"I realised so many of the stories I’d heard were funny, heartfelt and incredibly relatable"

A BEAUTICIAN has been inspired to write a book after hearing the stories her clients told her while having treatments. 

Debbie Parsons, 42, from St Austell, has written Secrets Behind The Salon, drawing on many years of listening to such stories. 

Clients of Debbie’s Beauty Room in Sharaman Close have been supportive of the book, knowing that Debbie has been careful not to reveal identifying details. 

Debbie said: “The idea for writing the book actually started during the covid pandemic in 2020. By then, I’d been doing beauty for about six years and I’d really started to notice just how important the one-to-one interactions with women were. 

“For a lot of my clients, coming to the salon wasn’t really just about having their nails or lashes done. It was their precious hour away from the kids, work, partners and real life. They’d come in, drop their shoulders, offload to me and leave feeling a little bit lighter. 

“I realised that so many of the stories I’d heard and the incidents I’d witnessed were funny, heartfelt and incredibly relatable, and I thought other women would enjoy them too. 

“Then lockdown happened. My business suddenly closed, the schools closed and my social life disappeared. My husband, Lee, still had to work – a paramedic, so NHS hero and all that! – and when the kids were with their other parent, I suddenly had a lot of silence and spare time. 

“I started endless projects: renovating furniture, decorating, online alcohol quizzes… and writing this book! 

“I began making notes on paper and on the computer of things I remembered. Then I started thinking about everything that had affected me and my business over the years – divorce, illness, house moves, covid and all the other madness – and writing about those too. It was a very broken and scattered writing process. Nothing in the book is in the order I wrote it and it isn’t really chronological. 

“And then, in true me fashion, I completely forgot about the partly-written book for about four years! I now understand that to probably be the ADHD in me, after being diagnosed this year. 

“In January last year, after my dad died, I closed the salon for 10 weeks. During that awful period of grief, I picked the book back up and decided I was going to finish it. Strangely, writing something light and funny gave my brain a bit of relief from everything else that was going on. 

“I finished it around the middle of last year, but it still sat there for a while. Earlier this year, I found myself in a better mindset and thought, basically, why not? Life is short and fragile, and if publishing a book meant a reason to celebrate, then I wanted to do it. 

“The book (price £12) is available on Amazon and I’m also selling copies directly from the salon. Sales have been good so far, which I’m absolutely thrilled with.” 

Working in a beauty salon means the stories keep coming – and Debbie is now working on a second book.