From Down Under to Up Top
LA Brow Expert Nieves Calvo-King Brings her Empire to West Hollywood
If the eyes are the windows to the soul, shouldn’t we ensure that the areas surrounding them are well-kept? This may initially induce visions of makeup, but there may be an even more important factor: our eyebrows. LA brow expert Nieves Calvo-King noticed a trend of well-applied makeup not being enough for a beautiful result on clients whose brows weren’t properly-shaped while working as a freelance bridal hair and makeup artist in Australia. This prompted a deep-dive into the world of brows, which steamrolled into an obsession, turning Calvo-King a threading authority and international business owner.
After opening two successful brow bars in Sydney and moving to LA, one of Calvo-King’s celebrity clients, WWE wrestler Nikki Bella, introduced her to her hairstylist Paul Norton, who invited her into his collaborative and supportive salon environment at “Leo by Paul Norton” in West Hollywood. Norton’s salon offers hair dressing services, spray tans, sugaring, and facials in addition to Calvo-King’s brow expertise. She provides threading on all parts of the face, brow tinting, as well as full shape and consultations for brows that include brow measuring, growth analyses, history, and treatment plans.
For those unfamiliar with threading, it is a hair removal practice originating in South Asia and the Middle East centuries ago that is increasing in popularity in the Western world. A practitioner uses a piece of thread to grab individual hairs and pull them out at the root. It is superior to waxing for a long list of reasons: waxing can create saggy skin from pulling over time, waxing removes 2-3 layers of skin which can result in hyperpigmentation, ingrown hairs, missed hairs, and it can cause burns, bleeding, and bruises in extreme cases. Threading also removes all hairs (as opposed to potentially snapping just the exposed part off) and allows for a more precise removal of hair.
According to Calvo-King, natural brows are currently fashionable, and she hopes and believes this trend is here to stay. She feels that the thin brows from the 1920s which resurfaced in different variations in the 70s, 90s, and early 2000s are a sure-fire way to look older. This is where, for many, microblading comes in. Microblading is a semi-permanent tattoo procedure involving extremely fine cuts into the skin with a cosmetic ink applied, and can be a great solution for anyone who has over plucked in the past, or simply has few brow hairs.
This LA brow expert is passionate about changing the way we think about brows, and educating both the public and beauty practitioners on the five main points of the brow, how to balance them using the client’s facial features, and how to maintain brows between visits. Between recently doing Priyanka Chopra’s brows for BeautyCon in LA and the classes Calvo-King is offering in the Fall, there’s plenty of excitement in the brow queen’s world.
For inquiries, contact info.nievescalvo@gmail.com, @nievescalvoking on instagram, or contact Leo by Paul Norton to book an appointment.