Salon Professional Products

Blue Sky Beauty is a distributor of salon professional products for salons and stylists in the New York Metro area and Long Island.  We pride ourselves on delivering a carefully curated selection of the highest quality brands that are never mass marketed.  We pride ourselves on offering clean brands to support and promote the health and well being of the salon/stylists who are exposed to chemicals daily.  We pride ourselves on providing exceptional levels of customer support.  We pride ourselves on standing behind the professional salon/stylist, and contributing to the success of each and every one of them by delivering quality products, superior service, and on-going eductation to support them and their business.  These beliefs make up the four pillars of Blue Sky Beauty:  Stylist Support, Indie Brands, Anti-Diversion and Education. 

 

To understand the history of Blue Sky Beauty is to understand why we are so firm in our beliefs and convictions. 

 

OUR STORY

The Korean War came to an end in 1953, and when James (Jimmy) Drew returned stateside, he decided to use his GI Bill to attend beauty school and become a hairdresser.  He met Lee Canzonari, a hairdresser, and they married.  Jimmy soon found out that he was allergic to the chemicals in hair color and bleaching products and could no longer work as a hairdresser.  He took a job as a sales representative with a beauty supply called Gale Beauty Supply located in Freeport, NY.  In 1958 Lee and Jimmy welcomed their first set of twins, and in 1959, they had a second set of twins.  Lee continued to work as a hairdresser, setting up shop in her basement (one of the original “salon suites”) while looking after their four children. 

 

In 1965, Jimmy and a partner, Bob Leeds, bought Gale Beauty Supply.  Gale was a full service beauty supply, offering everything from cotton to bobby pins to perm rods to manicure and pedicure supplies.  Jimmy and Bob were also pretty forward thinking, and they built out a classroom where they provided monthly education to stylists.  This caught the attention of some major brands of the time, and they became the exclusive distributor for Vidal Sassoon and Matrix, elevating them from being a beauty supply to a professional distribution company (back then Matrix was one of the first professional brands on the market!).  

 

In 1991, Bob retired, and Jimmy recruited his son, Larry (along with his son-in-law), to leave his job in technology sales at a Fortune 500 company and join the family business.  Gale Beauty Supply continued to flourish, and they soon attracted brands such as Joico and Farouk Systems (later known as CHI).  Soon after Jimmy retired.  Seeing growth opportunity, Gale Beauty Supply merged with another distributor on Long Island adding ARTec to the portfolio and re-branded as One Way Salon Systems.  At this point, the company was beginning to develop into it’s niche of carrying hairdresser-owned brands and standing vocally against diversion in support of the salon/stylist.  The focus on education continued, and One Way Salon Systems became known as the distributor for professional salons/stylists who were truly comitted to the craft. 

 

Larry left the business for two years to pursue other interests, but realized quickly that his heart was in the beauty industry so he decided to launch a new company.  The only problem was it was 2007 and the country was in the middle of the worst recession it had seen since the Great Depression.  Salon owners were scared.  There was little business.  Larry was scared, too.  He hadn’t been in the industry in over two years and didn’t know what to expect.  Affirming his comittment to the four pillars that brought so much success to the business for so many years, Larry launched Blue Sky Beauty, a streamlined, laser-focused, boutique distributor with emphasis on vegan and clean brands, and immediately found success in his ability to support the salon/stylists by offering better tools, education and products never available in Ulta or on Amazon.  

 

Over the past 14 years, Blue Sky Beauty has continued to focus on its core principals to deliver the utmost in service to it’s salon/stylists.  With the launch of this website, Blue Sky Beauty is able to provide even greater service and support and we look forward to serving you for years to come.

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