“Appearances are everything,” says the 40-year-old mother of two. “They walk through the door and before I open my mouth they’ve decided whether they want me to be the one deciding how they spend their money. They’re judging you by your appearance. If you don’t look good, how can they trust you’ll make their house look good?”

Lisa says she was looking for a soft, pretty, feminine look. “I need a face and hair people can trust.”

Dr. Chaim Goldberg at The Goldberg Centre in Toronto was Lisa’s first stop. Dr. Goldberg suggested she get Evolence injected into her frown lines (between her eyebrows) and her nasolabial folds (around nose and mouth).

“I was a bit apprehensive when I found out I won the contest,” she says. “Who would want to look enhanced?” she says. “Not me. I’m not into chemicals, so I wasn’t sure about the injectable.” But twenty minutes after arriving at Dr. Goldberg’s office, she got the injectable injected and was already happier. “There was no pain. I got a bit of freezing, but I was in and out of the office in half an hour.” She says she wanted to look natural, just better.

The next stop for Lisa was Salon Escape.

Robert Barbosa, owner of Salon Escape
“Lisa’s hair is very fine, so I wanted to add some texture with layers and moisture. She also lacked tonal depth between her hair and skin tones, so we’re going to focus on colour as well as style. We don’t want her to be a fake blonde, we want her to be a pretty blonde, more natural, not bleached out.”

Danielle Treanor, senior stylist
“Lisa hasn’t had a cut in three to four months, so her ends are a bit raggedy. We’re going to clean up the bottoms, and freshen up the whole style by giving her some shape and layers in the front. She’ll be able to wear it straight or use Velcro rollers to style it and it will have great body. Since she’s in sales, we want to give her softy, sexy, ‘trust me’ hair.”

Tanya Reid, colour technician
“We’re giving her lots of highlights, and a much more natural colour. Two shades of blonde, lighter around the face, and bring back the natural hair colour.”

“I love my new look,” says Lisa. “It took a bit to get used to, but now I’m so happy. It was the best 40th birthday gift to myself that I could’ve wished for.”

* Lisa also received a gift basket of NeoStrata skin-care products, courtesy of Canderm Pharma, and custom selection of GloMinerals cosmetics.

Thanks to all our contest sponsors:
Dr. Chaim Goldberg/The Goldberg Centre for Vision Correction & Cosmetic Surgery
Robert Barbosa/Salon Escape
Canderm Pharma
NeoStrata Canada
Evolence
Vivier Pharma
GloMinerals

Photography: Jared Purdy
Makeup: Liz Robertson