Since the age of 20, Clare Mann has worked her way through the top salons in London; regularly looking after celebrities such as Anne Hathaway and Alexandra Shulman (British Editor of Vogue!).
Originally based in the UK, Clare along with her husband and daughter Poppy, decided to #ShakeThingsUp and move to Australia!
Initially just working in Beauty, Clare felt the itch to return to nails but this time - on her own. Clare started with a small space in a cosmetic clinic, and spent months hustling for clients while not really knowing anyone due to being so new in the area - let alone the country! “At first I did what I thought people wanted, but when I decided to stop that and do what I wanted, my business grew.”
Within 2 years, the business had her working full time from home. It started taking over their lives, to the point that her husband Tom had to quit his job, to be a full time house husband/dad! The need for decent nails, by someone who cared and had knowledge of nails became clear, she couldn’t possibly feed the demand on her own and decided it was time to hire staff. And thus - Mayfair The Salon was born! A premium service using luxury products and guaranteeing long lasting manicure.
We asked Clare for her 8 top tips & tricks for at home nail care.
Here they are:
- Go to a reputable salon for your nails. I cannot recommend this enough. Someone who knows what they are doing is worth their weight in gold. Do your research!
- Oil, oil, oil - cuticle oil! Doesn’t matter what time of day or how often, but try to get into the routine of it. The oil placed onto the cuticle stimulates the matrix under it, which is the only living part of the nail. This creates blood flow (faster growing) and HEALTHIER nails from the oil.
- SNS is such a no no. Avoid any treatment where the product is taken off/put on each time. Infills are the way to go. This means your nail bed is only prepared once.
- If painting nails at home, just go slow and take time between coats. Get a family member on your non-dominant hand if you need to! Start with neutral tones until you get more confident!
- Exfoliate those tired hands. There are so many people in the salon who exfoliate their face, but not their most used tool - their hands! The OUAI do the most amazing body scrub, or simply create your own with Epsom salts in olive oil.
- With all the hand sanitizer/washing we need to do in these strange times - have a handy moisturiser on you. My faves at the moment are Peacci, or Chanel and Diptyque.
- A good quality nail file is key.. If you have a harsh grit nail file your polish may chip and your nails become flakey.
