A new beauty salon has opened on Eastgate in Cowbridge town centre.    

Beauty Box, owned by Chanya Slorach, 37 and her husband Hugo, 41, is a family business that started in 2017 with two other locations in Penarth and Tenby. 

Mrs Slorach has worked in the beauty industry since 2006 and Mr Slorach was working as a software developer in Bangkok when they first met.  

The couple also owns another salon called WAX & GLO, which is based on the same street in the town. "I like Penarth, but it's getting busy," says Mrs Slorach. "We started looking for a Cowbridge location about three years ago but Covid hit and we had to stop.  

"We've always wanted to find somewhere to set up another salon here. Cowbridge is a nice town with quite a few similarities to Penarth." 

Mrs Slorach has worked in the beauty industry since 2006 and the couple own another salon called WAX & GLO in Penarth. (Image credit: Jack Wynn)

The couple attributes customer demand as the reason behind bringing Beauty Box to Cowbridge. "We do see customers from Cowbridge at the Penarth salon," says Mrs Slorach. "They'll come to us to get their nails done and for waxing and they say to us 'when are you coming to Cowbridge?'  

"So, when this place became available, we felt like it was meant to be!" 

Mr Slorach adds: "Once our signage went up here and people knew it was going to be a beauty salon, we've had lots of positive enquiries from people saying 'this is great' and 'when are you opening?'" 

Now the Cowbridge salon is open, Mrs Slorach will focus a lot of her attention on the new Beauty Box location. "I'm mainly going to be based here [Cowbridge] and I'll be in Penarth maybe one or two days every couple of weeks," she says. A colleague from WAX & GLO in Penarth will also be joining her at the new Cowbridge salon.  

Now the new salon is open, Mrs Slorach will spend a lot of her time in Cowbridge. (Image credit: Jack Wynn)

There will also be an opportunity for an apprentice to join the Beauty Box Cowbridge team in the future, given the success of hiring apprentices at its Penarth salon. "We have apprentices in Penarth and we'll probably look to employ a young person here as well," says Mr Slorach. "We're keen to train everybody up to the same consistent standard across the business.  

"We get a lot of enquiries from young people in Penarth and we can't do it all there, so we'll probably have an opportunity for an apprentice to come and learn here at some point." 

With regards to treatments, the Cowbridge salon will offer the same services to its customers as it does in Penarth and Tenby, except for tanning. "We also won't be able to offer Thai massage," says Mrs Slorach. "There isn't the space to offer that, so mainly in here [Cowbridge] we'll offer nails, waxing and eyelash treatments." 

New customers are yet to walk through the door, but the couple is already thinking about other Beauty Box locations. "I did say that this would be the last one for a while, but we are looking for other locations for the future," says Mrs Slorach. 

The Cowbridge salon will offer the same services to its customers as it does in Penarth and Tenby. (Image credit: Jack Wynn)

The couple also has ambitions to open a Thai food café in Penarth but are setting their priorities to open another Beauty Box salon first, with north Cardiff a likely area to target next. 

Although salons such as Beauty Within Medi Spa and Karma Beauty are just a stone's throw away, the couple is confident that there is room for Beauty Box services in the town. "We know there's another nail salon and spa, but for us, we're treating different clients," says Mrs Slorach. "We're not really fishing for new clients because we have people from Cowbridge coming to us in Penarth. 

"Some places just do nails; others just do spa treatments and not everything in together. I believe in our service and in Penarth, there are also lots of beauty salons in the town." 

The couple also has ambitions to open a Thai food café in Penarth. (Image credit: Jack Wynn)

The wider Cowbridge business community has welcomed Beauty Box with open arms. "Everyone has been nice," says Mrs Slorach. "When we posted on social media that we [Beauty Box] was coming to Cowbridge soon, some local shops have commented to welcome us to the town. 

"They've also said that we're filling a big gap in the market here for beauty."  

So, what would they say to potential customers who have never had a Beauty Box treatment before? "It's your time to treat yourself," says Mrs Slorach. "It makes you feel more confident. 

"Even if you've never had any treatments done before, just pop in for a chat and ask for our advice. We just want to make people feel good about themselves."  

Find out more about Beauty Box and the wide variety of treatments here.