Award-winning Flavo beauty salon and clinic in Bishop's Stortford offers artificial beauty treatments and medical aesthetics including anti-wrinkle treatments and threads

The owner of a Bishop's Stortford beauty salon and clinic is celebrating after the business which started life at her kitchen table scooped three prestigious industry awards.

Kristina Carter opened Flavo, at Millars Three in Southmill Road, in 2017 just 10 months after she began offering beauty treatments from home in her free time in order to make ends meet.

Working as a marketing executive for a law firm in the City, she was commuting to London and struggling to pay the rent.

And doing treatments for two clients a night "to survive" saw her reputation grow rapidly and led to her quitting her day job and opening Flavo, just a few minutes walk from the station. The salon name is a term for yellow, bringing brightness and success.

Having become her own boss with no financial help, Kristina, 28, now has a team of five dedicated and highly-qualified staff – including her sister Jana – working with her at her Stortford premises.

They offer all artificial beauty treatments such as nails, brows and lashes, and medical aesthetics including anti-wrinkle treatments and threads. The price list is divided into four categories so clients can choose a technician to best suit their budget.

She still has clients from her early days working in her spare time at home and also has plenty of celebrity fans, including Jodie Marsh who posts about her trips to Flavo on Instagram.

Kristina has expanded her business step by step. She launched a training academy after getting her teaching qualifications, added clinical treatments to her list of services and developed an online shop which sells her own product range.

Having been named Beauty Training Specialist of the Year at the 2021 London & South East Prestige Awards, Kristina's team had an even better night at this summer's bash when they picked up the Beauty Salon, Aesthetic Clinic and Beauty Product Supplier of the Year titles. The salon was also a Clinic of the Year finalist at this year's UK Hair and Beauty Awards.

"We've got a great, professional and really well trained team with different personalities and levels to suit people's budgets and expectations," said Kristina.

"We are open six days a week and three nights until 9pm. Being just two minutes from the train station means we're in the perfect location to pop in after work to get a treatment done before going home.

"Our sterilising and cleaning processes are very thorough between each client and, being a clinic, we maintain the highest of standards.

"We're also very rapid at responding to clients and very active on social media. People can just message us and they will get a quick response."

Kristina is also proud to have been employed by a Potters Bar dental practice to offer medical aesthetics.

To find out more about everything Flavo has to offer, visit flavo.co.uk, call 01279 508913 or search for Flavo Beauty Salon & Clinic on Facebook and @flavobeautysalon on Instagram.