Valley returnee finds facial niche

June 9, 2006

By DAWN DE BUSK

Frontiersman

PALMER - Sarah McEntee, who grew up in Palmer as Sarah Dwyer, loved her hometown. But as she approached high-school age, she yearned to live somewhere else.

After living in North Carolina for four years, the new bride, who married her high-school sweetheart, returned to Palmer with a new appreciation for her community.

&#8220I think that's what I needed to really appreciate where I'm from. It was nice growing up in Palmer. I went to Swanson and Sherrod and Palmer High School, and still have close friends,” McEntee said.

Things have been falling into place for her ever since.

Shortly after she got back to town, McEntee made an appointment at Country Cutts with her favorite hairdresser, Kendra Harter. A patron of the beauty salon since she was 11 years old, McEntee enjoyed seeing old friends.

She chatted with owner Stan Guthrie, and he described plans to move to a new building and create a business that would offer more than hair design, such as skin care, massages and spa treatments.

&#8220He told me to get my esthetician license and he'd give me a job,” she said. &#8220I literally went home, looked up a school, and met the deadline to apply by a week.”

She commuted to

Anchorage from Sutton for three months and finished her schooling in November, six months before Country Spa opened.

&#8220I've been doing facials on friends and family, but I didn't go get another job because I really wanted to work there,” she said.

Her schedule runs Wednesday through Saturday, and she is thrilled to be employed at a well-established salon that's gone cutting edge.

&#8220I love to be working. I don't think you realize how much you enjoy working after not doing it for a while,” she said.

The 21-year-old newlywed celebrated her one-year anniversary on April 29.

&#8220My favorite thing to do is hang out with my husband,” she said. &#8220I love being married. I'm married to my best friend. We got together young, so we learned from each other how a relationship should be.”

For now, the couple's pseudo-children are two Yorkshire terriers. As a senior in high school, McEntee got Bella. She bred her in the Lower 48, and kept one of the pups, which she named Betty.

McEntee's favorite pastimes include visiting with friends, hanging out with her sister and the sister's toddlers, summertime hikes and four-wheeling.

&#8220This winter, I learned how to crochet, but it's not a hobby,” she laughed.

McEntee thinks women in Alaska tend to be very outdoorsy, but environmental forces like cold temperatures, wind and prolonged sunlight during the summertime can be battled with good skin care.

&#8220I think that, nowadays, women are becoming more comfortable with their faces. We're so much more out there in society,” she said. &#8220You have one face your whole life, and it's important to take care of it.”

Contact Dawn De Busk at 352-2252, or dawn.debusk@ frontiersman.com.