Meet Brenna Larsen of Blush & Adore in Little Italy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brenna Larsen.

Brenna, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
So the story of Blush & Adore really starts when I was a little girl, bribing my brothers and little sister to style their hair in braids, ponytails and seriously bad haircuts. It sounds cliche at times when people asked why I do hair and my response is, “well I was born to do it”. Right out of high school it was a no-brainer to go to beauty school even though my parents were pushing for a degree I knew nothing would make me happier than doing what I love every day. When I got my license I will admit it was a rough start, I assisted at many salons but never found my niche in color and cut, I just loved to style hair.

I soon landed myself a job with a bridal hair and makeup company in Orange County area, I drove hours every day making very little money to get my foot in the door in the bridal industry. The lady I worked for was so inspiring and always believed in me, she taught me a lot of what I know and I am as successful today because of her. She moved her company down to San Diego and I worked for her for 7 years, her right-hand girl. The day came when she had to focus more on her family and shut the company down entirely, there were a lot of tears and I was so fearful of what I would do.

One of the makeup artists who worked with us called me after we heard the news and we decided to start our own business together. We got together with some wine and started creating the name, we wrote down on a piece of paper every girly or feminine word we could think of and eventually landed on Blush & Adore. Once we found the name everything started to fall into place, we got the website up and running and the inquiries started to roll in. We did not have a studio at the time so we flipped her guest house into our very own dream salon that our brides would swoon over! Our team grew from us two to a team of 5 girls. We were busy every weekend with weddings, stylized shoots and bridal trials during the week.

My business partners husband played professional baseball and we knew the day would come when they would have to move. He was traded to Seattle about a year and a half after the company launched and I found myself in such a rut and a very scary place. I was torn between letting the company go or running it and our team of girls all on my own. I had so much encouragement from my husband, family, friends and our team that I chose to keep it going strong.

We were in the middle of the busy season and not having a partner helping with half the work was an adjustment, it took a serious amount of organization and hard work. We did not have a studio anymore so I ended up driving around one day looking for spaces to rent, I was in Little Italy and came across Sola Salons and they had the cutest space available with an entire wall made of glass with so much natural light (perfect for makeup) and I walked right in and took it. It was so much fun decorating it and making it a place that all of our brides would feel relaxed and so special in.

Fast forward 2 years and Blush & Adore is as busy as ever! We now have a team of 4, 2 hairstylists and 2 makeup artists, we are all so close and have more of a friendship relationship than a work one. I feel so blessed to have made it this far and to have followed my heart back in high school knowing that beauty school would be the right choice. We get to be apart of every girl’s dream day and it is so much fun!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not always been smooth that is for sure. When my business partner had to move that was a huge struggle, we were so busy with 30+ weddings booked and more coming in and I had to make the decision to run it on my own or let the company go.

At times I thought just letting it go would be easiest, I did not believe in myself or that I could do it but my family, friends and our team saw something different in me, they encouraged me to keep it running. I have definitely made many mistakes along the road (I am only human) and I have learned from every single one of them, I am happy for the struggles, I am a stronger business owner because of them!

Please tell us about Blush & Adore.
Blush & Adore is a beauty company, we specialize in bridal hair and makeup. We are known for our soft and effortless looks, we are able to give our brides their dream wedding look while still looking like themselves (just a better version).

I think what sets us apart from other beauty companies is our team, you can book hair and makeup through us (one stop shop) and our styles complement each other so well. We are able to create that soft wedding look, we specialize in airbrush makeup, boho braids and beachy up dos.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I don’t think I would have done anything differently! I am so proud of where the company is today and if anything was done differently I am not sure we would be as successful.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1550 Front St #8
• Website: www.blushandadore.com
• Phone: 6199371981
• Email: blushandadore@gmail.com
• Instagram: @blushandadore
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/blushandadore
• Other: https://www.theknot.com/marketplace/blush-and-adore-san-diego-ca-1020405

Image Credit:
Alex W Photography, Lucy Munoz Photography

Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.