From Home Salon to Top 10 in Brisbane: The Lynn Beauty Care Story

How a love of the craft, a word-of-mouth reputation, and a hard-won lesson in quality over quantity built one of Brisbane’s most trusted lash and brow destinations.

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Lynn moved to Brisbane in 2019 with no particular plan to open a business. She just wanted to do something she loved. Within a month of setting up a small home studio, she was fully booked. Within six months, she had four staff, up to sixty appointments a day, and a reputation that spread entirely by word of mouth. What happened next taught her everything she needed to know — about business, about people, and about herself.

Lynn recently made Cosmopolitan Courier’s top 10 lash and brow salons in Brisbane — a recognition that reflects not just skill, but a hard-earned philosophy. We sat down with her to hear the story behind the business: the organic rise, the difficult lessons of rapid expansion, and the deliberate path she’s now charting toward something smaller, more personal, and more meaningful.

THE BEGINNING

Before Lynn Beauty Care existed, who were you — and what were you doing?

Lynn arrived in Australia on a student visa, initially studying project management. It didn’t take long to realise it wasn’t the right fit. “I had a bachelor degree from back home and came here to study further — but when I started, I stopped. It just wasn’t for me.” She pivoted to a beauty diploma and found something that held her attention completely. By 2017 she was focused on lash techniques, and she made a deliberate move to Melbourne to deepen her experience.

“I didn’t just want to work in one salon. I wanted to experience different cultures — Western companies, Korean salons, Japanese salons — to see how they ran things and what I could learn from each of them.” It wasn’t about building a business at that point. She simply wanted to master the craft. In 2019 she relocated to Brisbane, and not long after, she set up a small studio at home.

“I never planned to open a business. I just wanted to do something I loved. Things started forming from there.” — Lynn Nguyen

What did the early days actually look like?

Lynn set up a home studio and started taking clients under the name LLL — built around the L-curve, a lash extension style known for its straight base and dramatic upward angle. “I used the triple L in the name because I was focused on the L-curve at the time. And it starts with my name too, so it was easy for people to remember.” Around the same time, a close friend who had been dealing with cancer lost her job. Lynn trained her in lashes and brows so they could work together. What began as a practical arrangement quickly grew into something much larger.

Within a month she was fully booked. By the third month, 30 clients a day were coming through her home. The setup was at its limit and they soon moved to a small shop with two rooms and four beds. Within six months of opening, LLL had four staff and between 50 and 60 bookings a day — all driven entirely by word of mouth. There was no marketing campaign, no social media strategy. Her approach was simply to look after people well.

“My marketing was the quality of the work and the way I looked after my clients. That was it. When you focus on that, people talk.”

GROWTH, AND WHAT IT COST

Top 10 in Brisbane — when you saw that Cosmopolitan Courier feature, what went through your mind?

“I felt happy and surprised. But honestly, it feels different now to how it felt when we first became number one. Back then it was more of a rush. Now, it’s less about being at the top and more about who I’ve become in the process. I think people today are looking for connection and quality for the money they spend. That’s what I want to keep delivering.”

What happened when the business started scaling up quickly?

As demand at the two-room shop grew, Lynn moved LLL to a larger space near the Waterloo Hotel on Ann Street to prepare for the Christmas rush. It was the next logical step, but it came with challenges she hadn’t fully anticipated. Key staff were unable to continue or returned overseas. New people came on before there was enough time to train them to the standard she required. And the quality that had built her reputation began to slip.

“We were too busy. We didn’t have enough time to train people properly. And the quality started falling. I lost loyal clients because of it. They told me: Lynn, it doesn’t feel the same as before.”

That feedback was hard to hear, but she took it seriously. She stepped back, moved to a smaller salon in Newstead, and made a decision that reflected everything she had learned: she rebranded as Lynn Beauty Care, putting her own name on the door and her focus firmly back on quality over volume. The business today runs on a strong base of returning clients, most of whom found her through word of mouth.

“I lost loyal clients because the quality fell. They told me: it doesn’t feel the same as before. That was hard to hear.” — Lynn Nguyen

What’s the hardest decision you’ve had to make as a business owner?

For Lynn, the answer isn’t about leases or finances. It’s about people. “Managing people has been the biggest learning. Knowing when a situation isn’t working and how to address it in a way that doesn’t hurt anyone — that’s genuinely hard. It’s something I’m still learning.”

THE CRAFT & THE CULTURE

Lashes and brows — why does this service mean so much to the women who come to you?

“Women have a deep need to feel beautiful — for themselves first, not for anyone else. When they feel beautiful, they feel confident. They feel ready to take on whatever they’re facing. It goes beyond the cosmetic. It’s emotional.”

What separates Lynn Beauty Care from other salons in Brisbane?

“Quality and safety, always. And fair pricing — I want clients to be able to come every fortnight without it being a stretch. The whole point is a long-term relationship. That only works if the value is there every single time.”

What kind of culture do you build with your team?

“I want them to feel like family. Not just colleagues — people who genuinely support each other. When the team feels comfortable and happy, that energy transfers directly to the client. Clients notice it. They feel it in the room.”

THE WOMAN BEHIND THE BUSINESS

What’s something about running a business that genuinely surprised you?

“How much I learned about myself. When I started, I wasn’t thinking deeply about any of it — I just wanted to earn an income doing something I loved. But running a business makes you look at yourself honestly. And when you understand yourself better, you understand people better too. That was the real surprise.”

“Now I do what I love every day. That’s not something I take for granted.”

Was there ever a version of you that almost didn’t do this?

“I never planned to open a business — it kind of just happened. I loved talking to my clients, I loved the work, and things started forming naturally from there. There was no big moment of decision. It grew from doing what felt right.”

Her philosophy, with the benefit of hindsight: stay curious, stay humble, and keep learning. “When you think you’ve already made it, that’s when you stop growing. I try to keep an open mind and learn something every single day.”

“When you think you’ve already made it, that’s when you stop growing. I try to keep an open mind and learn every single day.” — Lynn Nguyen

WHAT’S NEXT

Where do you see Lynn Beauty Care in five years?

She’s got a clear vision: a boutique luxury home salon.

“I’ve come to realise that running a business purely for the money doesn’t make me happy. What makes me happy is meaningful relationships with clients — knowing them properly, looking after them in detail. I want to go back to that. A smaller client base, a luxury environment, long-term connections. Similar to how I started, but with everything I’ve learned along the way.”

Finish this sentence: “Success, to me, means…”

“When I feel I’m providing value to the people around me, and doing that every single day — not just in business, but in life. That’s what success means to me.”

Lynn Beauty Care is currently located in Brisbane’s suburb of Newstead. Book via her website or follow her journey on Instagram.