “I saw the need and opportunity for this type of service in Southern Indiana, and in 2016 I opened a body waxing boutique and specialized in full body waxing for men and women. We focused on a lot of brows and Brazilian waxes, and then started doing makeup lessons and special occasion makeup due to heavy demand.”
As her business grew, Body & Brow added additional services, including a full line of makeup, bridal makeup, air-brush spray tans and more. Customers from across Southern Indiana and Louisville flock to Pridham’s cozy downtown location, which has grown to include six beauty technicians.
“I chose downtown New Albany because I wanted this to be a destination location,” said Pridham, who has also proudly serves an unofficial ambassador for the area and her fellow business owners.
“Customers can get their brows done here, then grab a bite to eat or pop in a boutique like Dress & Dwell – which is across the street – and enjoy their day,” Pridham said. “There are so many small, locally-owned businesses in downtown New Albany. We try to guide our clients elsewhere and support our neighboring businesses.”
Body & Brow aims to provide affordable skin care and pampering for women and men of all ages. “We want people to come in and feel great about themselves at an affordable price,” said Pridham. “We listen to our customers and adapt our services to their needs. We often have entire families come for services, or co-workers, friends – the works. We have several men and high school boys who come in for brow waxes. We even recently did a leg wax for an 87-year-old customer.”
Customer Mary Pat Currin agrees: “My whole family uses this salon, including my boys. It’s usually a family affair when we make an appointment, and the Body & Brow team is so accommodating to our schedule so that we don’t have to make numerous trips. They always explain each service and answer any question we might have. And we always look forward to our appointment because it feels like we are going to catch up with old friends.”
Communication with clients is key in providing the best services, Pridham said. “We deal in a very personal business,” she explained. “I found when I opened my business that people complained about waxing services (conducted) at the shampoo bowl in other salons, so I personalized it and made it private. Every service at Body & Brow is conducted in a private room, in a very discreet environment. As an added touch, after every facial service, we reapply makeup, and put a cooling ointment on your face, so if you’re on your lunch break, no one will know you came here for waxing services.”
Every technician at Body & Brow is educated as well. “They’re all cosmetologists and go through licensing updates and are required to do continuing education,” Pridham said. “We keep up with all the trends in beauty and service. We’ve even attended a transgender beauty class to learn the special needs there. We are continually updating our business plan every year to focus on the needs and wants of our clients.” Pridham holds numerous certifications herself, including Brazilian waxing, eyelash extensions, threading, lash perming, spray tanning and microblading.
Speaking of trends, Pridham sees 2019 as the year of healthy skin care. “Taking care of your skin is key,” she said. “Move away from the tanning bed and do spray tans instead. Add sunscreen to your routine. Dermaplaning (scraping off the outer most layer of dead skin with a blade) is a huge trend because there is zero down time. It’s a quick service and leaves your skin healthy and glowing. It’s geared toward the working woman and is a fast, efficient service – in and out in 30 minutes.”
In fact, Pridham has recently hired a skin care specialist, Morgan Schmidt, who will focus on dermaplaning, microdermabrasion, chemical peels and clinical-driven facials with proven results. “Morgan joins us in March, and we will have several specials on our social media pages to welcome new clients to Brow & Body for our enhanced skin care services,” she said.
Spring is always a fresh, busy time for Brow & Body. Between prom season, Spring Break, weddings, and Derby time, Pridham and her staff will be hopping.
The ladies at Body & Brow are fabulous and always cheerful and accommodating,” said customer Emily Sprigler. “I look forward to my appointments in their clean, relaxing environment, and I like trying the new products that they always have.”
“Investing in self-care is important,” said Pridham. “You won’t regret it. As beauty professionals, we want women to feel good about themselves.”
And, in a cozy, friendly spot in New Albany, regular customers create special relationships. “Our clients tell us that we are like family. In fact, we go to their bridal and baby showers,” laughed Pridham. “It’s an intimate service and environment here. We live their lives with them and become friends and confidants. I love that part of my job.”
Body & Brow Boutique, 141 E. Spring Street in New Albany, is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. For information about services and to book appointments, call 812.225.9191, visit bodyandbrow.com or follow @bodyandbrow on Facebook and Instagram.
