SALON IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Well Gel Nails, Essex

When sister duo, Ellenor Smith and Elizabeth Harold’s, beauty business outgrew its original location, the pair sought to create a new and exciting hub for their salon.

“We started off working from home in a spare bedroom,” explains  Ellenor, co-owner of Well Gel Nails. “We recently moved into a summer house situated at the bottom of the garden. Tucked away in front of National Trust woodland, it truly feels like a peaceful cabin in the woods!”

Based in Colchester, Essex, the sisters work together to offer a variety of beauty treatments. “My sister works along side me,” Ellenor explains. “This enables us to work on clients and treatments together if required.

“Working closely with my sister provides the salon with cosy family-run feel. At times it also gives our clients the opportunity to laugh at our sisterly relationship! We feel that this also helps provide a real unique experience for our clients, with a sense of friendship and family customer care.”

The salon mainly specialises in gel polish manicures but offer a whole host of beauty treatments, including pedicures, spray tans, callus peel, IBX, waxing , LVL lashes, brows, facials and massages. “We take lots of care when choosing our products and suppliers,” Ellenor adds. “We keep ethical and health benefits in mind.”

With the new location, the sisters were able to create an entirely new salon and select a décor to suit. “When building the summer house earlier this year, we want a unique feel,” Ellenor states. “We wanted to move away from a traditional feel salon.

“We took huge inspiration from the likes of Waxperts and Benefit and created a vintage 1950’s feel and vibe.

“As we were on a budget a lot of our furniture was upcycled or purchased from charity shops and car boot sales! This was harder than we thought as we didn’t want to appear old and stuffy, but with just a hint of retro style. We loved this ethical idea of decorating the salon and we’re really pleased with the outcome!”