YANN BEYRIE PARIS: ‘The Joy of Hair is an Art’ – Interview

Lively playlist, attentive staff & professionalism are the first impressions we had when we entered Yann Beyrie Paris.

In fact, a few days ago, So Chic had the opportunity to meet Yann and Elyse, respectively founder & salon coordinator at Yann Beyrie Paris.

Located at 435 Orchard Rd, this French Hair Salon combines its contemporary expertise with your needs, desires and dreams. And believe us, it does it well!

Let’s now discover our conversation with Elyse!

1. Could you start by introducing yourself, the way you want?
Hi! My name is Elyse, I’m 23 years old. I’m half French and half Singaporean but I was born and grew up in Vietnam. I have been in Singapore for 3 years now and I’m the salon coordinator at Yann Beyrie Paris!

2. It’s the first time So Chic meets a salon coordinator for an interview! Could you tell us a bit about how you ended up at Yann Beyrie Paris?
So, actually, I was initially working at a different location. One day, the owners happened to take over the space next to Yann Beyrie Paris (which is now our VIP room!) and asked me to move over this location. From that day on, I used to pass by Yann Beyrie every day on my way to work. This is how I met Yann! He said ‘hello’ and I happened to say ‘hello’ as well, we thus had a little chat. I introduced myself to him and because I was very new in Singapore at the time, he kindly offered me some guidance and his help.

Later, after having worked in a few other retail locations, I remembered what he said, I came back and that’s how I ended up here [laughs]!

3. Did you have the opportunity to work abroad?
I moved around a lot during my life, I have been everywhere, kind of [laughs]. So from Vietnam I moved to Shanghai, then Jakarta, the US in Arizona for a year and a half. I came back to Vietnam, then moved again to the Netherlands and then Singapore!

I think now is the longest I have been somewhere for the last 10 years.

Building client relationships is what I like most about my job. The entire client-facing role is super enjoyable. You know, giving great service, making people happy!
Elyse from Yann Beyrie Paris

4. And what did you learn from your experiences?
Wow [laughs]. I think working with people, having soft and interpersonal skills is something you develop by moving and being around people from totally different cultures. I was really fortunate because I grew up studying in international schools and most of my friends are from kind of similar backgrounds, very open-minded.

You end up taking the best of every culture and you take that with you. I loved every single country that I lived in, to some extent. If you were to tell me to rank from best to worst, I don’t think I could because I really liked different aspects of each country. I love travelling in general!
And you decided to settle in Singapore for a while, now working at Yann Beyrie Paris! I have a few questions about the hair salon itself:

5. How did the adventure started?
Yann wanted to challenge himself and get out of his comfort zone. That’s why he decided to open its own salon, almost 5 years ago. If I’m not wrong, he has been in Singapore for a couple years before that!

6. Do you see any obvious differences between the French approach and the Singaporean one regarding hairdressing? Are customers’ expectations the same?
I would say I do. I think the most obvious difference is when it comes to expectations for great customer service and quality customer service which, I think, Singaporean clients do not expect as much. Not to say that they don’t but there is definitely a different approach regarding expectations. It reflects cultural differences. In Singapore, or Asia in general, people are a little bit more reserved, and, you know, less direct. From eye contact, body language and even little gestures are different.

You can expect a high level of care given to your hair, quality work and quality customer service […].
Elyse from Yann Beyrie Paris

7. On your website, you’re talking about ‘French ideals of beauty’. What are they?
Actually, we must not misinterpret the expression, because beauty is multicultural, there is not one specific image that you should look at. When we say ideals, we are talking about everyone’s beauty. I would say it’s definitely more guided towards improving the beauty that you already have than trying to compare you with what could be considered as beauty standards.

Beauty is kind of an universal thing. French, Singaporean… we all want to emphasize the same things. These ideals of beauty are in everything that we do and in all our actions.

8. How do you succeed in putting the French touch you’re famous for in your activity?
You can expect a high level of care given to your hair, quality work and quality service but also a true understanding about how to emphasize what you already have and make it better. Really finding something that’s suitable for you. Yann Beyrie Paris is very good at telling you when something doesn’t work and finding what you’re missing.

9. Did you encounter any difficulties since you have been working at Yann Beyrie Paris? How did you manage to overcome them?
Personally, for me, I don’t really deal with challenges or obstacles in the sense that I enjoy finding solutions. I am not the type of person to get intimidated by challenges.

When I first start working here, especially on weekends, it could be really intense. We have long days, a lot of clients, which keeps us very busy so managing my energy throughout the day is something I had to learn. It just came with experience. I would also say stress, but I think you can learn techniques and ways to deal with stress, voicing up and talking to your colleagues can really help too when you’re feeling a little bit tense!

Just be yourself, be genuine with people, be sincere. You know, clients are not aliens [laughs]. They’re like us, humans. They have expectations but they can also relate.

At the same time, I think you do need a certain personality and skill set to be able to do your job effectively and communicate. Nevertheless, you can learn that! That’s not impossible [laughs].

10. I heard that you have a very diverse team that comes from 5 different cultures and countries. Was it a choice or more of a coincidence?
There are a lot of different hairdressers here in Singapore. The country itself is very multicultural. You can find all different nationalities in one place. So, It might be at first something coincidental.

Nevertheless, to some extent, it’s also Yann’s choice: Yann sourcing the right talent, wherever he was looking and picking the right people to fit into his team, reflecting what Yann Beyrie Paris should look like.

You can see we have people from all different backgrounds, mixed, who have lived or have experiences in multiple countries. As I do I guess [laughs]!

11. Do you think this cultural diversity makes Yann Beyrie Paris hair salon different?
I think that something that attracts and makes people book at Yann Beyrie Paris is, of course, the fact that we are a French salon. We cannot, and don’t want to, break this image.

To really answer the question you’re asking me, I personally don’t know because I never worked in another hair salon. That’s my honest answer.

But if you look at our clientele, you can see that we’re attracting international clients, from everywhere. They’re not just French, or European, not just American… They really are from everywhere, from all different backgrounds. You can be French speaking, English speaking, Chinese speaking… We cater for everyone.

I think our team reflects that as well […]. The team you have and the clients you attract match each other. They reflect each other.

12. Because you’re working for an hair salon, I have a last question to ask that seems quite de rigueur! If you had only one hair product to recommend to our readers, what would it be?
The one I always use is actually our own Hair Serum. It’s super easy to use & doesn’t add a lot of steps to your normal routine. I like to air-dry my hair and I absolutely want to have an anti-frizz effect, for it to be soft and detangled. So, after the shower, I towel-dry my hair and then I add one to two pumps of the hair serum. That’s it!

Honestly, this is the only thing you need to have in your bag. I’m pretty sure my boyfriend uses it as well [laughs] so it’s perfect for every gender. You can also use it for kids if they go to the pool a lot! I mean, our hair is exposed to the sun, as well as humidity, all the time in Singapore so why not get a product that can give your hair a little extra love?

13. That’s right! Well, can you tell us a bit more about your Hair Product range to conclude the interview?
Our hair care products combine over 20 years of expertise with an approach entirely dedicated to the world of fashion and beauty. They are all designed and manufactured to meet the requirements of our customers and submitted to high quality standards.

Above all, our team is happy and proud to be able to perpetuate and share the savoir-faire of French culture day after day with made-in-France products!

Plumeria is a made-in-France & cruelty-free range, based on natural origin content and free from sulfates, silicones, parabens, phthalates, and gluten.