Mini Latif has a keen eye for detail – and she has the eyebrows to prove it.
Ms Latif, who was raised in Deer Park and Taylors Lakes, has been nominated for the Telstra Business Women’s Awards, having expanded her Watergardens brow bar from a pop-up shop to a full-scale salon and launched her own brow product range.
Her business acumen developed when she worked at her parents’ Deer Park milk bar as a child.
A childhood dream to have her own business by the time she was 30 and an equal passion for beauty led to her approaching Myer with a concept for nail and brow bars.
Five years ago, she achieved that dream, launching an Ottoman 3 shop at Myer Highpoint. She has since added Melbourne Central, Watergardens and her online store to her stable. More recently she has decided to focus exclusively on brows and has stopped offering nail services. “I decided that we needed to be very specialised,” she says.
Her bespoke product range, three years in the making, includes a powder pencil and brow bone highlighter. Seven other products, including tweezers, brow trimmers and a compact mirror, will be available soon.
Her next plan is to have Ottoman 3 brow bars all over Melbourne.
“The city was a dream come true, and we’ve done that with Melbourne Central,” Ms Latif says. “Now the north, east and south need some Ottoman 3 representation.”
Charlene Macaulay