Open up any women’s fashion magazine, like Glamour or Marie Claire, and you’ll read beauty editors raving about their blowout experience at the newest blow-dry bar in

town. Or turn on the TV and you’ll see celebrity-obsessed pro-grams like Access Hollywood talking to lash experts about how to get fuller lashes with extensions at the newest lash studio.

Quite simply, these beauty services and accompanying niche salons—blow-dry bars, makeup counters and eyelash studios—are dominating the beauty scene and getting lots of love from consumers. Here, NAILPRO takes a look at why they are so suc-cessful and how nail salons can bring these high-demand beauty services into their own shops for an extra revenue boost.

Exclusive services like hair blowouts and makeovers that cater to the beauty masses are all the rage right now. Gain clientele and increase your profits along the way by incorporating

these popular beauty trends at your salon.

B y J e n n i f e r M o n c a y o

Not Just Nails

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ExpandingYour Salon

MenuToday, blowouts, lash extensions and makeup applications are on-trend beauty services. But how do you know if a service is right for your nail salon? First, evaluate if it’s in line with your clientele before investing money into the service. “Knowing the demographic of your salon is very important,” says Nick Brown, co-owner of Velvet Nail Lounge in Troy, Michigan. He describes his clientele as upper-middle class women in their mid 30s to 50s. He knows that they have no interest in heavy nail art, and when hair feather extensions were all the rage, he knew to let that trend pass by because it wouldn’t appeal to his customers.

Take the time to do financial research on each potential beauty service, too. Brown suggests doing a cost analysis: Research product costs and the average rate competitors are charging both locally and nationally. Does the cost of the new service fit in with the rest of your salon pricing? If a typical nail service in your salon is in the $40 to $50 range, clients might not be open to paying for a high price service like eyelash extensions, says Jacobellis, who charges $350 at Makeup Mandy for a full set of LashX mink eyelash extensions applied by a mid-level tech.

Another tactic is to survey your cli-ents to get a feel for interest in a service. During nail appointments, techs can ask loyal customers for their opinions on a possible menu expansion. It’s a simple strategy, but whom better to ask then the potential customer!

wHAT’s THe MAgIc FoRMuLA THAT ALLoweD THese seRVIce-specIFIc sALoNs To BecoMe so successFuL? For some of the most notable single-service salons of the moment, their businesses grew organically

by noticing an opening in the marketplace. Hairstylist Alli Webb, founder of

blow-dry bar DryBar, saw a hole in the marketplace after

starting a mobile blow-dry business in Los Angeles called Straight-at-Home in 2008. Webb made house calls and charged $40 for blowouts. “I had two little kids, and I wanted to do something

on my own without going back into the salon

full-time,” she says. Eventually Webb built up

a large clientele that was becoming difficult to manage on her own. Out of curiosity she asked where her clients went when she wasn’t available, and they told her they’d go to a full-service salon and pay $70 to $80 for a blowout—and not be happy with the experience. “It dawned on me that there was no place you could go for a great blowout for a great price in a beautiful space and have a great experience,” says Webb. Based on the success of her mobile business she decided to create a shop that of-fered just blowouts at a reasonable price.

Similarly, after doing lash extensions in homes and building a strong clientele, celebrity makeup artist and creator of LAshX Amanda Jacobellis started her lash and makeup studio Makeup Mandy in Los Angeles in 2007. She had enough demand for her lash extensions and wanted a location to further expand her business.

Niche salons obviously have the benefit of specializing in one service and building a reputation as an expert. “Our entire business is built on eyelashes; it’s what we do all day long, it’s our specialty,” says Jacobellis. Being one of the first people to do lash extensions in the area, her studio has a reputation for providing safe, high-quality work. Her studio also has many celebrity clients, which helps gain trust among the public, as celebs are more selective with their services, she notes.

Webb agrees that part of DryBar’s success is based on offering a single service. “For customers, there’s a confidence in going to a place that specializes in blowouts,” she says. DryBar’s business model is also different from full-service hair salons. In most salons, stylists do cuts and color because that’s where the money and creativity lies. Blowouts are often relegated to the assistants, as the service becomes more of an afterthought. For Webb, it’s what her business is all about.

In addition, the price point for a blowout at DryBar is affordable. At $40 for a wash and blow-dry, it’s an inexpensive beauty treat. Based on her own experience as a stay-at-home mom budgeting a weekly $35 to $40 mani/pedi, she purposely chose to keep her prices low to entice clients to come in more frequently. Her goal was to make blowouts a manageable expense.

While the price and expertise have influ-enced the popularity of niche salons, the buzz surrounding these sought-after beauty ser-vices has caused quite a stir. Through media exposure and word of mouth, women across the country want to try eyelash extensions for fuller lashes or treat themselves to a blowout and makeup application before a night out with friends. It’s becoming part of the new beauty norm—and this is where nail salons

come in. With these specialized beauty services in high demand,

it’s a great time to add them to your menu.

SuccessSingle-Service

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Invest in Services

YOu Care abOutregardless of the popu-larity of a new beauty product or service, only add ones that you feel passionate about. “If

you don’t know about a service

and you don’t care to learn about it then I’d advise against do-

ing it,” says Jacobellis. If you don’t have the drive to invest time and energy into a

new service, it can actually bring

down the qual-ity of your overall

brand. You should be proud of every service you offer

in your nail salon.

Start SmalloNce you DecIDe To MoVe FoRwARD, BegIN coNseR-VATIVeLy BoTH IN TeRMs oF suppLIes AND sTAFF. As THe seRVIce gRows AND gAINs TRAcTIoN, ADD MoRe

seRVIce pRoVIDeRs. To protect your reputation, be sure to hire a certified and qualified beauty professional. You don’t

want a new service and/or service provider to be subpar in comparison to the rest of

your salon. For example, if you’re doing lash extensions, Courtney Akai, owner of

Courtney Akai Lash Boutique in New York City, suggests doing extensive training before offering the service, and using quality products from reputable companies.

Velvet Nail Lounge sent their senior nail technician to continuing education courses to learn about lash extensions. The salon purchased a small amount of product and, after mastering the service, it invited long-time customers to test it out. After the staff received positive feedback on the quality of the product and service, they added lash extensions to the regular menu. “It’s become a great success,” says Brown of the investment. “It’s not one of our main go-to services, but it’s making enough money for us to keep it on the menu.”

Jennifer Moncayo is a freelance writer and editor based in New York, NY. TOP

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PromotionTo maximize exposure and your investment, it’s important to publicize the new service through as many channels as possible. To get the word out, Brown emails a newsletter announcement to his Velvet Nail Lounge database and posts in-store signage. In addition, webb suggests using social media, like Twitter and Facebook, to share news and stay connected with clients.

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