Careers in REGINE'S HAIR STUDIO & GIFT SHOP INC.

Regine's Salon runs through three generations of hairdressing. Regina Castillo had been managing Castle, the family-owned retail textile company for many years before she decide to go into the hair industry. She bought Pierre's Salon at Ayala Center in 1983 from then-owner Conchita Encarnacion and let her daughter take the reins. "I loved going to the salon so my mom asked me to run it," Agnes Castillo-Mantolino says. "I only had five people on my staff at the time. I was the manager, cashier and receptionist." In 1985, Agnes renamed the salon to Regine's in honour of her mother. "It also happened to be a name of a well-known place in New York and the second name of my daughter, Karina Regina." Regine's Salon was relocated to West Drive in 1988, and later to Park Square in 1990. By 1997, the salon had expanded to 100 square meters, a considerable larger area from its initial size of 70 square meters when it first opened. Agnes also put up Regine's Salon in Alabang Town Center at the time when Alabang was developing into a community. Today, Agnes's daughter, Karina Mantolino, represents the salon's third generation. She runs the salon full-time with her mother. After graduating from the Ateneo de Manila University in 2005, Karina geld a corporate job for six months before she realised it was not her calling. "I decided to help out at the salon," Karina shares. "I found myself enjoying the experience. It didn't feel like work. I loved talking to the clients, and later on, I started to deal with the suppliers too." In preparing herself for the responsibilities of running the salon, Karina attended a training course under L'Oreal Professional Academy. She has been an official L'Oreal Professionel Color Expert since 2005, graduating with honours every year. Her license is renewed every year through written, oral and practical exams by a foreign examiner. Regine's Salon is now located at the Link Building beside the Makati Shangri-la Hotel and The Landmark. The interiors are a combination of modern and baroque, together with stark white walls, gold-embellished frame mirrors, etched floral details on frosted glass and chairs amply spaced for comfort. There is a section for the L'Espace Kerastase, a glass partitioned area exclusively for providing specialised Kerastase treatments. It is equipped with a diagnosis machine that analyses all types of hair and scalp conditions before determining the appropriate Kerastase ritual.