EXPERT ADVICE
A beauty business coach’s guide to goal setting for 2025
Beauty business and mindset coach, Zaara King, offers up advice for the new year… It’s time to consider how you wish to make your mark on the industry over the next 12 months. You get to choose how you show up, what you offer clients and how you make a…
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Why nail technicians should enter the Scratch Stars Awards: tips from a nail competition maestro
Bespoke nail artist, Jiak Hing, who has won the Scratch Stars Gel Polish Stylist of the Year accolade for three consecutive years, shares insight into the competition, what to expect on the day and the benefits of entering. Why did you decide to enter the Scratch Stars Awards? To…
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New year, new you: How nail businesses can plan for the year ahead
Session nail stylist, salon owner & educator, Marie-Louise Coster, shares her tips for reviewing the last year and preparing for the next, in order to achieve success… Here we are again, another year gone and a new one in front of us full of opportunity, possibility and hope. It is…
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4 updates to make to your beauty business in 2025
Kim Ford, global business & beauty education expert, shares ways to make the most of quiet spells to improve your business long-term… The beginning of a new year is a great time to focus on business administration, such as updating operational and legal documents, and to consider if your marketing…
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Introverted nail techs: how to grow your skills & clientele comfortably
Do you love the creative aspect of being a nail professional: perfecting enhancements and getting arty, but find it challenging to converse with clients and colleagues? You’re not alone. A need to recharge after client interactions or feeling most comfortable in quiet environments are signs of introversion. The word ‘introvert’…
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I’ve been a beauty pro for 30+ years: here’s how I set boundaries with clients
Session nail stylist, salon owner & educator, Marie-Louise Coster, shares her experiences with boundary-pushing clients… I imagine most of you went into the nail/beauty industry to make people happy. I also imagine that you expected clients to be grateful and courteous at all times. I don’t suppose you imagined that sometimes…
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2025 nail business planning: expert tips for new year success
Belinda Price, OPI UK&I education and capability manager & owner of Nailspa, Scratch Stars Nail & Beauty Salon of the Year 2024, shares advice… During the busiest season of the year for most nail and beauty professionals, it can be hard to see past 31 December. But as the dust…
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Spread Christmas cheer sustainably: 3 ways to recycle festive items
Decorating the Christmas tree, wrapping gifts, and sending out greeting cards are some of the most cherished Christmas traditions, but after the festivities, how do you dispose of the excess? Gabriella Peace, marketing communications manager of UK Greetings, offers her take on how you can give your Christmas items a…
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Tammy Koslowski, owner of NAF! Salon, Glasgow – which scooped both the Nail Salon of the Year and Best Use of Social Media titles at the Scratch Stars 2017, reveals her top tips to take it to the top… Start early I think it took us around four weeks to write…
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Tom Ferris, owner of Blackwell Ferris Marketing, reveals why you should be using your local newspapers and social media groups to spread the word about your services… The local press was a key way to getting exposure. Local press will be on board with many salon stories and events as it…
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Pinterest has revealed its annual Pinterest 100 report, which sees a variety of trend predictions for 2018 identified by the social media platform. Including beauty and lifestyle forecasts, the report reveals an insight into consumer browsing habits on the social media platform. “Beauty is booming on Pinterest with a 75%…
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The National Hairdressers Federation, which supports the hair, beauty and barbering industries, is warning pension changes will triple costs for employers. Pensions auto-enrolment was introduced in April 2012 and has led to nine million workers saving into a pension for the first time. Since auto-enrolment was introduced, the contributions for both…
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Salon owner, educator, former Scratch columnist and award-winning nail stylist, Katie Barnes, reveals how to correctly remove enhancements that have lifted What is lifting? Enhancements that lift away from the natural nail show a sign of service breakdown. This can occur with any nail coating but is often more common with L&P and…
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Tom Ferris, owner of Blackwell Ferris Marketing, reveals what ‘dark social’ is – and why you need to know about it… “It was so funny I just HAD to share it with you guys”. “Yeah but Marc never replies in the WhatsApp group, he always lurks in the background just watching”. This…
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