Popular salon named best in county for third time leaving business owner ‘blown away’
A popular salon has been named the best in Northamptonshire for the third time, leaving the business owner “blown away” at her multi-award-winning success story.
The Beauty Box, in Quarry Road, opened its Duston premises more than three years ago and recently scooped another prestigious accolade to add to those won in 2022 and 2024.
Founder Rebecca Kelsey achieved her dream of opening a salon by the time she was 30, with the aim of becoming the go-to for vegan and cruelty-free beauty, massage and skincare treatments.
Her journey into the beauty industry began as a teenager, when she worked in a salon alongside her college studies.
She built up a client base after subsequently spending three years working at Whittlebury Hall and five years at Virgin Active Spa, and this has continued to expand since the launch of The Beauty Box.
Talking to the Chronicle & Echo after being named best beauty salon for a third time, Rebecca said: “I’m genuinely blown away and it doesn’t feel real. This is my own dream and the bubble I created has exploded.
“There was tough competition as there are so many awesome salons out there and we’re all doing our own individual thing. To get this recognition, we must be doing something right.”
Rebecca admits her intention was not to build a multi-award-winning business venture, it was solely to create a sanctuary where clients could visit to switch off. All Rebecca cared about was doing what she loved and had built a career in.
“The win isn’t just for me and the team, it’s for everyone who voted for us and believes in what we do,” said the founder.
“People spend their hard-earned cash with us, want to use us as their sanctuary, and want to support me as a local business owner. It’s incredible to know people see us as their go-to salon and wanted us to win.”
Rebecca believes it is the “extremely high standard of treatments” that contributed to The Beauty Box becoming a multi-award-winning business.
“We have a standard of procedure for every treatment to make sure everyone does it in the same way,” said Rebecca, who is also proud of how the business has upped its community support for Duston Parish Council and Spencer Contact charity in particular.
When asked what difference winning awards makes to independent businesses like hers, Rebecca said: “It’s absolutely incredible. We got more than 50 new Instagram followers just while we were at the awards ceremony.
“It’s been around a month since then and we have two or three new clients a day joining the system. We’re booked solid for the next three weeks and have a waiting list. Other people believe in us and now new people want to try.”
The latest developments at The Beauty Box are that all team members are now trained in microneedling and dermaplaning, and Rebecca has introduced her exclusive rituals collection of treatments.
“My plan is to try and step out of treatments more to run the business as I can’t do everything,” she said. “The rituals are high-end, luxury and bespoke treatments off the back of all my years of massage knowledge.”