{"id":2114860,"date":"2026-08-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2114860"},"modified":"2026-08-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T21:00:00","slug":"wonderland-358","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2114860","title":{"rendered":"Wonderland"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\tWonderland<\/span>
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\n\t\t\tBABE, WHERE ARE YOU GETTING YOUR NAILS DONE?<\/span>
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The local Vietnamese nail salons that line London\u2019s high streets have long been the go-to for manicures. But the city\u2019s private techs are offering an entirely new experience, and we\u2019re here for it.\u00a0<\/h3>\n
\"Babe,<\/figure>\n

Over the past decade, what is valued most within the beauty sphere has shifted dramatically. From blocky brows and the Kardashian-fuelled contour craze to Korean skincare, all-things supplements and red light therapies, there is no stagnance in this space. So while current trends \u2013 no-makeup makeup, lymphatic drainage, and, unfortunately, GLP-1\u2019s \u2013 seem to be in favour of stripping back almost everything (bodyweight, makeup, etc.), something as fleeting as a viral TikTok could shake up the industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nails have always been a crucial element of all beauty looks, so far as potentially making or breaking the whole ensemble. For many of us, manicures are inherent to womanhood \u2013 we spent childhood sleepovers painting our friends\u2019 nails, getting in trouble at school for having anything other than bare fingertips, and paying for our first professional sets at around sixteen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now more than ever, a nail set that is uniquely crafted to suit your personal tastes (classic French tip? Polka dot moment? