New salon offers beauty, stress relief from within

Although nearly 100 beauty salons already exist in Bloomington, Nelda Colglazier, Betty Stotler and Pornchanok (Waew) Chantar found a niche in this health-aware community. Their joint venture, Élan Salon (pronounced a-lan), is the only salon in town that offers acupuncture.\nStotler, the salon's master designer, said they knew each other for years and worked together in a salon before deciding last year to venture on their own.\n"We felt like it was time to have our own business," she said.\nThe three looked for a location and ended up at Suite 322 in Fountain Square. The benefits they saw were the downtown location is walking distance from IU and a nearby garage for customers.\nWith the help of the estate owner's construction crew, the place was set up and ready to open Jan. 21.\n"However, for the first two weeks, we had to use rented equipment because the ordered equipment was not yet delivered," said Conglazier, the salon's manager.\nCurrently, Élan is well-equipped and employs four hairstylists.\nOpen daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., the salon is usually busy in the morning and early afternoon, particularly on weekends, said Chantar, another master designer. On average, the salon has 20 customers per day -- a balance between males and females. Most of its clients are working people, both at IU and elsewhere.\nBesides haircutting, highlighting and general spa services, Élan also offers acupuncture treatment by a licensed acupuncturist, Shauna Burton. A graduate from the Texas College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Burton said acupuncture is a non-invasive, gentle way to help balance the body's energy and bring the body back into health. It also helps cure stress, pain and chronic problems.\nShe also said back pain and pain in general are why people usually go for the acupuncture "because people don't know that acupuncture can be good for other things, such as diabetes."\nAlthough acupuncture is new to Bloomingtonians, Burton sees it growing. \n"Bloomington is a wellness community," said Burton, also a licensed herbalist. "People here take good care of themselves, and acupuncture fits well into that lifestyle."\nShe added that many citizens like natural healing and are willing to try new methods. \nMichael Jones, a Ph.D. student, said he was glad the salon offers acupuncture and he enjoyed the treatment he received.\n"I felt very relaxed and renewed," Jones said.\nHe also found the combination of a beauty salon and an acupuncture center very interesting.\n"It's like taking care of the body from inside out," said Jones.\nDespite its unique services, Conglazier believes the quality service is what attracts the salon's clients the most. The clients are their guests who become friends, she said.\n"You will always want to have things they can read, provide them something to drink," she said.\nChantar also added that it is crucial to listen to what clients want.\n"Above all, you would like them to be happy, not a moody face walking around," she said. \n"That's why we choose the name Élan, to show enthusiasm about what we do with our clients," Conglazier said. \nAlthough the salon has been open for only two months, the owners find the clients' responses are very positive, and new clients arrive every day.\nIn a year's time, the owners hope their salon will grow and expand more into student clientele. \n"One thing we'll probably do when we get more organized is actually send out letters to fraternities and sororities," Conglazier said. "But I think the biggest form of advertising is still through word of mouth."\nWhile there are many salons in Bloomington, the three are not afraid of the competition. They believe that their honesty and professionalism will make them succeed. \n"The cream always rises to the top," said Conglazier.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Sopaporn Saeung at ssaeung@indiana.edu.