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SEARCHWhen Carla Alvarado realized nail services were booming at her Lincoln Park hair salon, she decided to open up a nails-only salon right across the road.
Most of the original location’s hair clients have become regular nail clients as well.
Most of the original location’s hair clients have become regular nail clients as well.
> Hairstylist and owner Carla Alvarado opened Hush Salon (a full-service salon offering hair, nail, facial, and waxing services) in Chicago in 2009. By 2012, realizing just how popular nail services were and not having enough space in her existing location, she jumped at the opportunity to open Hush Nail Boutique when a location across the street became available. The salon is open seven days a week and in addition to a pedicure area up front and a manicure area in the back, there are also two private rooms, one for facials and waxing and one for spray tanning.
Aguilar gave me a great pedicure, finished off with OPI GelColor in I Sao Paulo Over There from the Brazil Collection.
> Alvarado works as a hairstylist at the main salon, but she splits her time between the two locations. On the day of our appointments (we were there during America’s Beauty Show), her husband Ryan was on hand to help out in the nail boutique. The salon is structured similarly to a hair salon with as many regular appointments scheduled as possible, and they don’t accept walk-ins. They use a great online booking program called SpaBooker. All services (with times and prices) are put into the system so clients know exactly what to expect before they arrive at the salon.
Vintage nail product ads as well as framed product bottles and implements line the hallway wall between the rooms.
> Keeping with a similar vintage-inspired theme as its sister location, the nail boutique walls are filled with vintage nail ads and implements in frames that they’ve found on Etsy and Ebay. (What a cool way to decorate a salon!) Two large black chandeliers are the centerpiece of the main pedicure and manicure areas, with six pedicure spa chairs in the front and four manicure stations in the back. The day we were there, I opted for a Moroccanoil Pedi (with the fragrant Moroccanoil line of pedi products I had never tried before…yum!).
Julissa Hernandez, Azaa Tserendagva, Esmerelda Luzaj, owner Carla Alvarado, Stephanie Aguilar, and Gladysh Nelia keep things running smoothly at Hush Nail Boutique in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago.
Luzaj gave NAILS publisher Michelle Mullen a Moroccanoil Mani.
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