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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With a number of day-to-day considerations to navigate, how you manage your salon waste can often be pushed to the back of your mind. But it’s easier than you think to respect the environment through your work, as we highlight through our roundup of recycling schemes and tips. Green Salon…
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Hair & beauty business coach, Maddi Cook of Boss Your Salon, shares top tips for nail pros to achieve a better work-life balance… Howdy nail bosses! Work-life balance is like a unicorn in this industry – often talked about, yet never seen. In fact, it’s one of the most common challenges…
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Health psychologist, Dr Ravi Gill, explores how nail technicians can create a safe space for clients to offload while prioritising their own mental health. Nail appointments offer an opportunity for a person to sit still for an hour without the distraction of their phones: an act of self-care and perhaps…
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Although it may sound like there’s no rhyme or reason to how nails grow, award-winning nail tech, Katie Barnes, shares the few basic factors that affect the speed of growth. The standard rate of growth of a normal fingernail is between 0.5 – 1.2mm per week, but this differs from…
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Nail salon events were once very popular, but that popularity has waned over recent years, says session nail stylist, salon owner & educator, Marie-Louise Coster. I think the pandemic caused us to fall out of the habit of in-salon events; we got so used to not being able to gather…
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E-file bits are made from different materials, come in different shapes, sizes and styles and have different purposes and benefits, says Katie Clark, award-winning nail tech & founder of Katie Barnes Tool Range & Education. There are some bits which must only be used for certain techniques, otherwise it is…
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