Local Hair Stylist Transforms Beauty Industry Through Personal Health Journey
By John Pacenti
Photography by Cari Lager
Hair, makeup artist Christian Soul created a non-toxic, organic space after she had severe reactions to traditional chemical-based services.
Christian Soul opened Sand & Salt Salon and Head Spa on U.S. 1 in Jupiter. ‘My mission is to change the industry client by client,’ she says.
Christian Soul – hairstylist and makeup artist extraordinaire as well wellness coach – worked Fashion Week in Paris, managing a team that made 30 girls runway-ready. She worked in San Francisco, Kansas City and plied her much-sought talents at salons along the way.
She moved to Jupiter, intent on living by the ocean with a passion for surfing and horseback riding. Then her body – subjected to decades of toxic chemicals that permeate the beauty industry – simply said it had enough.
“I became chemically sensitive. My immune system shut down. Nobody knew why,” said Soul, owner of the unique organic Sand & Salt Salon and Head Spa. “I couldn’t work for two years. I was so sick, I could not step into a salon because of the chemicals.”
Now older and wiser, and equipped with years of experience, Soul opened a salon seven years ago – and recently added the head spa that offers a multi-step process to restore hair and scalp that have been exposed to harsh chemicals. Soul has curated a process to restore the scalp to its natural state.
“A wellness coach is a holistic coach that looks at relationships, diet, lifestyle, environment, the whole picture in someone’s life to help them with particular issues,” she said.
Salons like Sand & Salt, she says, hopefully will spur change. “Women understand now, going into a salon or nail salon, they are bombarded by chemicals. It’s toxic,” Soul said. “It is not good for us. And the more we stand up, the industry will change.”
Soul’s story is more than just a journey from the fast-paced life of a traveling hair and makeup artist to battling a debilitating immune issue to owning a private salon suite where she can curate the perfect environment for herself and her clients.
Soul’s story also is uniquely female, one with an epic arc that speaks to the resilience of the American woman.
“We’re shape shifters,” Soul said. “We shift into mom mode, wife mode, business mode. We can do that. We are built to do that. And I think when life puts pressure on us, I think we, as women – not all, but most – have the ability to take that pain and produce something beautiful.”
After a challenging childhood, Soul started working at the age of 13. A single mom in her early 20s, Soul has always been a healer.
She enrolled in nursing school at the age of 25 but became inspired by Bobbi Brown, who spearheaded the naturalistic makeup movement and became an icon.
Soul bought Brown’s book and started practicing makeup. She realized the medical field wasn’t for her and started looking for work in her native California. Soon, she was booking fashion and commercial photo shoots and ended up working during Fashion Week in Paris and New York.
“She just has an excellent eye. She finds it everywhere.”
Soul fell in love and moved to Kansas City with her two children. She easily found work there based on her portfolio. After her marriage ended, and with her kids grown, she was off to Jupiter, optimistic about living a slow-paced beach and surf life.
She took work in a salon that used traditional but toxic services, such as chemical straighteners. And then it happened.
“I would have rashes and hives and migraines and open wounds on my face,” Soul recalled. “I couldn’t work for to years. I was so sick.” But now, she has created a non-toxic, organic space on U.S. Highway 1 where women can decompress and just leave their numerous responsibilities at the door for an hour or two in a safe place.
“She’s just an artist,” said Jupiter resident Malise Sundstrom, a client of Soul’s for several years and a good friend. “She just has an excellent eye. She finds it everywhere.”
Sundstrom said Sand & Salt is a very relaxing environment. “Stress management, you know,” she said. “You get what needs to be done, but you also just enjoy it.”
This brings us to the head spa. The service offered, since November, combines massage, acupressure, and Ayurveda-based treatments. Some of Soul’s clients are experiencing hair loss, and the Head Spa aims to regenerate growth by restoring the scalp to its natural state.
“There is a scalp detoxification, there are oils, there’s massage that helps stimulate hair growth,” Soul said. “Experiencing the water halo bed transports the client into a relaxed, regenerated state.” Soul says her goal is simple: provide a safe, nontoxic, chemical-free space.
“Women now are being drawn to the more concierge, one-on-one, private, suite experience. They don’t like all of the talking, all of the noise, and blow dryers and they really love the private and the calm.” And her mentor, Bobbi Brown? She now has a home in the Jupiter area and has become a dear client and friend to Soul.
“She found me through her yoga teacher online, and I just did Bobby Brown’s autobiography book cover. I colored and styled her hair for her,” Soul said.
“My mission is to change the beauty industry client by client.”
