Honey Aura Studio in Cortland expanding

CORTLAND – Honey Aura Studio, a Cortland-based beauty salon is poised to expand into an adjoining retail business space after the owner experienced success following the loss of her parents.

Caitlin Welch, the owner of Honey Aura Studio, 16 W. Benson Ave., Cortland, said she was working as an aesthetician for European Wax Center before going through what she called “a pretty traumatic year” that sent her on the path of business ownership.

“My mom had unexpectedly passed away while my dad was actually going through chemo and lung cancer,” Welch said. “He ended up passing away three weeks after I opened. It’s kind of a crazy story.”

Welch started her business in what she called “a small room in Sycamore for six months” before moving to her current location in Cortland in 2024.

After initially working as her only employee, Welch was quickly able to hire a nail technician, a cosmetologist and an eyelash technician. As of Monday, Welch has five employees that service customers at the full-service salon, not including herself.

Now, she’s expanding to the retail space next to her business. Welch plans on knocking down walls to create a larger space for her customers and employees.

That space was previously a hair salon. And after hiring a second hairstylist, Welch plans on moving hair services, as well as facials, to that space, in an effort to give her staff and customers more room to work.

Welch said she thinks of Honey Aura Studio as the area’s go-to bold, body-positive, all inclusive beauty salon.

She said she’s struggle with with her own body image throughout her life, but takes pride in helping people feel comfortable in their own skin, especially during the intimate parts of body waxings.

“I mean a lot of people show me things that you might not show a regular person,” Welch said. “I’m all about being body positive and just accepting people. It’s a no-judgement zone.”

Welch hopes that her customers feel at ease knowing Honey Aura Studio is owned and staffed entirely by women.

The studio’s expansion will have a grand opening on Sept. 7. A time for the event has not yet been determined.

Welch said she hopes the expansion enhances customer comfort while allowing her to offer them a broader service menu.

“We’re just going to keep getting bigger,” Welch said. “I feel like I want everybody to know about us, so they know of a place where they can get this experience. It’s not your typical salon, especially being in such a small town.”

Correction: a previous version of this story included the wrong name of Honey Aura Studio.