Meghan Harrah

Eyeful Beauty Salon is owned and operated by Meghan Harrah. Prior to opening her own salon she trained under Boston's Master Stylist, Paul Kenneth, of Paul Kenneth Salon.

She is also a remarkably skilled, former educator for SO. CAP. USA Hair Extensions. Meghan, with her talent and professional and unique approach reinvents the average haircut! She will accentuate your natural beauty while providing instruction on how to maintain that salon look between visits.

Eyeful Beauty Salon caters to all ages and faces in a fun and inviting atmosphere. One visit to Eyeful Beauty is all it takes to experience what every downtown dweller and people throughout the area are raving about. Eyeful Beauty has taken downtown Lowell by storm!

Nikk Gauvreau

Nikk is passionate about hair and makeup. Nikk's interest in art and sculpture at a young age sparked her pursuit of more creative avenues, which led her to attend cosmetology school at Lowell Academy Hairstyling Institute. There, she excelled at hair cutting and styling, as well as nail manicure services. Soon after she attended classes at So-Cap New England and was certified as an extension specialist.

She later moved to Los Angeles to acquire her certificate in the Fashion and Beauty Makeup and Hairstyling Program at Make-up Designory in Los Angeles. While in LA, she worked as a freelance hairstylist and makeup artist. Her work has been featured in many magazine editorials, websites, runway shows, independent films, and look-books for red carpet designers. After returning home to Lowell, she assisted and was trained at a top salon on Newbury Street in Boston. Feeling confident and ready to continue on her career path, she joined the team at Eyeful Beauty, a hip and stylish salon that shares the same passion for hair.

Nikk continues to educate herself by styling photo shoots. She is constantly seeking out new ways to improve her craft. Her creativity and expert technical skills are the reasons we are delighted to have her a part of our EYEFUL Beauty team.

Nicole Carter

Nicole has had a life-long passion for all aspects of the beauty field. She attended cosmetology classes at Greater Lowell Technical High School and competed in nationwide hair-styling competitions for three years. She also participated in several learning and educational seminars in the cosmetology field.

After graduating, from Greater Lowell Technical School she apprenticed at Liquid Hair Studios in Boston. This was the perfect environment for her to learn from talented stylists in a fast paced salon. Her success with that experience prepared her to strike out on her own as a stylist. Happily, Nicole is now back in her home town of Lowell and working with us at EYEFUL Beauty. Nicole has found her true passion for the art of hair design and continues to expand her knowledge as a professional hairstylist.

DENTISTS RAP ORAL PIERCINGS
07/16/10 - By Rachel R. Briere, rbriere@lowellsun.com,
Lowell Sun

Nicole Carter of Lowell got her first piercing when she was 17. Now 22, she has more than 22 and at one time had nearly 30 piercings that complement her 27 tattoos.

She has the Monroe -- a metal stud placed where icon Marilyn Monroe's beauty mark was, just above the left side of her lip. Carter also sports two cheek piercings or "Dimples" and a tongue ring. Her bottom lip has been pierced four times because she wasn't happy with the placement of the first three... Read on




THE ART OF PAUL ROUSTAN
Spring 2010 - Issue 11. Amanda Budenis,
ILLUSION - The Magazine for Today's Face and Body Artist

Article features an image of Meghan Harrah done up by Paul Roustan.


Click to view full article as PDF.


25 MOST FASCINATING PEOPLE OF 2009
December 31, 2009. Rita Savard, The Sun

Some roared into the spotlight. Others worked quietly behind the scenes. But all caught our attention with their stories in 2009. In no particular order, here is the The Sun's third-annual list of the most fascinating people of the year:

#22. Megan Harrah Two years ago, the fatigue-clad Air Force staff sergeant was perched in a turret in Tikrit, Iraq, an automatic weapon in her hand. Today, her weapons of choice are a pair of sharp shears and a blow-dryer. Harrah returned home from Iraq with the Air Force and Army combat medals after her vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb. No longer able to serve, the 26-year-old combined her military know-how and passion for art to become her own boss. She owns and operates the Eyeful Beauty salon on Middle Street in downtown Lowell.


HER SERVICE IS STYLE: Lowell salon owner went from fatigues to funky
September 26, 2009. Jennifer Myers, The Sun

LOWELL -- Two years ago, a fatigue-clad U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Meghan Harrah was perched in a turret in Tikrit, Iraq, an automatic weapon in her hand. Tod ay, her weapons of choice are a pair of sharp shears and a blow-dryer.

