Beauty & the Beach is a boutique beauty salon at 106c Seabury Avenue in Foxton Beach, offering everything from a quick polish to a deluxe mani-pedi with all the extras, a custom Moroccan spray tan, brow and lash treatments, facials, waxing and massage. Owner Chelsea — a UCOL-trained beauty therapist who grew up in Foxton Beach — opened the salon in July 2020, less than a year after graduating, after spotting a gap in the market for a local salon with a large range of treatments.
The service menu covers manicures and pedicures, spray tanning, brow waxing, shaping, restyling, tinting and henna, lash lifting, facial waxing and dermaplaning through to body waxing, signature and advanced facials (including chemical peels and microneedling), Swedish massage with optional hot stones, and makeup for weddings, parties, photoshoots and more. Wedding packages bundle makeup, tans, a pre-wedding trial, a matching mani-pedi and fresh brows and lashes, while parties — spray tan, mani-pedi and kids' face painting — can be hosted at the salon or your own venue.
The team describes its approach as gentle, approachable and thoughtful, aiming to make every client feel heard, nurtured and valued on their beauty journey. The salon opens around 50 hours a week across Monday to Saturday, with a goal of having a time slot to suit anyone — whether you call Foxton Beach home or are just here on holiday.
Down on Seabury Avenue in Foxton Beach, Beauty & the Beach has become the village's go-to spot for everything from a quick polish to chemical peels. It's the kind of salon where locals pop in for a brow tidy, holidaymakers book a tan before an event, and the person taking care of you is very likely the owner.
Owner Chelsea knew early on that she wanted her own salon. She headed to beauty school at 17 and spent two years studying at UCOL in Palmerston North, graduating with what she describes as an immense passion for the beauty industry.
Her first job opportunity disappeared almost immediately thanks to Covid-19 — devastating at the time, though she now counts it a blessing. Instead of starting out in someone else's salon, she took the plunge and opened her own, less than a year after graduating. Having grown up in Foxton Beach, she knew the seaside village lacked a salon offering a large range of treatments, and Beauty & the Beach opened its doors in July 2020.
The gamble paid off fast. Within six months she had given up her bartending job to work in the salon full time, and not long after that she was looking for a bigger venue — which is how the salon came to its current home at 106c Seabury Avenue, where it now opens around 50 hours a week.
The short answer: most things you'd hope to find at a full-service beauty salon.
Nails range from a classic express polish to a deluxe mani-pedi with a relaxing soak, scrub and massage. Spray tanning uses a custom Moroccan tan and, as the salon puts it, is suitable for absolutely everyone.
Brows and lashes get endless options — waxing, shaping, restyling, tinting and henna for brows, plus lash lifting — all aimed at brows perfectly designed for your face. Hair removal runs from facial waxing and dermaplaning through to arms, armpits, bikini area, legs and toes, with what the team calls utmost care for your skin in the process.
Facials come in two flavours. Signature facials suit anyone who simply wants to relax and be pampered, or who has regular skin problems they'd love to target. Advanced facials are for clients with more prominent skin concerns, using treatments such as chemical peels and microneedling — an area Chelsea has taken a particular liking to, finding it rewarding to help people with all their skin conditions.
Rounding out the menu are Swedish massages, with the option to incorporate hot stones for an added experience, and makeup for practically any occasion: a classic light or day look for an event, a Halloween look, a photoshoot or film crew, or a wedding — whether it's your child's or your own.
Where Beauty & the Beach really flexes is events. Wedding packages take the stress out of the big day, bundling makeup and tans for the bride and her tribe, a trial before the wedding, a matching mani-pedi and fresh brows and lashes — all in one place.
For less formal celebrations, Chelsea offers spray tan parties, mani-pedi parties and face painting for kids' birthday parties, hosted either at the salon or at your own venue — her way, she says, of taking the stress away.
The team describes its care as gentle, approachable and thoughtful, tailored to the individual — with the promise that clients feel heard, nurtured and valued on their beauty journey. It's a personal approach that comes naturally to a one-woman-origin story like this, and it has clearly worked: the salon has grown from a post-graduation leap of faith into a fixture of the Foxton Beach community.
Whether you call Foxton Beach home or you're just on holiday, the door is open Monday to Saturday, with late hours early in the week and a stated goal of having a time slot to suit anyone. Bookings can be made online or by phone on 027 491 2584.