Meet
Erica + Renee
A symbiotic power duo providing unparalleled beauty experiences anywhere you are
For two fiercely independent artists with decades of combined experience working in fashion, TV, theater, production and education all over the globe, our journey to merging our two businesses grew slowly and organically over the years of working together. We've developed an indelible partnership through a shared passion for masterful work, uncompromising integrity, loyal friendship and a relentless drive to elevate our industry. Through the art of hospitality and human connection, we provide uniquely transcendent experiences for women at a time when they're the most seen and vulnerable. We feel grateful our work can put so much love and happiness out into the world, lifting women up, including ourselves.
We travel everywhere from our home bases in Newport, RI and New Haven, CT
THIS IS OUR LIFE'S WORK.
Skin. It's (literally) the foundation for good makeup. Erica is renowned as a best-in-class clean beauty specialist famous for her "skin + spirit" focus.
Erica is known for her modern, clean, skin-focused aesthetic, her calming, laid back demeanor, dry sense of humor and her ability to make people feel like a million bucks.
Born in Southern California, then raised and educated in Connecticut, Erica was influenced early-on by the supermodel/magazine culture of the '90s, but got her true start in makeup in the world of performance, studying costume design, theatrical makeup, and wigs at Emerson College in Boston, graduating with a degree in theater studies and design technology.
She then moved to NYC and reached out to former Emerson alumni, makeup artist Bobbi Brown, who connected Erica with her team, and she soon fell into the fashion and beauty world there. After a few years of cutting her teeth as a freelance artist, she decided to step away from makeup in order to gain some business and production acumen, and later worked as a fashion photography producer, where she traveled the globe alongside some of the world's most prominent photographers, designers, supermodels, celebrities and retailers for many years.
As a photo producer, she was fortunate to be in a role of hiring some of the best makeup artists in the world, gaining a unique insider vantage point seeing how the best of the best work, and subsequently reminding her how much she missed it.
So she came back to beauty. After moving out of the city, she dipped her toes into the wedding industry, discovered it to be the perfect intersection of theater, production and fashion along with her desire to support women during emotionally vulnerable events, and was hooked. The transformative power of makeup has been a lifelong passion of hers, though these days she's most interested in makeup as a tool for transforming the way women feel. The connections she makes when she's invited to share intimate spaces with women are what she values most in her career.
In 2019, Erica and her husband bought their dream house, where they now live with their son, dogs and chickens in the coastal vacation town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, where the light and open spaces by the ocean are incredibly inspiring to come home to.
ERICA MARTELL
HAIR. It is an extension of our identity. With two decades as a master stylist, Renee can interpret her clients' visions, and has the expertise to bring dream hair to life.
Renee is renowned for her thoughtfully designed, touchable hairstyles, her calm presence, warm hugs, and her (unapologetically) corny sense of humor.
A Connecticut native, Renee was born the daughter of a hairdresser and salon owner. From a young age, you could find her experimenting on the head of anyone willing, sometimes to the chagrin of a parent at a sleepover. Although she worked nights and weekends through high school as an assistant at her mother's salon, upon graduating, she actually decided to pursue a degree in child psychology in college.
But her natural propensity towards art and the desire to create led her back to the world of hairdressing, so she decided to pivot and explore a career in cosmetology, and quickly rose to the top of her class as standout. Shortly before graduation, she was selected to train as an educator for Paul Mitchell The School, and immediately began her decade-long tenure of working with, educating and training hundreds of new stylists as well as seasoned professionals, traveling all over the country. During this time, she herself trained for over 10,000 hours in the art of haircutting, which notably led her to becoming one of the first women to ever join the Paul Mitchell Advanced Academy Cutting Team, a significant personal goal and accolade.
Looking to expand her skill set and explore the world of live television, Renee was offered a position working for ESPN/Disney and spent the next 10 years styling hair behind the scenes for on-air talent, professional athletes, and celebrities in studio and on location. Working and traveling with large-scale productions annually, like the Indy 500 and the Super Bowl, helped her develop a keen eye for detail and the ability to anticipate needs. All of this helped to pave the way towards building a business that is a live event in and of itself -- weddings.
Craving a stronger sense of purpose and fulfillment in her career, Renee began to grow her presence in the wedding industry as a way to connect with and uplift other women. One hairstyle at a time, she produces masterful work all while providing a safe space for women to be vulnerable and present during one of the most cherished times in their lives.
Renee lives with her husband, son and dogs in a cozy little craftsman home in East Haven, Connecticut.
RENEE RUSSO
Our Story
About a year later we met again by chance while Erica was helping work the window of her husband’s banh mi food truck at the Wooster Square Farmers Market, and a very pregnant Renee approached the window looking to fulfill her morning kimchi craving. We chatted and realized in addition to sharing a love for the beauty industry, we also shared a love for food and hospitality.
After Renee’s son was born, we were booked on a shoot together for the first time, and had one of the most memorable days in our careers. Neither of us had experienced such an easy, intuitive and transcendent working experience before and we immediately realized we had a special something something.
After that shoot, we began exclusively referring each other for work, and our partnership organically evolved over the course of the years to the point where we were working almost exclusively together on everything from luxury weddings to ad campaigns.
In 2021 we decided to become partners after we realized there was something truly unique about our work together as a team, and that no one was doing what we were doing in the way we were doing it. We officially merged as a duo in March 2022, and it's been a wildly successful journey ever since.
We first met at an industry event, when we both worked as solo specialists in our respective crafts.