Combining Hair and Resin was never what I thought I would be doing, but when the recent pandemic hit it meant that I had to close my salon and my business went from thriving to closed in a matter of minutes.
It was a very difficult time for many in the hair and beauty industries. But being in these industries does mean that you have a certain amount of creative flare, and I chose to turn my talents towards art during this time. This is when I found resin and started creating different hair accessories with this medium.
Being a regular viewer of resin artists on Tik Tok, and mostly @ayeshashasha on instagram, I decided to try it for myself. It looked SO soothing and because of everything happening around of me that was out of my control I was so stressed. It seemed like working with resin was everything I love about mixing hair color and making a collage all in one.
I have been a hairstylist for 19 years behind the chair. Five years ago, I started my own shop, @crownbflo. Hair is my passion, as is any art form that relates to it.
I started incorporating resin art into crown by discovering silicone hair clip molds. A lightbulb went off: With our salon having been closed about half of 2020, I decided to take my own creativity in the direction of supplementing business losses.
With our team working so close with our guests in the chair, we often continue those relationships on social media and in life outside the salon. Hair clips seemed to be the perfect conversation starter, even when we couldn’t be together with our fave guests.
A special thanks to @the_ferguson_creative who take all my amazing commercial photos, including those of my resin work.
I was shocked when I made my first 20 or so clips. I put them on our Instagram story, and they were snapped up immediately. I loved making pieces so much, that I made bigger and bigger batches every few weeks to put in our online merchandise shop.
I was again taken aback when time after time, these capsule collections sold out.
The past year has been such an adventure in this art form. It allows me to connect with guests who see others in my shop, I’ve made bridal pieces for a couple, memorial pieces filled with funeral bouquet snippings, and anything that pops into my mind.
I love creating seasonal groupings of designs and watching people get excited to grab them up. I noticed that quickly, it wasn’t just our salon guests buying them - they now get ordered from people all over via our website!
Craft Resin was the brand that worked best for me from the beginning, so I don’t use other brands anymore. I also make it a point to shop from Etsy for all the things I add into my pieces, to perpetuate a cycle of supporting other small businesses.
I have found a new balance in my life this past year and a half. I am personally behind my chair only 3 days a week at the moment, so this helps me Mentally balance out all the (not so exciting) admin responsibilities of being a small business owner.
When I’m feeling tired of screens I go to the resin studio in my house. (Did I forget to mention we built a special area in the house to work at home?!), it’s such a cool space and a total escape for me to get creative in.
Having a resin aspect to my business has given me so much. Financially, we were able to keep the salon afloat when we had no income during closures. Personally, it has given me freedom to create with a new medium, make customized pieces to incorporate into our hair photos for socials, and I have personally seen so many more people shopping small with us rather than some cheap-o, chain store.
Basically, this art form is the perfect partner to my hair life, and they inspire each other now!
Erin Moser
