Beauty Shock mixes pop-culture edge with open, friendly vibe
Jonathan Fowler and Shelby McDonald ― hair stylists and owners of Beauty Shock salon on Fifth Avenue South near Crestwood and East Avondale ― love what they do.
It’s the world’s “greatest job,” Fowler said. “We get to know people and help them look and feel great about themselves.”
“It’s about the personal relationships we get to build, being one of the few industries where we can actually touch people,” McDonald said. “It’s about making them look good, but it’s really about making them feel good.”
“It’s a creative outlet,” Fowler said. “Being eccentric, creative types, we love art and design in all forms, and hair is a way we can channel that energy.”
The Huntsville natives have created their perfect venue at Beauty Shock, which opened in 2015. They’ve given it a colorful, pop-culture vibe and a friendly atmosphere. And as Crestwood North residents, they take pride in contributing a vibrant new business to the community.
Fowler and McDonald previously worked at a Mountain Brook salon that closed abruptly. They worked temporarily as freelancers, doing TV and music video shoots and making house calls.
“It was during those house calls that we realized the full vision of the salon we needed to build ― a comfortable space that was fun and welcoming,” Fowler said.
They found the perfect location in the vintage brick building they now occupy. The unusual structure served decades ago as the power station for a trolley turn-around and has been used as a photography studio, painting studio and architecture office, according to Fowler and McDonald.
“We’ve always loved and saw so much potential in this building,” Fowler said.
The partners said the structure, which had been neglected, gave them a chance to move their business back into the city and do something different with it. They are leasing the building but plan to purchase it.
The interior, with high ceilings, is a perfect place for the partners to display their love of pop culture.
“We’re both art lovers, especially the wonderful local artists in Birmingham,” McDonald said, adding that he and Fowler are “huge fans” of local painter John Lytle Wilson, whose work is displayed prominently in the salon.
“Life is too short to not have fun, and that’s why we wanted to depart from the austere, sterile traditional salon environment and wanted our guests to feel like they were being welcomed into a friend’s home,” Fowler said.
Regular customer Anne Epstein appreciates the Beauty Shock atmosphere.
“It’s just relaxed,” she said while having her hair done by McDonald. “I’ve been to other salons where people fuss over you. It’s casual, comfortable. There is no pretension or snootiness.”
The original Beauty Shock customers were mostly from over the mountain, but the partners said they’re now drawing more customers from the immediate area.
“We live and work here in Crestwood, and it’s important for us to see this area redeveloped and used to its fullest potential,” Fowler said.
The salon’s other stylists are Theresa Romei and Tristan Cone.