The B2B Trade beauty space had not been innovated in over 20 years. The Tease Media Co-Founders, Kelly Ehlers and Monica Hickey had been working in the salon professional space with their award winning PR & Social Media Creative Agency, The Evoke Agency, and identified the following:
- It was extremely difficult to get earned media coverage in the trade beauty platforms
- As a result of the pay-to-play nature of the media industry the end user, the Stylists, Estheticians, Barbers etc were being fed a homogenious new and content story with a lack of diversity
- A survey of salon professionals found they were looking to consumer media to learn about brands and products
- As a result there was a general degradation of the professional in the beauty space that lead prosumers and consumers to get their thought leaders from YouTube or TikTok tutorials vs. the credentialed professionals
Ehlers & Hickey decided that it was time to stop complaining and be the change the industry needed. Using their combined 20 years in the digitial and salon professional space as well as their degrees in PR and Journalism they founded The Tease Media. A media site for pros and prosumers who are looking to stay on-trend and in the know with honest and driven editorial reporting.
The Tease Media was built on the back of a successful sampling program that was launched in 2018 called Hello Salon Pro. Hello Salon Pro was the solution to sampling full-sized color product directly to Salon Professionals in a monthly box subscription 6 times per year. As a result of this success, we layered Hello Salon Pro's social media channels into The Tease Media expanding the capabilities beyond the Pro and Influencer sampling program.
Naming: The Tease Media was named for the multiple meanings within the industry. To tease hair is to create shape, volume, space for a structural development within a blow-out or up-do. The Tease Media is on a mission to create a more inclusive space for beauty news that provides our audience with the information they need to stay in-the know and current behind the chair whether that is their product offerings, technique or cultural competency. However, we're not a straight news platform, boring isn't in our blood, personality of our industry or our site; The Tease implicates our personality for fun and engageing relationships with our audience, as did it's origin "Hello Salon Pro."
As of 2023 The Tease Media represents a full media ecosystem with editorial and content contributors independent of our brand and sales partnership programs. The ecosystem includes the .com, Instagram, Tiktok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Hello Salon Pro Sampling box and marketplace, two salon professional podcasts, Volume Up by The Tease and Tease Talks, and 120,000 Salon Professional email database.
We’re having two-way conversations between professionals - and prosumers.
Who We Are
Who We Are Not
In 2023 TheTease.com was re-launched with a new creative design meant to elevate the industry professional and create a media expereince similar to the consumer expectation on mainstream media.
The Tease is a digital destination for all things hair, beauty and pop culture.
The Tease elevates the professional daily through unique, interesting and in-the-moment beauty news with stories of Diversity, Inclusion, Texture, Gender, Equality and mental health.
Through smart, candid reporting, our editors keep professionals and prosumers on-trend and current with exclusive editorial content, visuals and podcasts. Our conversations are meant to push boundaries, spark creativity. Our editorial is driven by smart, candid reporting and our content is informed by insight, curiosity and commentary.
Our Podast, Volume Up by The Tease (another double meaning) joins a traditional news medium by providing audible news updates through our Beauty News segment, CEO Interviews, Industry Icons, Emmy Winners, and those making a splash like Travis Kelce's barber, Pat Regan, or those changing the industry through their mission.
Amplification of Other Voices
The Tease Media partners with other industry professional organizations to support. These organziations are editorial contributors to our site and social media channels in order to ensure these voices are a part of editorial message. These organziations include but are not limited to: Beauty Gives Back, Texture vs. Race, The Texture Style Awards, Green Beauty Community and Beauty Changes Lives.
Editorial Success
The gem our or ecosystem is the editorial program that includes two lead editors and over 100 contirbuting journalists. In 2023 the following KPIs were met on TheTease.com: 400+ stories and 724,000 page views.
Articles we are proud of:
4 Hair and Beauty Pros With Disabilities on Navigating a Career in the Professional Beauty Industry: https://www.thetease.com/4-hair-and-beauty-pros-with-disabilities-on-navigating-a-career-in-the-professional-beauty-industry/
3 Hollywood Hair and Beauty Pros Share How They Really Feel About the Writers’ Strike and Its Impact on Their Careers: https://www.thetease.com/3-hollywood-hair-and-beauty-pros-share-how-they-really-feel-about-the-writers-strike-and-its-impact-on-their-careers/
Strands for Trans Co-Founders Xavier Cruz and JP Gomez on the Importance of Creating Salon Spaces Where Everyone Feels Safe and Welcome - https://www.thetease.com/strands-for-trans-co-founders-xavier-cruz-and-jp-gomez-on-the-importance-of-creating-salon-spaces-where-everyone-feels-safe-and-welcome/
How to Recreate One of Dulce María’s Most Iconic ‘Roberta Pardo’ Hairstyles: https://www.thetease.com/how-to-recreate-one-of-dulce-marias-most-iconic-roberta-pardo-hairstyles/
5 Hispanic and Latinx Haircare Founders Talk Culture, Representation, and How Their Heritage Influences Their Brand: https://www.thetease.com/5-hispanic-and-latinx-haircare-founders-talk-culture-representation-and-how-their-heritage-influences-their-brand/
Level Up Pens Open Letter to L’Oreal Calling for a Withdrawal of Hair Straightening Products: https://www.thetease.com/level-up-pens-open-letter-to-loreal-calling-for-a-withdrawal-of-hair-straightening-products/
Lead Hairstylist Jawara Puts a Modern Twist on ‘90s Grunge Hair at Helmut Lang’s SS24 Runway Show: https://www.thetease.com/lead-hairstylist-jawara-puts-a-modern-twist-on-90s-grunge-hair-at-helmut-langs-ss24-runway-show/
Brazil-Based Hairstylist Josué de Castro is Using Banana Leaves to Make Color Services More Eco-Friendly: https://www.thetease.com/brazil-based-hairstylist-josue-de-castro-is-using-banana-leaves-to-make-color-services-more-eco-friendly/
Hairstylist Camille Friend Shares Details on Halle Bailey’s Enchanting The Little Mermaid Transformation:
https://www.thetease.com/hairstylist-camille-friend-shares-details-on-halle-baileys-enchanting-the-little-mermaid-transformation/
How “Barbie” Lead Hair and Makeup Designer Ivana Primorac Transformed Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling Into the Iconic Doll Power Couple: https://www.thetease.com/how-barbie-lead-hair-and-makeup-designer-ivana-primorac-transformed-margot-robbie-and-ryan-gosling-into-the-iconic-doll-power-couple/
4 Lead Hairstylists on How to Earn a Spot Working Backstage at New York Fashion Week: https://www.thetease.com/4-lead-hairstylists-on-how-to-earn-a-spot-working-backstage-at-new-york-fashion-week/
Platform Success
Our social media channels drive our accounts forward, with a total of 397,000 salon professionals