The 26-year-old stylist and salon owner is more likely to be mistaken for a punk rocker than a soldier, more Gwen Stefani than G.I. Jane. Bright red lipstick; her combat boots and cargo pants traded in for 3-inch heels and a short, black pencil skirt; her hair blond in the back and black in the front accented by multicolored extensions; her body covered in plenty of ink. On Sept. 11, 2001, Harrah, a native of Grass Valley, Calif., was studying photography and painting at the University of Nevada in Reno.

"I dropped out of school and joined the Air Force," she said. "I just felt that was what I was supposed to do." Harrah spent four months training in Minot, N.D., to join the Air Force Security Forces, the military police for that branch of the military, which included medic training. She spent time in Korea and Japan before being stationed at Bedford's Hanscom Air Force Base, and shortly thereafter being deployed to Iraq. "Air Force cops generally guide planes on base in safe territory," she said. "That was what I thought I would be doing." She was mistaken.

Harrah's duties included running convoys with U.S. Army personnel and training newly selected Iraqi police officers -- no small task.

"Many of them were corrupt," she said. "We were in Saddam Hussein's hometown, training these guys on how to fight and arrest people, and a lot of the guys we were training were the bad guys, so it didn't make a lot of sense." Pictures of Hussein were hanging in police cruisers and police stations. While she was there, he was hanged. Her trainees, born and bred in a part of the world where women have not yet achieved equality, did not take kindly to receiving orders from a woman.

"It was extremely difficult to be a female in that position," she said. "They laughed and giggled at me. They would not listen to me, so I was eventually reassigned to head up outside security."

Harrah and three other female soldiers sat guard in turrets, keeping an eye on the landscape. They lived together is a small, cramped trailer.

She spent one year in Iraq, returning home with the Air Force and Army combat medals, several hairline fractures in her ankles, and frequent migraines. The injuries were the result of grenades being tossed under trucks she was accompanying, a common occurrence on the streets of Tikrit.

"The streets are extremely busy," she said. "We could see someone about to throw a grenade under a truck, but couldn't do anything about it because you can't open fire into a crowd." The explosive would ignite, Harrah and her team would make sure they were all still breathing, and continue on their mission. "I came home with 10 fingers, 10 toes and all of my limbs," she said. "A lot of others were not that lucky. It made me realize that life is short and you have to do what you love."

Looking for a new direction in life and knowing that she wanted to stay on the East Coast, Harrah started looking for affordable condos and fell in love with Lowell's cobblestone streets and vibrant art community. She started Googling "art careers that make money." The Blaine Beauty School kept popping up in the search. She bit. The military paid for her to attend cosmetology school.

She immediately loved everything about hair design and makeup, landed an apprenticeship with respected stylist Paul Kenneth in Woburn and trained with So. Cap. USA, a natural hair extension company, becoming an instructor for the six New England states. She took some work as a pin-up model, but soon discovered that she preferred the behind-the-scenes action of preparing the models.

In May, Harrah realized her dream, opening her own salon -- Eyeful Beauty on Middle Street in downtown Lowell. She reconnected with beauty-school pal Sabrina Calabro, who left Indra Salon in North Andover to come to work with her, and become the "backbone" of the business, according to Harrah. Breana Zarba, an experienced colorist, recently joined the team. Mumbles the cat greets clients at the door and walks the streets recruiting new clients.

"We get everyone in here, from business suits to the funky mohawk guy wearing a spiked collar," she said. "Generally, Sabrina gets the lawyers and nurses and I get the Brew'd Awakenings crowd."

Harrah gives a military discount, keeping the price equal to what would be charged at the PX. She shears the locks of the men who work at the military recruiting office down the block.

"I was stationed with a lot of those guys in Iraq, so it is nice to have that bond," she said. "Don't get me wrong, I can make people look normal."

Harrah learned this week that she has been chosen to be a stylist at the Boston Fashion Show on Oct. 3, the models for which will be contestants from America's Next Top Model.

Merging her old life with the new is the elaborate tattoo on her left arm. Drawn while she was in Iraq, it includes a heart for her family and friends, surrounded by healing snakes because she was a combat medic. In the middle of the heart sits a grenade emblazoned with the "om" sign, meaning peace. The rising sun, a peace sign, a dove and the phoenix round it out.

"I am lucky to be here," she said.

Harrah still attends physical therapy for her ankles as they rebuild their strength and the fractures slowly heal. Her doctor tells her it is probably not wise to wear 3-inch heels and walk on cobblestone streets. But she's not about to give them up. "They are part of my look," she said. "I love them."