J.Rose & Co. Salon located in the Retreat Club house in State College, PA.
By: Kristen Baker, Taylor Lennox, and Rachel Stall
The Retreat apartments in state college are more then just a place to live. They have a variety of different services available to residents and the out community, including a gym, pool and salon. J. Rose & Co is the salon located inside the Club House at the Retreat Apartment Complex. Which not only welcomes those who live at the Retreat but locals as well.
Cosmetologist Lydia Smith has been doing hair, nails, and makeup at the Salon for two years starting at just 18-years-old.
Smith said that she was inspired to pursue a career in cosmetology after growing up watching her gram own her own salon.
“My gram owns her own salon so when I was about in sixth grade or seventh grade and we saw a vocational school I started taking cosmetology classes,” said Smith.
Smith said she enjoys doing makeup the most and has fun playing around with different styles such as the look for a classic wedding or a high school prom.
Smith takes pride in being a perfectionist when it comes to makeup and cosmetology and goes into detail about what type of look she prefers “I like the more polished looks as to the more creative, basically I prefer doing prom and special effects makeup.”
Working as a stylist can be a hectic and stressful job, especially when clients can have high demands. But that doesn’t stop Smith for she thinks that it is a great way to zone out and get completely involved in what she is doing and can forget about everything else when she does someones hair, makeup, or nails.