We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Candra Pilas. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Candra below.

Candra, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?

Some of the biggest trends I am seeing in the skincare industry are clients’ desires to achieve more with less and the ability to achieve results with gentler, natural, holistic products and services. Gone are the days of a 12 step skin care regimen. Clients tend to want and need 3-5 good products, that’s all! Gone are the days of the desire for a frozen face or facial reconstruction to completely change the shape and symmetry of their face. Gone are the days of long downtime from a facial procedure.

The majority of my clients come to me just wanting to make their life easier. They want to be able to wake up and go so they can spend time focusing on the important things like their kids, work, and health. Even with lash extensions, for example, I used to spend hours doing huge mega volume sets now I find more people want a classic, very natural, almost mascara-like set. I also offer permanent makeup. If we look back at the early 2000’s permanent makeup used to be bold and dark and it would inevitably turn to a very untasteful blue or red color over time. Nowadays a good permanent makeup artist can create a flawless, realistic brow or lash enhancement that not even the client’s closest friends or family can tell that they had work done. Clients want to hear people say, “You look so damn good, what have you been doing or what’s different about?” Not, “Oh wow your brows are so big.”

So that is my goal. I enhance the beautiful features that my clients already have. I try to make their life easier. I help them make every day a little better. I help them want to look in the mirror and love who they see looking back at them. I help them to have a clean, yet results-driven, skincare routine that they can feel confident applying to their skin. Once people have beautiful skin they usually feel like they have to apply less makeup and that’s a win in most of my client’s books. On top of that for my clients that really just want to wake up and go, they can get permanent eyeliner, brows, and lips done. Boom, no more makeup!! For the final touch, we apply lash extensions, which need to be filled every 2-3 weeks, just like nails. Most of my clients cherish their hour-long lash fill. It’s their “me time” to meditate, zen out, catch up on zzz’s.

So say bye-bye foundation, so long mascara, see ya never eyeliner, and good riddance lipstick. The trend of making life easier is definitely one I stand by. I was blown away when I read a recent survey conducted by the Today Show which found that women spend approximately 335 hours — or two full weeks — per year just getting themselves ready for the day. No wonder why none of us can find time to get things done. You deserve that time for yourself not for battling with brow pencils and mascara, poking your eyes out every 2-3 days.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Candra Cheree Pilas. French and Spanish. A bit of a funny mix…Candra means luminescent, bright like the moon. Cheree means dear one. Pilas means battery. So basically I am a bright, energetic, special battery. Of course, I am joking, but really I do think this breaks down who I am as a person very well. I always knew I was meant to be a bright light in other people’s lives. For some reason, I always meet people at just the right time, right when they need me and I think I just so happen to have the energy and stamina to take on other people’s worries and troubles. You are probably like where in the world is she going with this, but I promise I have a point. Throughout my life in realizing these patterns with everyone around me I knew I was meant to help people in some way. In a way that I could carry their weight and help them to see and love the person that I see through my eyes. Who knew the beauty industry would be that way.

I found myself burnt out from a sales job and just knew I had to reroute my life. I wasn’t sure what the new destination was but I knew I was done with the current road I was on…so I quit! Two weeks after turning in my two weeks I still had no clue what I wanted to do. I started looking at jobs online and contacting old acquaintances but nothing seemed like a good fit. Nothing sparked my interest. It all seemed like the same old, same old. My bank account wasn’t looking too good at this point so I knew I had to come up with something and I was dreading jumping into a job I didn’t find any joy in, but that’s life right. Bills don’t stop so the money has to keep rolling in. One evening I was watching Dr. Pimple Popper (like I always do) and my husband was like, “I don’t know how you watch that disgusting show” and that’s when the light bulb moment hit. I love everything about the skincare and beauty industry. I find it so interesting and just feel like I can’t learn and see enough about papules, pustules, comedones, keratosis pilaris, eczema, the list goes on and on. So I started looking into schools, running the numbers, and realized if we stuck to ramen and beans we could make it work! No more sushi dates for a while.

Esthetician school took me 6 months as a full time student. At the time, esthetic schools in Colorado were not the best. You basically learned about sanitation, basic skincare, and how to pass the state exam. I really had higher expectations. However, I will say today there are so many better schools that have popped up since Covid. A lot of the well-known esthetic schools closed down due to the shutdown in 2020/2021 and in the end new, better schools arose. These new schools are focusing more on hands-on training, one-on-one training, and business ethics. They also help with internships, apprenticeships, finding a job prior to graduation, job shadowing, etc. You can’t succeed unless you understand the business of esthetics which is where so many licensed estheticians failed before. A lot of people would get certified and then never find a job because they had no experience or they would try to start their own spa with no experience and no client base. The system had most set up to fail which is very unfortunate considering that the cost of school is anywhere from 10-20K and that’s just for a basic esthetics license, not including advanced courses.

I was seeing so many estheticians struggle and just end up working a 9-5 paying minimum wage at a job that had nothing to do with esthetics so I knew I had to get my foot in the door with someone prior to graduating. There was a gal right up the street from my school who offered lash extensions and permanent makeup and I just thought her work was beautiful so I reached out and asked if she would be willing to let me shadow and/or apprentice with her. Lucky for me she agreed! So after school and on weekends, I would go work with her at her spa. I gained so much experience just by watching her work, along with helping to set up and clean the rooms. If you are in school, I highly recommend apprenticing or shadowing in your free time!! You have to find a way to separate yourself from the pack. Show that you know how to go above and beyond. Plus if it’s a career you love you will enjoy learning and seeing a pro at work. You have to pay your dues. You don’t just end up at the top. Everyone starts somewhere and that’s usually the bottom.

