Studio Roslyn Transforms Vancouver Chinatown Space into Postmodern Beauty Haven.

Studio Roslyn-designed Umeglow is a cosmetics studio that cleverly subverts the typical clinical beauty space. Located in Vancouver’s historic Chinatown, this boutique studio specialising in brows, lashes, and skincare represents a thoughtful approach to commercial design that feels professional and welcoming.

The Vancouver-based design duo of Jessica MacDonald and Kate Snyder drew inspiration from postmodern minimalist interiors of the 1980s, specifically artist studios and residential loft apartments. This reference point proves inspired, creating a space that feels more like an art installation than a typical beauty salon.

“The playful aesthetic, which cheekily nods to the typical mint-curtained clinician’s office, sets the salon apart from other trend-focused spaces,” explains the Studio Roslyn team. “We developed a palette of sleek materials like stainless steel and reeded glass combined with bold colours, eclectic furnishings, and moments of warmth.”

The journey begins before you even enter the studio proper. A luminous gradient in the stairwell shifts from white to yellow as clients ascend, creating an almost cinematic transition that builds anticipation. Once inside, the atmosphere shifts to something more serene—plenty of open space, natural light, and the unexpected sound of a stainless steel fountain pouring water over black stones.

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The colour palette reads like a sophisticated take on beauty industry clichés. Pastel pinks, greens, and silver tones anchor the space against clean white walls, while strategic hits of lipstick red prevent things from feeling too precious. The yellow from the stairwell continues to warm the reception area, radiating through windows to create continuity between exterior and interior experiences.

Custom joinery combining graphic wood grain with stainless steel creates bold postmodern moments throughout the retail display and reception areas. Treatment rooms maintain clean, minimal aesthetics to keep focus on client comfort and practitioner work, while common areas showcase archival art prints, vintage 1980s furnishings, plants, and florals.

The abundant use of movable drapery serves multiple purposes—dividing treatment areas, softening the overall environment, and creating flexibility for different uses and events. At the back, a deep eggplant-painted hallway leads to washrooms fitted with textured silver wallpaper and generous mirror space.

Studio Roslyn extended their design thinking to the brand identity, developing a wordmark in narrow, high-contrast Didone font reminiscent of ’80s fashion mastheads. Hand-painted signage includes a silver-leaf drop shadow logo on the reception mirror and a Cantonese welcome message on the front door—a respectful nod to the neighbourhood’s heritage businesses.

The result feels authentically contemporary while honouring both its 1980s inspiration and Chinatown context.

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[Images courtesy of Studio Roslyn. Photography by Conrad Brown.]