Summer is prime time for nail care as more people wear open-toed shoes and take off their gloves. Sometimes a service in 100-degree temps is more about escaping the heat than it is about getting glammed up. Consider offering your clients cool-down services this season that combine relaxation and nail sophistication.
More Masculine Foot Soak
Marti Bishir, Gold N Beauty, Peru, Ind.
Summer is a season where even men show off their feet. So it is important to keep them in mind when coming up with a service package. “Just the word (pedicure) gets most men thinking the wrong way. Many men believe pedicures are strictly a female thing. Nothing could be further from the truth. A pedicure is simply the care of the feet to avoid complications and to make them look their best. Since we all have feet, pedicures are in no way restricted to only females.” For masculine pedicures Bashir recommends foregoing all the petals and bubble bath ingredients and adding in neutral or manly fragrances such as patchouli, vanilla, cypress, sandalwood, ginger, black pepper, or vetiver. Bishir opts for the CND Almond Pedicure milk bath, scrub, mask, and massage lotion for male clients.
The milk is good for exfoliating and deodorizing. Adding ingredients like Epsom salt is good for a soothing effect. Bashir says summer is the perfect season to remind men to keep their feet happy, healthy, and handsome. She suggests booking a men’s night when men only come in and receive pedicures and manicures. Consider offering snacks and beverages and have the ballgame on TV.
“Bottom line: don’t forget about men when booking summer pedis,” Bishir says.
Ice Cream Pedicure
Janelle Lamont, Tickled Pink Beauty Bar, South Williams Lake, British Columbia, Canada
It’s impossible to think about summer without thinking about ice cream, which is why Lamont’s summer service is just what clients crave. Lamont uses the Me! Bath products that look like ice cream scoops and come in multiple “flavors.” “We create a pedicure to the client’s choices. For example, a strawberry bath bomb, vanilla sweet sugar scrub, chocolate foot mask, and strawberry lotion creates a Neapolitan ice cream service. Sometimes we do ice cream cupcakes or mini ice cream cups,” explains Lamont. After clients choose their flavors they soak in a pipe-free whirlpool that massages as they listen to music or watch TV. “We do full nail cuticle care, sweet sugar exfoliation treatment, callus removal, and a hydrating marshmallow foot mask that sits for 10 minutes. We finish with an icing sugar moisture massage and an Orly mini polish they get to keep.” Lamont even offers an ice cream sundae pedicure where the client picks the toppings (either a scrub or a mask) as well as a mini ice cream scoop pedicure that resembles an express pedicure.
Lemon Pedicure
Tonya Fanning, Cuticle Couture, Livonia, Mich.
This service is sure to make clients tingly all over. Fanning adds a cooling menthol mask and squeezes cold lemon over the feet followed by a cool rinse in the pedicure tub. “The clients love it. The lemons are refreshing and the cool water and tingling is a real treat,” she says.
Next Page: Hot Buttered Rum, White Peach Sangria, and Lemon Mint
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Hot Buttered Rum Pedicure
Soribel Boynton, Tropical Nails Salon, Covington, Ga.
This treat is very sweet on nails. Dry winter skin is gently moved away with a blended hot buttered rum mask, and scented warm waters rehydrate the feet. Skin is sure to glow after honeycomb and warm lotion with gold dust is applied.
White Peach Sangria Spa Pedicure
Krystal Koffler, Xstasy Esthetics, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Clients can sit back and relax with a glass of sangria or peach tea while their feet enjoy a lavish Shea butter sugar scrub blended with grapeseeds from Glo Girl Body Products. A soothing OPI Tropical Citrus Masque is applied and removed with warm steamed towels followed by a luxurious foot and leg massage with a yummy white sangria whipped souffle body butter. After the massage feet are warmed and hydrated with Gigi peach paraffin and topped off with polish.
Lemon Mint & English Lavender Soak
Nancy Koll, Shear Image Salon, West Point, Calif.
Koll grows both the lemon mint and English lavender in her garden over the summer. “The mint is great for cooling and the lavender is calming, great for the pedi and mani soaking bowls.” You can also crush the lavender and mint and use them in scrubs.
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