Those basic manicures may be the same services the hair designers were taught in cosmetology school. They may even be the same as they have been for years: Soak, push back the cuticles, massage, and so on. The wise salon owner will investigate new techniques, such as the new treatment- based manicures, that can expand the menu a great deal and increase profit margins. A good book for cosmetologists seeking training in this concept is Spa Manicuring for the Salon and Spa , by Janet McCormick (Milady Publishing). To be profitable, these new treatment-based manicures must be performed by a trained beauty professional who can recommend services that are appropriate for individual clients’ hands and arms, similar to the consultation regarding the skincare department’s facials. Skincare professionals analyze the skin before choosing the facial treatment, and this should also be done for the hands. With this new manicuring and pedicuring treatment philosophy, clients and their needs are the focus, with recommendations given for appropriate services. The consultation not the beautification—is central to the success of the service, although beautification is also a beneficial result of this focus.
to pay the same low prices. However, that has changed since the inception of spas with high-end and pampering services that clients love, and thankfully, it has carried over into salons. Product and procedure upgrade manicures can now be offered—discerning clients are excited to purchase them, and cosmetologists and manicurists can charge higher prices, thereby increasing revenue. Some salons will say they already have nail services on their menus, but no one purchases them. So why pay any attention to them? Think about it. Does anyone suggest them? How many regularly appointing clients in salons have actually seen a menu of services lately? Or is it because the manicure table is sitting there in the corner with a stack of magazines on it? If a salon professional or the front desk person mentions to current clients that other services are available, many clients will appoint one for their next visit. Offering a discount if they appoint can be an incentive for this to happen. The worst response a customer can make when you suggest a service is “I didn’t even know your salon offered it.” Another problem is a salon menu of services that contains only the old basic and spa manicures to choose from.
ADDING PEDICURES
so their beauty professionals could make more money, and these services became especially popular and profitable. With the addition of pedicures, the prices of the accompanying manicures were also raised to a higher level, so everyone is making more money on these services. Finally, manicures and pedicures are respected in the eyes of other beauty professionals. The higher-priced nail services became standard offerings in a new phenomena—gift packages, a group of services designed for gift-givers to purchase as treats for special people. These services are offered on the same day, one right after the other, sometimes with lunch and always with added luxury and pampering. Manicure and pedicure combination services also became popular as mini packages because they are a shorter but complete package for gift purchases. Packaged manicures and pedicures introduce new clients to them, and many become “regulars” for weekly, biweekly, and monthly services in the nail department. Professional pedicures have actually become lifestyle services, with many clients appointing for their pedicures more regularly than their hair cuts.
Renewed demand for natural manicures followed the sudden popularity of pedicures in the mid-1990s. Pedicures had a very different track in the development of their pricing than manicures did, and from the advent of their reintroduction into the beauty world in spas, they have enjoyed great profit ratios. Even though they had been around for centuries, as were manicures, few Americans knew about them, or if they did, they either never gave them a thought or thought of them in a negative light. They were on the bottom of the service menus of the few salons that offered them, but most, even nail salons, did not want them on their menus. This “nonexistence” allowed spas to later reintroduce them as a new and very special spa service when the new throne-type chairs were launched into the industry. It also allowed them to set a new price standard for the service that was more fitting to the costs, the beauty professionals’ compensation, and the use of upscale spa products. The higher prices were supported by the high demand for the service, and this demand helped the spas maintain higher prices. Regular salons also added pedicures to their menus New methods in manicuring and pedicuring Beauty professionals will say, “There is nothing new we can do in manicures and pedicures,” but the new, more treatment-oriented choices for manicures and pedicures prove this untrue. This concept is important to the development of more desirable and more popular nail services. These services provide skin and nail improvements, moving past just beautification. They warm the skin, which opens the pores and allows a deeper penetration of the product ingredients and an immediate and noticeable improvement in a client’s skin. The following chart compares the traditional protocol with the new skincare and treatment- oriented protocol. The difference between the traditional manicure and pedicure services and the treatment manicure and pedicure services are as follows. Treatment manicures and pedicures include an analysis of the nails as well as the skin of the entire extremity. The treatment protocols (scrub exfoliation, for example) include all these areas and are chosen to meet the individual needs of the client.
Traditional Manicure and Pedicure 1. Shorten shape, remove polish
Skincare-Based Manicure and Pedicure
1. Shorten shape, remove polish
2. Soak
2. Analysis and
recommendations 3. Cuticle and callus work 3. Skin prep and massage 4. Mask 4. Treatment 5. Massage 5. Cuticle and callus work 6. Polish prep and polish 6. Polish prep and polish 7. Home care, reappointment, and release 7. Home care, reappointment, and release
EliteLearning.com/Cosmetology
Book Code: CNC0825
Page 6
Powered by FlippingBook