We had the good fortune of connecting with Michelle Dinsmore and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Michelle, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I was born in Wyoming and come from a line of rebel perfectionists. We moved around a lot and met a lot of people, so while I craved the steady rhythm of staying in one place, I still need regular change in my life.
Brows has been open for 18 years and I’ve been in the salon world for a very long time, but developing new services and working with clients and staff has been good enrichment for my restless nature.
Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The “Brow Expert” role I am in today has evolved so greatly from where it started, I had always expected to be a teacher, but my best friend Kim introduced me to my passion, meeting for lunches at her beauty school.
It seemed like a cruel joke, since beauty school was the butt of so many jokes back then, and I was determined to do something “IMPORTANT”. I’m so pleased to report that life in the salon and the work we do there has been important since women started caring for each other.
After mastering the Jennifer Aniston from Friends haircut, Salon manager Dagmar guided me to make the jump to Esthetics. Energy work and facials turned out to be a delightful job! I wasn’t keen on waxing, having never experienced anything about it growing up. Ripping hairs out hurt my tender heart!
Brow madness set in within a year or two. The obsession grew as I tried to decipher the design difference between the eyebrows in regular magazines and the architectural wonders in W and Bazaar. Hair goddess Hailey sat with me and helped crack the Brow Code! Bliss!
It started with a pot of hot honey wax, 10 minute appointments and a main goal of getting rid of the unibrow.
We are living in the time of the eyebrow revolution and now I get to transform color and texture, wax and thread to suit all styles of humans!
Finding the sweet spot between brow trends, each human’s natural beauty, and personality is where the magic lies.
Artistry, Craft, & Design are equal elements of the perfect salon service. Communication and pampering are key.
I think that’s what I really love. Being able to explore all possibilities of color, texture, line, negative space, cultural references, style references – all the art of it. At the same time working within the constraints of each client or model’s past experience, culture, desires, personal expression.
Another aspect of any art practice is relevancy.
There is a responsibility to own the effects of colonialism on the modern populations that invented the technologies we use today.
I couldn’t be more pleased that the Brow Life chose me, it is physically and emotionally demanding, but I can’t live without it!
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh Denver! The first day I would take them over to On and Off Cafe so we could sit and talk and eat and catch up. It has an Old Denver feel, and the fried potatoes and matcha latte satisfy all! Walking around the Brow neighborhood I would want them to meet all my small business buddies- Massimo at Maci (get some coffee there), wave at our new neighbors at Alma, Nicole and AJ at Amendment 21, (grab some wine and vinyl there), the crew at Bald Laser and see if Emily is in at Golden Hour tanning- After introducing them to my crew at Brows, I’d give them the VIP treatment- probably a Brow Spa Facial or a Lash Lift and Lamination, then do their makeup.
We can spend at least a day checking out the Milk Can Ice cream place, Little Man and all the little shops there-
Spend some time at the clubhouse Birch Road on Lipan and open our wine- and talk to Lisa and the gang there- then head to Sloan’s lake for a walk or go to the Alamo for a movie, or Ophelia’s for dinner and a show. Maybe Mission Ballroom will have a good show.
Next day we need to head up to the mountains! If they need to get back to Denver, we would go to some of my day trip faves. I call it Sad Girl Hiking club- huge payoff in gorgeous views, but not a lot of actual incline, since so many visitors aren’t ready for the oxygen situation. My favorite day trip spots are the Denver park at Genesee, drive up Lookout Mountain, back into golden and eat at Sherpa House there. The back trail through Coors is gorgeous. El Dorado canyon has a trail called Fowler that is what I call the Disney land of trails- wheelchair accessible and stellar views including eagles nests and watching expert climbers do vertical walls across the canyon. Lair of the Bear is another low effort great views trail.
It would be fun to get to Glenwood Springs, Princeton Hot Springs and check out Buena Vista and Salida, or Go up to Rocky Mountain National & Estes, or Strawberry Park and Steamboat Springs. Durango has tons of views food and great shopping- and the camp ground off the Colorado trail is a green wonder.
We will need a Denver Art Day – MCA, Denver Art Museum, Museo de las Americas, The Kirkland. Hopefully they can come on a First Friday so we can do Santa Fe and West Colfax. I love going to the Mad Greens on the Art plaza, and I would probably take them to City o City for lunch (Seitan Wing Ceasar Salad) and Head to the Sie Film center (Grab some Wellness Sushi).
We would need an afternoon and night shopping and drinking our way up and down Broadway- show them the Church, the Roxy, Maybe Kate from Katari would be around to show us her Studio.
I’m a sucker for city park and Cap Hill so I’ll take them to St Marks for coffee and kick ass food, and hopefully they’ll like all the cool record stores, Fashionation, save some extra time for Alchemy Ritual Goods,
There are so many Sip and Create options- Leaves of Three, Upstairs Circus, Dizs Daisies, Sipping and Painting, and Hopefully Stryker Silver shop would be open for classes by then.
We would have to meet Dani at Sol Shine on Highlands square, and drive out to Ritualcravt on Wadsworth. Maybe get a tattoo next door.
Haircut at Alchemy and Reverie, or Blu Daisy, Manicure from my nail gurus at Classy Nails, pedicure with a view at Purluxe, Massage and a Yoga Class at Revive, Christmas shop at Candyl, lunch at Ohana. Stop by Three dog Bakery for the pups.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I can never name just one person, the magic that made Brows what it is today, is a sparkling web of hundreds and thousands of people. It’s super overwhelming at times. The caterpillar in our logo, Harry, has a life of his own and I benefit from the support of people I haven’t even met!
I do want to thank Connie Chavez-Wiseman for connecting us for this interview, and shout out her eternal optimism. She is super cool.
Website: Brows.blogspot.com
Instagram: @mdbrowsmd and @browsdenver
Image Credits
Teresa Opel Ele Meyer