Thi Time

Nestled in a bright little boutique off University Avenue in Palo Alto, California, is the newly-opened Thi Salon, a makeover haven that houses, in its tiny 600-square foot space, a cornucopia of beauty services and products.

Makeup artist Taylor Pham and business partner Mimi Tran Rickett make the most of the petite space, offering services like wedding makeup, makeup lessons, hair styling and brow design.

“I don’t like to do a lesson until a client grows their eyebrows out,” Pham said. “To have great makeup you start with the brows.” Pham shapes the brows with a combination of waxing and tweezing for $25.

But her biggest request is her signature lush lash lessons. Tired of trimming conventional store-bought lashes to suit her Asian clientele, Pham manufactured her own. Incredibly, they work on every type of eye just as her buildable Seamless foundation, in five golden hues, works on many skin tones. “Most women have golden undertones,” Pham said, “whether they know it or not.”

Within the sun-dappled space, a place for models, moms and mortals alike, is the entire line of Pham’s small yet powerful line of Asian-inspired Thi cosmetics, which includes a multi-tasking myriad of poppy-hued cream blush palettes that double as lipsticks, shimmery eyeshadows that can be used as highlighter, deceptively subtle blushes that bloom on the skin, high-shine reflective glosses that possess a mirror-like sheen and the quintessential red lipstick, named Quinn.

Sheer, gorgeous washes of color stock the studio, where education and technique are key players in making a face. “Foundation is not meant to be put everywhere,” Pham explained. Instead, it is used sparingly and only as needed, topped with concealer for problem areas, then dusted with Pham’s unique pressed minerals, free from bismuth oxychloride, “a cheap filler that creates a chalky pallor,” Pham explained.

Mimi Tran Rickett added, “At the end of the day you want results—ingredients that are healthy for the skin yet offer results. Our foundation is packed with things that are good for your skin, like ginkgo baloba, ginseng root extract, Green Tea and White Tea which fight pigmentation. Our cream eyeshadow contains brightening soy extract,” she said.

“The beauty of makeup is in emphasizing and enhancing features, not piling on tons of makeup,” Pham added. “Less really is more. You don’t want to spackle on foundation and concealer. Let the beauty of natural skin show through. Pat it on, warming it first on your hand. Don’t use a foundation brush,” she said. “Your best tools are your hands.”

Pham expressed her passion for educating and empowering women. “You feel better, you exude more confidence, when your face looks good,” she said. “We love seeing a woman come in and then leave feeling powerful and beautiful. You really can see how it improves the way a woman feels.”

Thank you, Taylor. Cảm ơn bạn.