Great Spaces: Inside Calgary’s Pink Chic Waxing Boutique

While the words “body hair removal” may not summon tranquility into your heart, a newly opened esthetics boutique in northwest Calgary could significantly diminish the dread that can accompany such services. When owner Ashley Watt of Sucré Body Sugaring Boutique decided to open a third space in the Crowfoot Crossing neighbourhood, she hired designer Alykhan Velji to create a flagship location that stood out from the brand’s other studios while still following its signature blush pink and brass palette.

Sucré opened its original location eight years ago on 17th Avenue in Calgary’s Southwest, and its second in McKenzie Towne a couple of years later. Watts soon engaged Velji to boost her look with colour and details that would add warmth and luxury to both the customer and staff experience. The designer introduced a theme you could call “rosy feminism,” with pastel pinks, light wood tones and framed photographs of 1960s bombshells. In the newest location, he carries that theme further with a space dominated by pink hues and strong, sexy edges in the textures, furniture and fabric. It’s a sophisticated, pre-Barbie-mania pink that never tips to bubble gum.

“When using pinks in design, you have to be careful that it doesn’t come across as too juvenile,” says Velji. “We wanted to create a feeling of beauty and strength.”

Indeed, softness tempers the hard edges from the moment you walk into the salon. A stained-glass wall treatment at the entrance diffuses harsh prairie light into a warm glow, and a monolithic reception desk doubles as a powerful piece of sculptural art. Each treatment room has a different pink-hued wallpaper, with patterns that range from languid naked ladies to ’60s-era geometric. Hardware, shelves and side tables in brass and rose-gold tones punctuate every space, as do hints of black in photo and mirror frames. Angular herringbone wood floors meet soft fabric drapes and a curved, pastel-pink loveseat.

All in all, the salon creates the effect that you’ve drifted into an exquisite little universe—from which you’ll exit stronger and more confident than when you arrived.

This article was originally published in the September 2023 issue of Western Living Magazine.