WEST OCEAN CITY – Bliss Salon & Spa has gone through a transition in the past year but has not lost its close-knit family of a staff and clientele while tapping into a more of a creative side.
Owner/Senior Stylist Gina Blanchard started working at Bliss in 2010 as a stylist, the same year the business was founded by Beth and Keith Miller. In December, Blanchard was approached by the Millers with the opportunity to purchase the salon, and Blanchard excitingly accepted.
“I just love everyone that we work with, so I made that happen. It was a really smooth easy transition. I kept all the staff the same because we work really well together, and I just picked up where they left off basically,” she said. “I am very dedicated and goal oriented. I love what I do, and am really focused on being as much of an expert as I can, and in giving my clients the best. I am always keeping up with contemporary trends and am very focused on learning new techniques. I don’t ever like to be stuck in the same type of thing and am very excited in growing the business from what it is now to making it even more successful.”
Blanchard moved to the area from Pennsylvania in 2002 without salon experience. After gaining employment with another salon in the area, she joined an apprentice program and became a licensed stylist within two years. With six years of experience, she came to work at Bliss as a senior stylist.
“I have worked my way up starting out as a shampoo girl,” she said.
Continuing to work as a senior stylist as well as an owner, Blanchard has been working to bring new tools to make everyone’s jobs a little easier, as well as expanding the salon’s product lines, services and keeping everyone at Bliss up to date by continuing the stylist’s education.
“Working in the salon for so many years, I can see what we could use to make our jobs a little easier,” she said.
For example, new at Bliss is Younique mineral makeup available for application and to purchase as well as an expanded Redken line of products. Blanchard also has a salon educator coming in every three months to brief staff on recent trends.
“A salon educator is teaching us more in retail, or color, and different products or styling just to keep us all really excited because if you do the same thing all the time you end up getting stuck in a rut and bored, so it is nice to keep things fun and interesting,” she said.
While catering to the traditional Eastern Shore community, Blanchard is expanding the salon’s horizon.
“We can offer the highlighted blonde fun beachy type of styles, but we also have the education to create a unique edgy contemporary city style too, so we can complement each personality. We are always up for a challenge. As hair stylists, it is always fun to express your creativity,” she said.
Bliss is a full-service salon offering a wide variety of services, including hair services, color and chemical services, nail services, massage services, facial services, waxing, and airbrush make-up, tanning beds and airbrush tanning and different spa packages for both men and women. A licensed nurse practitioner is also scheduled to come in once a month to provide Botox, filler and IPL laser treatment.
Bliss also specializes in bridal services to cover all pampering needs from hair styles and make-up to manicures and pedicures.
The salon has a team of licensed dedicated professionals to provide the latest, most innovative styles and techniques.
“A lot of us have been in the industry for a few years or more, coming in from different states, so we are a collection of different stylists and personalities from all over. We all have success stories by working ourselves up to the stylists that we are today,” Blanchard said. “We are one big team that works together and has each other’s backs.”
Bliss is located at the intersection of Routes 50 and 707 in the Route 50 West Business Park next to Kendall Home Furnishings. For more information, visit www.blissoc.com.