BY LIBBY PETERSON

Months before prom and wedding season begins, reservationists at Les Champs Elysées Day Spa and Salon begin penciling in appointments for customers from as far away as Bedford. This should come as no surprise—the family-owned business on North College and its sister salon on East Kirkwood, MarDon Salon, were named among the magazine Salon Today’s top 200 fastest-growing salons in the nation this year.

Both outlets offer myriad services, from hair and nail care to waxing to spa treatments. But Margarete Disque-Nowak, 31, who co-owns the salons with her mother, Donna Disque, says the growth is largely because they carry products by Aveda, a beauty company known for its natural products—with all makeup free of paraben, talc, oil, and alcohol—and its well-trained specialists.

Aveda has product reps, called “purefessionals,” based in New York, Los Angeles, and London who tour the country every six months to hold sessions with specialists at Aveda salons like Les Champs and MarDon. “We get to work with them and the products we use,” says Disque-Nowak. “It’s important to know the full potential of our products.”

Les Champs and MarDon have Aveda’s latest products, seasonal makeup palettes, and “look-books” with hairstyles and colors. “This spring we have lots of green and blue eye makeup and orange-red lip colors that really pop,” says Disque-Nowak.

She opened Les Champs in 2004 and MarDon in 2010, knowing from the start that they would be Aveda salons. It was a personal decision, she says; in her teenage years, Disque-Nowak struggled with acne until her mother gave her an Aveda facial cleanser that cleared up her skin in less than six weeks. “From then on, Aveda always resonated with me,” Disque-Nowak says. “Even [as a student] at IU, I made sure to always have it in my bathroom.”

Disque-Nowak tries to push the bounds of the salons by getting more involved with the business community—the salons offer corporate discounts to Cook Group, Boston Scientific, IU Health Bloomington Hospital, and Monroe Hospital. They’re also working more closely with wedding professionals, incorporating more aromatherapy into their services, and they’ve added online scheduling and appointment confirmation.

“We’re not just sitting stagnant—we’re constantly improving,” she says.