Exclusive: How Natasha Cornstein is Revolutionizing Beauty with Blushington’s Luxury Experience
Blushington is shaking up the beauty industry, creating a go-to destination where NYC locals and tourists alike can indulge in the ultimate glam experience.
Looking for the best blowouts and makeup applications in NYC? Whether you're planning the ultimate mother-daughter NYC itinerary, a girls' weekend in Manhattan or the perfect pre-game before a night out, Blushington is your go-to beauty destination. Conveniently located in Midtown NYC, Blushington offers expert blowouts, flawless makeup applications and premium beauty services that cater to all hair types and skin tones.
For CEO Natasha Cornstein, Blushington is more than just a beauty salon—it’s a space where luxury meets inclusivity. Her journey with the brand began as a customer in the makeup chair, and now she’s leading Blushington’s franchise expansion into Washington, D.C., Boca Raton and Houston, bringing its signature high-end experience to more beauty lovers.
Blushington is beloved by locals and tourists alike, from New Yorkers who swear by their membership packages to visitors looking for a glamorous makeover before hitting the town. Whether you book an in-store appointment or prefer the convenience of an at-home service, Blushington guarantees top-tier results.
In an exclusive interview with Internationista, Cornstein shares her insights on running a thriving beauty brand, the expert artistry behind every Blushington service and why it’s the ultimate stop for beauty lovers in NYC.
The written and video interview have been edited for length and clairity.
As the CEO, how would you describe Blushington and its services?
Blushington is located in Midtown Manhattan, and it's a destination where we offer makeup applications, blow outs, beauty retail, champagne and just a whole lot of fun for all ages of customers. What could be better than glam and bubbly? It's a perfect combination, a happy outing and we’re very excited to share that we became a franchisor, and so we're opening in Boca Raton and in Houston. So very excited to see the expansion of Blushington across the country.
How did you become the ceo of blushington?
My Blushington journey to becoming CEO started by being a Blushington customer. Back in 2014, I walked into a Blushington location, and for me, it was love at first sight. I had my makeup done. I didn't know a lot about makeup at the time. I hadn't had great experiences getting my makeup done, and it was as if sort of rainbows and stars sort of were surrounding me, and I got my makeup done and stood up a lot straighter. I felt so great about myself when I walked out. The next day, I was at breakfast meeting a lovely young woman for coffee, raving about Blushington and she said, ‘I do their PR,’ and I said, ‘I can't believe this is happening. Can you introduce me to them?’ And she introduced me that day, and after three months, we met, and they hired me, and that was the beginning of my journey.
Photo: Blushington
How does Blushington ensure its services and products cater to all skin tones, ages and beauty preferences?
It first starts with [wondering]: What are the values of an organization, what commitments are you going to make and how are you going to live up to them? Because it's very easy to toss around words like inclusivity and everyone is welcome. It's another thing to run your business so that you are living up to what you're saying that you offer. So how do we accomplish that at Blushington? It starts with our core value. We believe that every customer, whether your age, your background, your skin tone [or] your hair texture, deserves to feel beautiful and confident, and to walk through the doors and feel welcome and to walk in with the confidence that whatever seat they sit in at Blushington, that artist will have been trained in understanding all of the nuances of younger skin versus more mature, [along with the] skin undertones of different skin tones [and] hair texture. Is it straight? What is the curl pattern? What are the beauty needs for the person that's sitting in front of me right now?
In order to deliver on that promise, you have to have all of the tools, and you have to have the people. So you first have to hire people that share your vision, that are open to learning and having a skill set to deliver beauty services for all, and that's why our mantra is ‘We are beauty for all.’ So it starts always with the people and aligning on those values and having the excellence in their artistry. And then it is on Blushington to have the training and the inventory, because you have to truly offer services for all. You have to have a breadth of foundations [and] a breadth of lipsticks across the spectrum of our makeup products. You have to be prepared for any customer that walks in. So we've made that commitment. We have great depth in our inventory, and same on the hair side, you have to have the products that are right for every different hair texture, and then you have to have the training. So we've made a huge commitment to training to live up to that promise. So everyone is welcome at Blushington, and you will receive excellence in your services.
What is the benefit of Blushington offering a variety of services in one place?
Photo: Courtesy
When I think about it, as a working mom, a wife [and having] friends [and] family—leading a very dynamic life, time is our most precious commodity, so we want to be super respectful of that at Blushington. So you're getting luxury services. They’re in a welcoming environment, but we're super cognizant of people's time, and that's why we think that our customers are loving blowouts and makeup all in one place.
Are the blushington artists trained in skincare, haircare and makeup or does each artist have a specific niche?
Everybody that works at Blushington is a licensed cosmetologist, and some of our artists are even licensed estheticians as well. But our artists either have a specialty in makeup, a specialty in blowouts and oftentimes in both. And so they're very versatile. So I would say, at the New York City location, 75% of our artists do both hair and makeup.
If you know anything about the artistry world, they are incredibly curious. They're always learning [and] they're up on new trends. They're constantly perfecting their craft. So it's a pretty beautiful thing to watch your makeup artist and hair artists at work. And I don't know that the average customer even thinks about everything that goes into the talent of being a makeup artist or doing a blowout. It requires tremendous awareness, listening skills and talent to really deliver an A-plus celebrity level blowout or makeup application.
How do you balance life as a mom, wife and CEO?
I think balance is a stressful word. Quite frankly, there's a lot of conversation about work-life balance. The way I try to look at it is in priorities. There are some days when Blushington is the number one priority, and there are times when it's my family. And I think if you're running a great organization, and if you put the love and effort into a strong foundation in your family, then the shifting in priorities works out.
