Shades of Bronze: New Business Helping Ellwood City to Beat the Winter Blues

Does winter have you missing the sunshine and feeling a little pale? Head over to Shades of Bronze at 605 Lawrence Ave.

Joellen Cirelli opened the doors to her tanning salon and boutique on October 10, 2021. She joins a long list of young entrepreneurs who are working to revitalize the town. Joellen was just 22 when she became a businesswoman.

“Ellwood City is such a small and great town filled with such good people and I wanted to keep the town booming so decided to start my dream and open a tanning salon,” she said.

Cirelli is a hometown native. She grew up in Portersville and attended Ellwood City Area School District and Lawrence County Career and Technical Center. She graduated in 2017. She now calls nearby Ellport home.

Cirelli considers herself a people person and as such believes her salon is the best place for social interaction and treating yourself to a great tanning or waxing session. In addition to spending time with her family, brother and mom, Dana Cirelli, and dad, Mark Cirelli. She enjoys traveling and says she truly loves spending time at her salon with her customers.

She’s wanted to open a salon since she was a little girl, and when she got the chance, she ran with it.

“I had a good opportunity to open the salon and the perfect place was available to open one so I did,” Cirelli said.

Cirelli said in addition to the salon services, Shades of Bronze features a small boutique with customized shirts—made to order—and jewelry along with specialty products and tanning lotions.

“My favorite product to use while I tan is called ‘whiten while you tan,’ which helps you whiten your teeth while you tan,” she said.

Shades of Bronze 5 tanning beds—all brand new. The level 3 beds have face tanners. And in November, the salon started to offer waxing services. Crystal Toczek is a licensed cosmetologist and is certified in full body waxing including: Brazilian/bikini/full face/brows, lips, chin/stomach/fullback/underarms/legs and arms, and more.

Shades of Bronze will soon be offering spray tans. Cirelli recently got a certification and will be adding it to her list of services.

Joellen is enjoying the early stages of owning her business, but she has big plans for the future.

“I am looking forward to meeting everyone who comes into the salon and getting to know them, and hopefully in the future expanding the salon and opening another tanning salon out of Ellwood City.”

Stop in and up your tan game. Hours are:

• Monday-Thursday 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
• Friday 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
• Saturday 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Phone: 724-201-0000

Follow Shades of Bronze on Facebook and Instagram.

“Thank you so much to everyone who has stopped in the salon and supported me. Can’t wait to meet everyone else in the future,” Cirelli said.