SALON & SPAS
Unique salon décor: The Birmingham nail salon featuring a piano as its reception desk
Founder of Birmingham-based nail studio, Icey’s Beauty Lounge, Aysana Druga, shares the story behind the salon’s impressive entrance… In 2015, Aysana and her husband spotted a piano in the window of a charity shop. She recalls: “We had no idea where it was going to go at the time, so…
Read More
From DIY nails to owning a home salon: how one tech turned her passion into a business
Bedfordshire-based nail tech, Jodie Day of @talonsbyjodie, started her nail journey simply wanting to learn how to do her own nails, however she enjoyed the training so much that she decided to turn it into her career. Jodie began her training in 2021 while pregnant, seeking a creative outlet. She…
Read More
Award-winning home salon owner: the 5 essential tips for success
Scratch Stars Home Nail Salon of the Year 2024 winner, Kirsty Brown of @paintbrushnails, shares her top tips for building a successful home salon… Having won the prestigious Scratch Stars accolade for her Stirling-based home salon, we asked Kirsty to share her top tips to inform and inspire nail techs…
Read More
South Devon tech: At 30 I decided to train as a nail technician – and I’ve never looked back
Having undergone a career swap at the age of 30, Devon-based nail tech Bonni Higson, the owner of Bonni File’n’Style in Dawlish, shares her story… After having children, Bonni decided to train as a nail technician. She says: “I enrolled at South Devon College and qualified at NVQ level 2…
Read More
The Suffolk nail tech who transformed her lockdown hobby into a thriving salon business
Jemma Cornell, behind JC Nails, started her nail journey during lockdown in 2020 and four years later, has transformed her hobby into a full-time career. The Suffolk-based tech felt she needed something to ‘keep her busy’ during the challenging Covid-19 period, and decided training in nails was the answer. She…
Read More
How a part-time job at a nail brand inspired an employee to become a nail tech
Ellie Toms’ part-time job at nail brand, Lecenté, inspired her career change to become a nail technician. Here’s her story… The now tech ‘fell in love’ with the brand’s products, so much so that it inspired her to become a nail tech so she was able to use them. The…
Read More
10 Halloween-ready salons to give you inspiration
Halloween offers a perfect opportunity to have some fun in the nail space, so take inspiration from salons that have got clients in the spooky spirit with themed décor… 1. Beauty by Joan, Wisconsin, USA 2. Hope HQ, Manchester, UK 3. Hush Salon, Leeds, UK 4. Revel Salon, New York,…
Read More
I visited TGB Spa in Brighton for a luxury pedicure – & here’s how it went
Nail brand, The GelBottle Inc, has opened its much-anticipated TGB Spa: a sanctuary for beauty treatments in the bustling city of Brighton. I was invited to explore the space and indulge in a Luxury TGB Gel Pedicure – and it didn’t disappoint. I arrived at Brighton train station and I tapped…
Read More
Lauren Taylor of Taylored Beauty lets Scratch inside her salon: a space merging the luxe of a spa with the comfortable warmth of a home. Training in brow definition and lash lifts in October 2021, Lauren Taylor fell in love with the beauty industry, wasting no time in training to become…
Read More
Multi-service salon brand, Pre-, has expanded into a second premises in Parsons Green, South West London. Scratch paid a visit to the brand’s flagship salon in Islington last year, to meet founder, Mimi Gaston-Kennedy, a beauty PR specialist who created Pre- around the ‘idea that beauty treatments help [clients] to…
Read More
Two nail techs from a small town in Sheffield were used to being compared by clients, but bolstered their confusion when they swapped surnames. One of the Birley-based techs, Rachel Harrison, explains the beginnings of her relationship with fellow town tech, Jessica Allen. Jessica started working in her mum’s home…
Read More
Scratch Stars Social Media Star of the Year finalist 2024, Jessica White, shares her inspirational career journey: detailing her humble beginnings painting nails at university, to opening her own salon. The Leeds-based nail artist & content creator works full-time creating content for her 200,000+ social media followers, tending to the…
Read More
Libby Bramley, the beauty therapist behind LB Beauty, invites us inside her ‘clean, warm and cosy’ salon, located in the Peak District. Having always known she wanted to work within the beauty industry, the pro jumped straight into training in Beauty and Spa Therapy at college, before qualifying in 2018.…
Read More
Describing her home salon as ‘modern but quirky’, Maisy Jeffrey reveals how she brought her personality into her East Staffordshire beauty space… “Maisykbeauty is a representation of me and my life: a bit chaotic, quirky, fun and interesting,” Maisy Jeffrey tells Scratch. “I like to think the pink and orange…
Read More