Salon in line to be best in the country

A MALE grooming salon in Shenfield is celebrating after being shortlisted for a top award. MENACE, in Shenfield High Street, above Sartoria clothes shop, has made it through to the finals of the Male Grooming Salon of the Year award, as part of the Professional Beauty Awards 2010.

Beating off stiff competition, the salon's proud owner, Matt norriss, 28, has made it to the final six in his category. Matt started the business, which was the first male-only grooming salon in Essex, two years ago, and since then it has gone from strength to strength.

Offering everything from haircuts, facials, traditional shaves, Botox and nutritional treatments. Matt describes his shop as a one-stop shop for male grooming. He said "Male grooming salons have been popular in London for years, but I still knew it was a risk opening the first one in Essex. However, men in Essex have embraced the concept and I am thrilled to now be compared to salons across the country and possibly own the best male grooming salon in the UK."

Matt will find out how his salon has done at the awards ceremony being held in March, at London's Park Lane hotel. In the meantime he will be interviewed by a member of the team and the salon will be visited by a mystery shopper. But this hasnt fazed Matt, who said: "I am confident we have got it spot on."

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Matthew Norris, owner of male grooming salon MENACE in Shenfield, Essex, argues that it is now much more socially acceptable for men to take care of their looks and wellbeing. "The stigma with male grooming has pretty much faded, which is due to establishments such as MENACE proving that it is no longer something to be joked about. The joke is now on men who do not make the effort; women do, so why shouldn't men?" he asks.

Norris noticed that more and more men were visiting this sister, who was working as a therapist at home and now owns ACE Beauty Clinic, their ladies salon two along from MENACE. He decided to create somethign just for me. "I was sure that something like MENACE would work in Essex - in Shenfield in particular - and it has been a huge success," he says.

When it comes to marketing of men's salons, if you get it in the right the locatin can do a lot of the work for you, according to Norris. "Location is everything, and so is patience," he says.

Brands of choice

Norris says it is vital that you use products that get results, because that is what men want. He chooses to use Dermalogica at MENACE. "We were already using it at our women's salon, and have been using it for over 10 yeares. The products are fantastic, and most importantly, they get results. Dermalogica's recently launched men's shave range has gone down really well," he says.

"There is a number of men's ranges out there, and men now have a huge choice of products. The one downside to most ranges is that they are very generic; they cater for the 'average' man. Unisex ranges such as Dermalogica cater for all skin types, and have an answer for most problems."

Useful website: www.menacegrooming.co.uk

Emily Norris, 26, and her husband Matt, 28, live in Brentwood, Essex.
Emily says: “When I first met Matt, I could tell straight away that he looked after himself. But until we became a serious couple, I think he hid his grooming habits from me. I’ve never met a man like him. He has a lot more beauty products than me – we even had to build an extra shelf in the bathroom to fit in all his toiletries! "Matt takes a lot longer than me to get ready to go out. He’ll wear tinted moisturiser and even straightens his hair!
"He used to work for a bank, but I could tell he was unhappy. He decided to open up his own beauty salon for men.
"He’s absolutely in his element – he loves pampering himself. He has his hair cut once a week, has regular eyebrow and back waxes, two facials a month, manicures and pedicures.
"He also has skin peels, teeth whitening and laser hair removal. He takes a lot more trouble over his appearance than I do.
"Getting ready for bed he’ll take half-an-hour just to cleanse his face. When he gets into bed he’ll massage moisturiser into his feet and once a week he’ll rub intensive moisturiser into his hands and go to sleep with special gloves on to make his hands extra soft.
"Despite this, I still fancy him like mad. He’s definitely a red-blooded male in every other aspect. I think I’m lucky. At least he can’t accuse me of being vain!”

