Beauty culture that beautified her life

Irangika Range

BEAUTY: Starting beauty culture as a hobby at a tender age, her talents, vast experience and creativity enabled her to be a successful businesswoman achieving many accolades.

Corina Sansoni, Proprietor of the Stephani's Gifts and Styles in Kandy has been conferred due to her dedication and efficient work.

The Women's Chamber of Industries and Commerce has granted the silver award to her at the Women Entrepreneur of the Year 2006 with a tiny investment.

While studying at St. Andrew's Convent in Nawalapitiya, she has spared her time to excel in this field such as beauty care and hair styles and bridal dressing, painting, home decor and soft toys making to achieve her ambition to be a qualified beautician.

Gradually she became a popular with successful performance in the field and the word of mouth many customers have reached her. With the experience she gathered for few years it led her to commence her own beauty salon at her residence in 1990.

In 1990, She has migrated to Dubai where her husband worked.

She got an opportunity to have an international exposure on beauty culture while studying at many international beauty parlours. She has also gained a considerable practical experience by working many salons in Dubai for five years.

On her return, she had introduced many modern fashions she learned.

"I wanted to utilise both theoretical and practical knowledge experience applying specialized evaluation methods to improve Sri Lankan hair and beauty care to match international standards.

To meet the high demand of customers to receive her excelling service in the beauty culture in an innovative way, she opened Stephanie's Hair and Beauty Care and a beauty studio in Kandy in 1997. Corina diversified her talents in beauty culture and she commenced spa as well.

Stephanie's Hair and Beauty Care provides the ultimate solution for the skin hair through Aroma Therapy treatments to ease stress and tension.

She also has introduced a Sothys facial, which is a non-surgical face-lift for a better complexion and youthful look.

She said that her nail and foot spa provides special reflexology foot massage using the pressure points of the foot which would stimulate the full body to bring about balance and the relaxation.

She is also an expert of nail arts techniques and making of beautiful gel nails.

She said that the beauty therapy sector has become very competitive in the recent past with more and more youngsters as well as adults becoming beauty conscious and demanding the best facilities and quality service.

Apart from the beauty culture, she has worked in creating soft toys, home decor, and gift items and opened a gift shop in the same area. The gift items section is filled with fashionable gift items in brilliant bonbon colours and fantastic range of soft toys.

Among her services, bridal dressing, designing and sewing bridal outfits, hair cutting and dressing, facials including aroma therapy and treatment, waxing, bridal bouquets, beauty and hair treatments, tailoring and other related services are available on demand in her salon and spa.

She said that she opens her salon on daily till 7.30 p.m. including Sundays for the convenience of the customers.

She is talented in making of bridal dressing, which has good demand in the sector.

The tailoring shop has a snap service for brides and working women.

Her Designing and sewing of school uniforms and costumes for all occasions in international schools have big demand in the area.

In addition school uniforms for international schools she makes to provide costumes for different types of concerts, musical shows, variety entertainments and fancy dress have high demand. Therefore, to cater to the needs of such a clientele it is very important that latest technologies and appliances are used to provide the services on customers' demand, she said.

Although her main business is a beauty salon and beauty care she involves in textile sector making ready made garments this year. She said that textile sector has a good demand for quality products and she enters with sub-contracts from suppliers.

Over 125 people in the area are employed in hand sewing such as embroidery and bead decoration in finished garments.

"I pay them on piece rate basis for their finished and high quality products and it is a good income generating avenue for ladies in rural areas.

She said that updating latest fashions and providing quality service identifying customer requirements are driving force of her business.

I always maintaining customer friendly atmosphere and always advice mystaff to realise the customer needs and his requirements. She thanks the HNB, Katugastota, which has vastly helped her to improve her business providing loans and providing instructions businesswise.

She conducts basic and advance courses on hair dressing and beauty therapy, designed to meet the international standard. I am happy many students of mine are currently employed locally and internationally while some students have started their own beauty salons.

She also conducts short time courses for working women on beauty therapy and to fulfil their needs.

She is also an expert in the interior decor of hotels during Christmas seasons.

Among her future plans, she will commence the gents' salon to cater to the needs of gents.

She has undergone several training programs locally and internationally by travelling to India, Thailand and Malaysia.

She has also followed many study courses and made tours to many countries with groups of several other members of the Central Province Women's Chamber of Small Industries and Commerce to study the latest fashions and developments.

In 2004, she received merit award for the beauty culture at the

Entrepreneur award 2004 organized by the Ceylon National Chamber of Commerce. "I am really satisfied with the progress I earned and it has become more competitive than ever before, but it is not a big challenge if one can create latest fashions and commitments.

She has a son and daughter. "My son is working while my daughter is schooling. They are also really talented and help my business when they are free. I am a God devotee and I have learnt never to be disappointed.

I am determined to manage everything timely by doing hard work to achieve my goals.