As a manicurist, I recognize hands and nails as more than just aesthetic concerns; they are a visible reflection of personal care. From nail art to hand treatments, every service is an opportunity to build client loyalty and increase revenue. From working on hands to owning a traveling salon, I've always found that combining quality services with strategic retail offerings, manicurists can enhance profitability while delivering an experience that lasts well beyond the manicure table.
Winter is an ideal time to adjust your services and retail recommendations to address seasonal hand and nail concerns. In this article, we will explore key treatments and strategies that successful nail professionals are using to elevate their offerings during the colder months.
The Essentials
An expert manicure starts with the fundamentals: healthy cuticles and properly shaped nails. Paying attention to these details not only improves the overall look of the nails but also signals professionalism and care, which encourages client retention and longevity.
Offering luxury treatments, such as paraffin dips, aromatherapy treatments and vitamin-infused lotions will elevate your client’s experience. These services reinforce your commitment to overall wellness and leave the clients with softer hands and skin, moisturized cuticles and relaxed from the aromatherapy, in a deeper state of peace and relaxation.
Winter Hand and Nail Care
Winter brings dry skin, brittle cuticles and cracked heels. As the seasons change, so should your maintenance routines and your conversations around how clients should care for their hands and nails between appointments. Some key areas to focus on include: exfoliating, moisturizing, hydrating cuticle and overall nourishment.
Exfoliation
Remind clients that exfoliating their hands 1-2 times per week will remove dead skin cells and promote blood circulation during the winter months. When gloves are necessary, exfoliating helps with the dry and rough skin that develops from wearing them and washing your hands.
Moisturizing
Dryness is the main antagonist of any winter care service. Incorporate hydrating, moisturizing treatments into your winter menu and remind clients to use daily hand creams at home. Services like paraffin wax dips, hot towel and hot oil manicures, hand and foot masks, and hot stone services are great winter add-ons that lock in moisture and soothe dry hands.
Cuticle Hydration
Hydrated cuticles help prevent peeling, splitting, and dryness, keeping nails healthy and polished longer.
Nourishment
Use clean, cruelty-free products enriched with vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin E, Collagen, and Vitamin C. Winter usually depletes the skin and nails of nutrients, due to the dryness, gloves, and repeated hand washing in the winter, so offering treatments that replenish and hydrate your nails and skin improves the health and appearance of hands.
Retail Opportunities: Educate to Upsell
Manicures are more than just a routine service; they are a visible touch point reflecting wellness and encouraging self-care. Retail products allow clients to maintain results between appointments, making your job easier, while giving you an additional stream of revenue.
Winter retail items you can provide:
- Hand creams and lotions with hydrating formulas for seasonal dryness, products like these are great for seasonal retail items:
- Voesh Hydrating Hand Balm Set
- Voesh Youth Therapy Hand Treatment Gloves
- Voesh Collagen Gloves with Argan Oil
- Cuticle oils are a daily maintenance product that supports nail health. CND’s solar nail oil is great for retail, for example.
- Paraffin wax kits offer clients spa-like options that they can use at home like Ecofin.
- Exfoliation scrubs to help maintain soft, smooth skin between services, brands such as OPI, Voesh and CND all have great options you can add to your retail.
- OPI’s “Smooth It Out Hand & Foot scrub
- CND’s “Pro Skincare Exfoliating Scrub”
- Voesh’s sugar scrub (a part of their “Mani Moments,” which includes a sugar scrub, a cream mask, massage butter and a nail file)
Remember, the key to a successful retail dialogue is client education on the benefits of any particular product. Position yourself as the expert that you are, while offering solutions they can use outside of the salon. Consider pairing retail suggestions with your services and/or gift certificates for a seamless upsell. Bundling a manicure with a cuticle oil or hand cream can encourage purchases without feeling pushy or salesy.
Manicures are more than an aesthetic use this season. To provide solutions to your clients while creating additional revenue opportunities, focusing on cuticle health, hydration, exfoliation and nourishment will set you apart.
