Gloria Williams (@the_footnanny) shares tips for how to provide a relaxing, zen-like atmosphere for your clients in your nail salon.
In today’s world, our clients need to be as relaxed as possible. The best way to approach this situation is to make their salon appointment as natural of an experience as possible. Meaning: Change your atmosphere.
There are numerous nail salons that provide acrylic services, which can make it challenging to set up an aromatherapy experience during the appointment. If you run that type of nail salon, offer your client an essential oil-enhanced face mask—this can immediately change the environment for them. You can continue your acrylic service while they enjoy their fresh-breathing experience. After the acrylic or gel polish service, consider an aromatherapy-infused hand massage. This way, the experience can continue after they leave your nail salon, as the aroma will linger in their car on the drive home.
Now for the natural nail manicure and pedicure nail salons, an essential oil diffuser is a step in the right direction for an easy addition. I suggest you purchase two or three diffusers so you do not have to stop and refill the water compartment throughout the day. Simply fill them all when you arrive in the morning or the night before you leave your nail salon.
SPA ESSENTIALS TO TRY
- Earthlite: Aromatherapy Diffuser, Comfort Packs, Single-Note Essential Oils and Neck Wraps earthlite.com
- Pure Fiji: Nourishing Exotic Oil and Coconut Sugar Rub purefiji.com
- Light Elegance: Q&Lu Spa Essentials Salt Soak and Spa Oil lightelegance.com
Unisex Essential Oil Suggestions:
- Lavender essential oil to relax moods
- Peppermint essential oil to energize moods
- Ylang Ylang essential oil to balance moods
- Cedar wood or cypress essential oils to intrigue moods
If you are thinking of adding candles, be careful of the flames; you could purchase a few electric candles for safe, easy ambiance. The electric candle will also save you money because they do not run out of wax and are easy to replace once the bulb is burnt out.
Here is a checklist of items to consider adding to your nail salon menu as a complementary service or a price-based service that will help create a mini spa experience:
- Warm essential oil towels for hands and feet
- Sugar or salt scrubs for hands and feet
- Hot paraffin treatments
- A neck warmer with disposable covers
- An electric shoulder massager
- An electric foot massager
Be sure to provide paper booties for the clients’ feet to be covered while they are getting a foot massage.
I have one last suggestion: If you provide eyebrow or facial services on your salon menu, think about adding essential oils to your inner wrists. Your clients will get a lovely treat of a fresh essential oil aroma each time you move your hands across their face.
As long as you keep the experience natural and easy, you will have them sharing their experience. It is all about the atmosphere first, and then you can charge for some of the add-ons. I wish you all much success on adding a mini spa experience to your nail salon. Let’s make 2024 a year of nail spa experiences to remember.
About the Author:
Gloria L. Williams (@the_footnanny) is the founder and CEO of Footnanny products (@footnanny), on-air talent for the Footnanny brand at HSN, personal nail technician to Oprah Winfrey and owner of Footnanny Foot Spas of Beverly Hills, California. She is also a nail technician to many other celebrities, an entrepreneur and a 2022 Nailpro advisory member.
