By Kathleen Furore
Rick and Paula Taylor pose in front of their store in Provo, Utah
“If we can’t make you beautiful, we will sell you a mask.” That tagline sums up the approach Mike Taylor has taken for 47 years at Taylor Maid Beauty and Theatrical Supply, the business he launched in 1975 in University Mall in Orem, Utah to fill the void he saw in the area’s costume and beauty marketplace.
“It was one of the first costume rentals stores in the state,” says Taylor, who was introduced to the beauty business at age 15 when he started sweeping floors at Frend’s Beauty Supply in Studio City, California. Within two years, he was named manager of the business, which supplied many of Hollywood’s biggest stars and studios.
In addition to working with those stars on television and motion pictures, Taylor also helped outfit them for Halloween.
“When we were doing costuming and makeup in Hollywood, actors and actresses would come in for Halloween — that was before Halloween was thought of anything beyond a ‘holiday’ for kids,” Taylor recalls.
As exciting as the business was, Taylor’s heart was telling him that California wasn’t really home.
“I moved to Utah because I was tired of Hollywood – I was born in Utah,” says Taylor. “In 1975, I returned to my roots in Utah and saw the lack of beauty options available one of the first costume rentals stores in the state.”
What started with a single rental costume quickly grew to include thousands of rental costumes, accessories and props, along with top-of-the line beauty products he’d worked with in Hollywood.
“In those early years I would drive straight through to California and back every weekend to bring the top beauty products in the country to my customers in Utah,” Taylor recalls. Our loyal customers who saw and appreciated what we had to offer grew us into the largest Beauty Supply in Utah with over 20 stores and the first beauty supply to be in a mall.”
And just like that, Taylor became “the man who brought beauty to Utah.”
The company now operates two stores (one in Provo, one in Orem); several Mini Moustachery locations featuring men’s hair and grooming supplies in malls throughout the state; and some satellite stores during the Halloween season.
Customers can buy beauty men’s and women’s grooming and hair care supplies, regular makeup, theatrical and FX makeup, costumes, and wigs; rent costumes; visit the store’s full-service salon; and attend classes including how to create gory wounds and how to apply FX makeup. At Halloween, customers can take classes that show how to create their Halloween look or have staff makeup artists create it for them if they don’t want a do-it-your-self option.
“In this era, doing all of those things is the only way to stay in business,” Taylor says. “I would not be able to with just one of those.”
As much as the industry changed, Taylor vision is the same as it was when he “brought beauty to Utah” almost 50 years ago.
“Taylor Maid’s commitment is to have the best brands and the ability to cater to the needs of each individual customer at the most competitive price possible,” he concludes. “Taylor Maid is still family owned with my sons and daughters playing an integral part in our future.”