After graduating I rented out half of the studio from the girl I apprenticed with. Tada! See apprenticing paid off. She helped send clients my way and was always there to help me keep learning. Skin can be very unpredictable so it was so helpful to have her by my side. At this point, I was only making enough to cover my booth rent so it got a little defeating but I was determined to stick with it. I was posting on social, trying to be active in social events like the farmers market, downtown concerts, anything in the area but my client base just wasn’t growing much. My mom came to town to cheer me up and we decided we needed to treat ourselves, to of course skincare, so we scheduled an appointment with J Marie Skin Studio in Longmont. Once we got in the treatment room my mom started word vomiting about what an amazing esthetician I am. I was so embarrassed. But the gal treating us, who also happened to be the owner asked if I was by chance looking for a job. To paint a picture, J Marie Skin Studio is a stunning spa with multiple rooms, chandeliers, flowers galore, top-notch products on the shelves, and 10/10 in every way. So hell yeah I wanted to work there. I said yes in the most squeaky shrill voice and emailed my resume the second I got home. I interviewed with shaking boots and knew I probably didn’t stand a chance, but the owner and I hit it off and next thing I knew I was packing up my little lash bags heading to J Marie Skin Studio to start work as an esthetician.

I guess the moral of the story is don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and talk yourself up and try! Just try! If you know you are a damn hard worker then fight for a career you deserve. Fight for a business you look up to and deserve to be at. Don’t be afraid to fail. The worst thing that could have happened is I didn’t get the job. I never thought I would be working at a renowned medical spa my first year out of school, but thanks to my mama believing in me it happened. Fast forward a couple of years later and I now get the call the owner of J Marie Skin Studio, Jessica Brock, one of my best friends, a boss babe mentor, a former employer and someone I reach out to on the daily basis for advice and support.

I am so proud to say that I am now running and operating my own spa, The Lash & Brow Den in Gypsum, Colorado. I officially opened in July 2021. My spa is doing incredibly well! The support from the community has just blown me away. At this point, my books are almost too full so I am looking to continue to build my team to have more availability for future clients. I have just the most beautiful, supportive clients and the mountains are now my backyard. Every day I am so thankful to be here and for what I have, but it would have never happened without hard work, dedication, smart financial moves and putting in the time. I have one amazing employee, soon to be two and I am so excited to announce that we are moving into a bigger studio this summer. The spa will be a one-stop-shop for beauty services! Stay tuned. . .

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I have had amazing success in growing my client base up here in the mountains. I even have people who still drive up to see me from Denver. I really try to take my time getting to know my clients. I do not rush any of my appointments. Yeah, I could make more money by getting one more appointment into the day, but that just isn’t worth it to me. I want to slow down time for my clients. When they walk into my spa they know it’s all about them and they can finally breathe, relax and take a moment for themselves.

I love getting to know each and every one of my clients. I really think this hits home in a time when everyone feels like a number and a blip on the radar. Most people just want to be heard and seen. That’s it…But we are all moving so fast trying to just keep our heads above water so for my clients, I think me and my zen little spa room become that place where they feel heard and comfortable to be themselves. I really try to give each and every client my full attention and best work every time and I believe that shows. Who doesn’t want to spend time at a little zen den where you can relax and get pampered? So people keep returning. On a monthly average, my return customer rate is 60% while my new clients make up 40%. Which has been a great ratio for me and my business.

I go above and beyond to create a cozy, charming, safe environment. I think a lot of businesses miss this nail on the head here. If your business space isn’t comfortable, cozy, and clean, and if you as an owner or employee don’t even want to spend your time there then why would anyone else? Put money and time into creating the right environment upfront. It’ll pay off in the long run. I had so many people tell me to save money in this area and I absolutely refused and am so glad I did so.

My services also sell themselves. Once people see beautiful brows or a beautiful lash set on their friend you can guarantee they are going to ask about it. This is probably my strongest means of growing my client base. My clients love the end results of my services so they spread the word like wildfire. If you offer a service that makes people feel more confident and beautiful then they will just have that glow about them and others will ask.

I also offer incentives for word of mouth. If someone books based on a referral the person who referred them gets 10% off any service or product. Any time a client references me on a Facebook post or other social post asking for spa recommendations I hook them up with something small but meaningful at their next appointment. For example, I’ll give them product samples or add something onto their service.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

There are some people you will NEVER make happy and your services or product will never be the right fit for them. That’s okay! I used to try and take on every single client, even if I had a bad feeling about it or if they were demanding or rude right out the gate. Now when I get that gut feeling I just say, “I’m sorry, but at this time I don’t think we are a good fit. Best of luck!” You do not owe them any further explanation.

Doing permanent makeup is hard. It’s not near as easy as applying makeup and it’s either permanent or semi-permanent so it’s a very serious gig. I had one client in particular who bad-mouthed every permanent makeup artist who worked on her prior (red flag #1). She wasn’t happy with any of her current permanent makeup (red flag #2) and wanted me to “fix it.” She also wanted a discount because of the fact that she had previous work. This is actually a major misconception in the permanent makeup world. Working over previous work is harder than having a clean slate. It is extremely hard to fix permanent makeup on the face, particularly if the client isn’t wanting to do removal first or is willing to go bigger with the work. This client didn’t want to do either and wasn’t happy with my recommendations (red flag #3). She demanded we schedule the appointment and fix them because according to her, “it couldn’t be that hard if I am a professional.”

Till this day I do not know why I scheduled her when I knew better. I was just newer to the industry and didn’t know how to turn someone away or say no yet. I had such a bad gut feeling. I was dreading the days leading up to her appointment and I knew I couldn’t just “fix” the work. I let her run the show and I learned a major lesson. Now whenever I get a bad gut feeling about a client I simply say, “Sorry at this time we aren’t a good fit. Thank you!”

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thelashandbrowden.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelashandbrowden
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Thelashandbrowden