Welcome, I’m Susana Calvo the founder and one of the stylists at idohairsydney. Although this business name may be relatively new, you can rest assured that I have about 20 years of experience in the Bridal hair styling and makeup service Industry. I have had the absolute pleasure of styling literally hundreds of Bridal parties throughout Sydney and beyond.
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I started off as a photographer and makeup artist many moons ago and eventually gravitated towards hair styling and fell in love with it, which has now become my obsession. I’m a strong believer in always learning new techniques, hair styles, products, tools etc to ensure I offer and provide the best service and artistic skill possible to my brides. I often create and photograph new hair styles on my styling practice doll as you can see from my gallery. Unfortunately I'm unable to post the hundreds of past clients I've serviced and photographed over the last 4- 5 years while I was representing another brand. I am however happy to show you my past work privately.
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In 2007 I launched a mobile hair and makeup business called Glam Van, a huge Mercedes Benz Van fitted out as a gorgeous parlour. From the concept, the fit out design and business model, I did it all. I had the pleasure of having a team of up to 10 stylists representing the Glam Van brand and we serviced hundreds of happy brides throughout Sydney. I operated this business till 2017 but towards the last several years I joined another business with a team of stylists while I tapered off my Glam Van bookings. I wanted to focus more on being with brides and creating hair styles more than sitting behind a computer screen 24/7 dealing with admin.
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There was no such thing as auto reply systems back then so I spent most of my life replying to literally hundreds of email enquires daily, especially after appearing on Channel 9’s shows such as; Domestic Blitz and Money for Jam. You can still watch the clip on YouTube if you search for Glam Van 2 . ( I’m the blonde driving the Glam Van. I’m no longer a blonde lol )
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After several years of being the lead senior stylist representing another brand and winning the ABIA bridal hair stylist of 2021 award, I decided to come back to building and representing my own personal brand again. I want to offer a lux style intimate hair styling experience. It’s important to me that we are both the right fit for each other and am a strong believer in attracting like minded people to my brand. Ensuring a professional but relaxed and friendly service is of the upmost priority.
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I’m a super artistic person who constantly finds myself having to be in a space where I’m creating. This includes; hair styling, photography, make up, hand beaded jewellery, crochet and creating music.
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I’m a lover of animals and will often be out in nature photographing wildlife, especially birds on my time off. My favourite animals are dogs and had two fur babies but sadly they have gone to doggy heaven. If you have pets then no worries I’m sure we will get along brilliantly.
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I’m an empathic person, so it’s no surprise I’ve had to wipe back a tear or two while I’ve been styling a brides hair. I can almost always feel when she starts to get butterflies in her stomach or feels emotional.
I love the feeling of being inspired and thrive on making woman look and feel beautiful as it’s so satisfying watching woman feel empowered. I use to love watching the make over shows on the Oprah show while I was growing up and I remember thinking to myself, I would love to do that when I grow up. My grandmother use to say; "no matter how old you are or how sick you get, you should never forget to look presentable as when you look good it makes you feel better".
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That reminds me, I use to volunteer my time to the ‘ Look good feel better ‘ program.
It’s an organisation for cancer patients that want to learn how to take care of their appearance by teaching them make up and wig application. This was dear to my heart as I too am a cancer survivor so I could definitely relate to those woman.
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I’m also a natural teacher with an interest in wanting to teach other stylists how to style hair as I’ve accumulated so much knowledge over the last 15+ years. I’m blessed enough to have the ability to break things down to their most basic form enabling students to learn quickly with a great foundation.
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I use to be a professional Salsa dancer as well for about 19 years. I use to teach, perform and compete, so the teaching aspect was definitely a great learning experience.
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I’m a super punctual reliable person, ( yes I’m the loser that would get to a party on time and find herself the first one there lol ) I’ve always put in 110% into every task I do and expect excellence from myself. I have been told on many occasion that I have a soothing presence, that I have a good sense of humour and that I’m good with knowing how much to engage or not on the day of the wedding.
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I’m usually pretty good at reading people so I know when someone is perhaps feeling uncomfortable with something, so I'd go out of my way to ensure they know they are in a safe space, allowing them to speak their truth.
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I hope I have managed to break the ice a little and you can work towards saying I Do to Idohairsydney.
I look forward to meeting you personally to hear about your story of how you fell in love and what your dream wedding hair and make up look is.
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Much Love
Susana Calvo
your wedding hair expert
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