LA’s Latest Home Beauty Service App
This LA-based app claims to send you the Hollywood beautifying experience in your own home. (Photo: Alexandra Perron)
It’s safe to say that Uber, the transportation app that connects you with a driver at the touch of a button, is the reason behind the recent boom in service based apps and over the last few years, beauty has joined the club. From hair to nails to massage, scheduling a beauty service has become even easier than placing a phone call. Beautified allows you to book last-minute appointments at top spa and salon partners in New York City, TheStylisted allows you book an appointment or bring a pro to your home, GlamSquad enlists hair and makeup artists to drop by immediately, and Priv goes as far as making in-house Pilates lessons and personal training available at the drop of a hat.
Most of these businesses launched in New York City before spreading across the country. On the West Coast, the latest addition to the Los Angeles beauty scene is The Glam App. The app, which launched in mid-February, is the brainchild of celebrity makeup artist Joey Maalouf (his clients include Rachel Zoe and Molly Sims) and actress/blogger Cara Santana. One thing that’s different about their service is it’s not one-sided with the focus only on the customer. “I wanted to create an affordable beauty experience for all women everywhere, and Joey created the idea of the ‘virtual agency’ where it becomes as advantages to the stylist as it is for the client,” says Santana.
Maalouf adds that instead of hiring and training a specific team of talent, they opened it up to a variety of rigorously vetted stylists. “Clients have direct access to seasoned stylists, talented, and hard-working locals as well as emerging talent,” he says. Maalouf is of course on the roster, as is Felicity Jones’ and Drew Barrymore’s manicurist Debbie Leavitt. “Stylists can create their own hours and procure creative work as freelance artists, hence a virtual agency,” says Maalouf.
As for the nitty gritty, no service—haircuts, blowouts, styling, makeup application, manicures and pedicures—is more than $100 (pricing is based on level of experience, which is reviewed and categorized by past work) and the pros can be at your location in 60 minutes, or at a later date booked ahead. And, says Maalouf, “while [appointments] are first come, first served, customers can view the stylists’ ratings as well as re-book stylists they’ve worked with or that they’ve cultivated relationships with.”
In this climate of instant gratification, The Glam App is just one more way to appease a growing population of men and women who seek convenience and a certain level of service. The co-founders see their clientele as “everyone from celebrities and busy publicists to stay-at-home moms and students.” Of course, they plan to roll out in other major cities soon. After all, they point out, “why leave home when affordable beauty can appear at your door?”
Related:
10 Must-Try Beauty Apps (They’re Free!)