Matt says: “When I was a teenager I didn’t like my looks – I had curly hair and bad acne. Luckily my sister worked as a beauty therapist and she offered to give me some facials.
"I kept it secret from my friends, but after a year of facials my acne had gone. That was it for me – I was hooked from then on. A few years later, I had my eyebrows shaped and my back waxed, and then I started getting attention from girls. "Because I’ve been fanatical about my beauty regime for so many years, I almost don’t think about it, but occasionally I’ll meet a bloke my age in the pub and realise he looks years older than me. I’ll often think: ‘You could do with a good exfoliation there, mate’.
"Opening up my own salon was a dream come true. I think British men are slowly realising that looking after their looks isn’t a bad thing.
"I’ll spend the equivalent of £100 a month on my skin but I think that’s an investment for the future. When I first met Emily, I kept my beauty regime a little bit secret. But then I realised that she fancied me exactly because I look after myself so well.
"I don’t feel guilty that my toiletries crowds her stuff out of the bathroom – I put the shelf up, after all!"
See www.menacegrooming.co.uk or call 01277 202448 for more details.

Matthew Norris, MENACE Male Grooming

A BUSINESS tycoon who took a huge risk and opened the first salon dedicated to male grooming in Essex is a finalist in the Young Entrepreneur of the Year category.

Since launching in 2007, Matthew Norris's MENACE Male GRooming salon in Shenfield has seen turnover grow 900 per cent from month one.

Despite the growth of the male grooming industry in London, Matthew, 28, knew launching in Essex was a risky venture yet his careful planning is paying off.

Male-only treatments include haircuts, waxing, cut throat shaves, facials and maintenance manicures and pedicures.

Attention to detail is paramount for Matthew. Teh salon is located on the first floor of a shop in Hutton Road. Under Matthew's careful supervision the building was completely gutted and refurbished before opening.

Matthew said: "MENACE is all about the customer experience, from the design to the male colour scheme to the non-intimidating environment."

He attributes his success to patience, real hard work, believing in an idea and following it through. He said "Like anyone with their own business it has been hard graft gettign from open to being successful. Everything about MENACE is entrepreneurial. The concept and the business is a risk others have not taken.

In the two years we have been open we have sold the idea of male grooming to many new people to the extent that it is now a regular part of their lives."

"I built the business but give credit to the team of people around me who carry it on."

Looking to the future, Matthew is scouting for locations to launch a new string of MENACE Grooming Salons.

In another bold move Matthew has recently married and returned from a honeymoon in Bali with his wife Emily to live in Brentwood.

MENACE Male Grooming offers three treatment rooms and a separate barbering area. Among other specialised treatments are Sports Massage, Teeth Whitening and herbal anti-ageing face peels.

The Saturday Times - 20th June 2009

'We have Sky Sports and beers, so it’s manly'

Emily Dean, marketing director, 26, and Matt Norris, owner of Menace Male Grooming (http://www.menacegrooming.co.uk/) in Shenfield, Essex, 28. They will marry on July 18
“I was going to book my round-the-world tickets the next day, so nothing could happen,” says Emily — famous last words. After a long day at work, a friend dragged her out to “the local not-very-nice nightclub” where she met Matt.

In April 2008 Matt and Emily visited Venice, where he proposed to her on the Rialto Bridge. “I got the tickets as his Valentine’s Day present,” she says. “So I didn’t think he would arrange anything like this, but it turns out he had a ring in his pocket the whole time. In fact at one point we were in a tower in Venice and I gave him the elbow and said ‘this would be a lovely place to propose’ — I had no idea.”
“We got past the honeymoon period and it was all still very rosy,” says Matt. “Even now, I just want it to be the wedding.”
On the morning of the wedding, Matt’s male friends and his best man are booked into his salon, Menace, for wet shaves, waxing, massage and facials, “It’s a bonding experience. We have Sky Sports and beers, so it’s manly.” Meanwhile, Emily and her bridal party will be next door at Ace Beauty Clinic (http://www.acebeauty.co.uk/), his sister’s salon: “I’m going to have to wear a bag over my head in case he sees me. Matt is so well groomed, I have to make an effort!”
“I can’t wait for when we walk into the reception and they announce us as Mr and Mrs Norris,” she adds.