My Day at Southeastern Hair Design & Day Spa

There are few things in this world better than spending a few hours relaxing and receiving a little hard-earned pampering. So when Eileen Donely, owner of Southeastern Hair Design and Day Spa, invited me to join in the experience of what it’s like to be a team member at the salon, I about fainted with all the self indulging ideas of what I could do (but mostly of what I could have done to me) and eagerly waited for my day to come!

From the time I walked into the front door at Southeastern, I was ready to SPA-rty! I was greeted by Christie, the salon manager, who escorted me to the waiting area for the spa. When I sat down, I was almost immediately relaxed by the warmth of the fireplace and the soothing music that played throughout the area. I had a short wait before Paige King, massage therapist, showed me to my massage therapy room. That’s right... I was going to get a massage... from Paige! Boo-yah! I won’t go into too much detail--it’s kind of private, if you know what I mean--but let me assure you she knows what she is doing!

After emerging a little delirious from my massage, Alyssa Springman, stylist, was on hand to take my picture before I was to receive my haircut and color. Once we had our consultation, I followed Alyssa to another back room. You know, the room that the stylists disappear to for 5 or 10 minutes while you flip through the magazine and laugh to yourself about all the other gals that look so silly with all that foil in their hair, like they are trying to contact Mars or something, until your stylist re-emerges with the foils, color, and whatever else she needs to get the job done, and now it’s just a matter of time before you are the one looking silly. Anyhow, in the back room (which I have dubbed The Laboratory) there is a wall of tubes... tubes of color. Alyssa methodically chose a select few and mixed them in a small bowl with such focus she reminded me of a mad scientist--all that was missing was the evil laugh (which we did practice later). After a little gossip the finished product emerged and I will let you decide on how it turned out.

When all that good stuff was finished, I received one more surprise. I got to meet make-up genius Emilee Barnes, Bare Minerals expert and cosmetologist. She taught me tons of new tricks, like applying foundation with a brush using small, upward circular motions, which helps with even application and exfoliates dead skin, too.

Ahhhh! By the time I left, I felt (and looked) like a new person. Thank you to everyone at Southeastern Hair Design and Day Spa for an amazing day and for teaching me so much about what it takes to run the best salon and spa in Sioux Falls!

I would also like to extend a special thanks to my glamour team: Emilee Barnes, Alyssa Springman, and Paige King!