Inside Out Beauty Bar Wants to Give Bellmore a Makeover

They say that beauty is only skin deep. However, Heather Siegel, owner of the new Inside Out Beauty Bar located at 2785 Merrick Road, would like to challenge that claim.

"Beauty really does come from the inside out," she said. "I find that a lot of beauty bars will focus on just beauty from the outside in, and here we're doing both; beauty from the inside out, and the outside in."

A slick, ultra-modern styled establishment located next to popular Bellmore hair salon Who Does Your Hair? (which is owned by Siegel's sister), Inside Out takes a unique approach to beauty, taking into account that health and well-being goes hand-in-hand with beauty. In other words, Siegel feels it's just as important to feel good as to look good.

"First of all, we're a Beauty Bar, so if you're looking to beautify, this is the place to come," she said. "We have very talented make-up artists who have extensive experience in the industry, and they're going to be working here giving free makeovers during the month of September and October. We also have a licensed esthetician, and she's going to be doing one hundred percent organic skin care, including facials."

Inside Out uses all-natural and organic skin-care products, a direction Siegel feels the industry is moving towards amid health concerns over more risky, chemical-based makeups. For example, one of the lines Beauty Bar will be carrying is actually plant-based.

However, Siegel's Beauty Bar also has another unique yet refreshing service to offer their customers.

"We have a juice bar here that Organic Corner of Massapequa designed for us," she said. "The juices are tailored for certain beauty benefits, such as detoxification and weight-loss. We also have an ionized water filter, that gets all of the toxins out of the water, and we even use that to make our ice cubes for our smoothies."

Siegel, who was previously in the cafe business, is well-versed in the ways of good health, and when the store next to her sister's salon became available, the two jumped at the chance to deliver something different to the residents of Bellmore.

"Health and helping the community has always been very important to my sister," she said. "So, when this store became available, she asked me if we could put a juice bar in here, and I told her to add retail to it and I would go for it, since that was a business model that made more sense."

"You're not going to find a place like this on Long Island," Siegel added. "And you're probably not even going to find it in Manhattan. I see us as kind of an indie-style makeup store. "

Opening a business in a tough economic market can be daunting, but Siegel feels her Beauty Bar will succeed by appealing to women looking to spruce up on a budget.

""The economy is scary, but our price points are actually not really high--end," she said. "I stayed away from a lot of the high-end skin care lines that are $150 a cream...we chose affordable lines."

Make-up artist Lisa Ruggiero feels that the ladies of Bellmore have something special in store for them when they walk through the door of Inside Out.

"I'm super-excited to be here," she said. "I believe that this is going to be a new and innovative approach to beauty and skin care and makeup, and it's going to be a showcase for health, makeup artistry and skin care."