For example, at Blushington, I run a very horizontal organization, and that means that I can count on my team if I can't be there. I trust them to execute and to uphold our standards.My family, they know that they're my number one priority. I do say to working moms, and dads as well, to really try to have those conversations with your employers, and to really set the boundaries about what has to work for the business—but it also has to work for your family.
I have one son—he's 19 years old, and to this day, I missed one of his concerts in the second grade. He sang “Interplanet Janet,” and everyone was wearing a green shirt. And guess what? I wasn't there. My friends were there [and] they sent me photos, but I said to myself on the plane ride home, ‘I will never miss anything for my son ever again.’ My employer will know that I will go to the ends of the earth if you need me at night, if you need me over the weekend, I'm there as long as I have the same support and flexibility on the other side.
So many of our makeup artists are working moms, and if they have a school event [or] a parent-teacher conference, they know that as long as they're contributing to the trifecta of excellence at Blushington—which is excellence in your artistry, excellence in your sales and excellence in what you bring through the door every day in terms of collaboration and spirit—then you'll have all of that flexibility back from us, and that just makes a happier team, and it makes for a happier life. I don't think you have to sacrifice one for the other. I think you can be a great business woman and a great spouse and mom, and there just has to be that mutual respect for each of these facets of our life.
How does blushington stay ahead in an industry that is always changing with new trends?
I would say that we are very grounded in a portfolio of looks. We have a solid core of looks that are tried and true, that are loved by our customers. And so I look at trends as something that our artists are very much on top of the trends. They'll bring them to our attention. We'll do capsules, we'll do pop ups [and] we'll do training sessions on new trends. What I think is critical about trend is that at Blushington, it's all about listening to the customer. So while I may be very excited about a trend, or artists might be very excited about a trend, it's important to listen to the customer.
So I would say our artists keep us very up on trend. Our chief marketing officer—who's also our co-founder— and her sister co-founder, they are leading the charge on being up on everything in the beauty industry, every trend, every new hashtag on Tiktok, and so we're in sort of a constant dialog about what we want to test and try that's trendy while also keeping our core heritage services available. It’s a balance but Tiktok is probably the greatest source for knowledge when it comes to beauty trends and staying on top of things.
Photo: Blushington
How does Blushington cater to both locals and tourists?
I always say you walk through the doors and you feel embraced by a warm hug. It's beautiful, it's serene, upbeat, it's luxury, but it's very welcoming, and that has always been something that's so crucial to me. Luxury can sometimes be so intimidating. I remember being in my early 20s, moving to New York City and walking into luxury places and just feeling like I didn't belong there. Our team knows that I want the opposite feeling when somebody walks into our luxury environment—that they feel like they're being embraced by a warm hug. So I would say that first experience, and it should feel the same each time you come, is probably a shared experience, but Blushington is utilized very differently by locals versus those that are coming to visit us.
Most of our local customers have series. So this is a great way to save a little bit of money if you get blowouts regularly or you get makeup applications regularly. So our local customers often buy series, that's packages of six blowouts or packages of 12 makeup applications. t's part of their day-to-day routine. Local customers in New York City build us into their routine, whether that's the business woman coming to see us before work or a big meeting in the middle of the day. We might have someone on their lunch hour, or we may have customers coming in getting ready for a luncheon or something special during the daytime, and then our local customers in the evening are always coming to see us before a dinner, before a date [and] before going out on the town. And sometimes it's just for special occasions, but other times it's just because we're part of their day-to-day routine.
Now, for our visitors, we see so many different groups of people coming in when they visit New York City. We see mother-daughter weekends. We see sisters coming in. We see groups of friends coming in. A lot of times we have bachelorette parties or destination weddings. We have a lot of brides from London. Somehow they found out about us. They're getting married in New York City. They're having a central park wedding. We do a lot of destination weddings. We have also people that are coming and making a whole day of being in Midtown. Maybe they're going to Central Park, then they have lunch [so] they come into Blushington, they get a blowout, they get their makeup done and then they're heading to a Broadway show, or maybe to do a little more sightseeing or dinner. So we see visitors from all around the country.
Something really cool [is that] there are people that come from out of town for annual events, and so they've made it their routine. We just had a group in last week. They're in the jewelry industry. They come from all around the country for this great gathering once a year, and they've made Blushington part of their getting ready routine, so that's actually a lot of fun when you start seeing your out of towners coming in year after year. So it's just a great stop to put on any itinerary, because who doesn't love to get glam?
What is the benefit of offering at-home blowout and makeup services?
I'm on a work at home day today, and so one of our incredible artists, her name is Kiara. She came to my home today. She brings a kit from Blushington. And again, what I love about Blushington, is whether you see us in New York or you see us at our locations opening in Boca or Houston, the products are identical, and that's really important for the at-home services, because you want to know that when an artist is coming to your house, that whether it's Kiara that came or another member of the Blushington team, those makeup kits are owned by Blushington, so they have all the same products. They're immaculate, and you know that on your repeat visit that you'll be having the same exact makeup, which is really important when you're getting your makeup done and you like the style.
It's just a game changer. When we feel good and look good, that combination is pretty unstoppable. And you know, the glam means different things to everyone. I like a very light, natural look. Someone might like super glam. And again, the versatility at Blushington is it all starts with having the training to do any type of look, and then the training and the commitment to listening. But fun fact about Kiara, she has one of my favorite quotes of all time. She says: ‘Being an artist at Blushington is like being a doctor that only gives good news.’ And I just love that because it is such a happy place.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
I would tell my younger self to have enjoyed the process more. I was so fixated on making the deadline, on checking the box, on achieving the goal. As I've gone on in my career and gone further in leadership that I've realized that the joy is the process, that the journey is the destination. I think that my younger self would have had a lot more fun and been a lot less stressed out if she knew that it was the process that is where the magic happens, and it's not a race to the finish line.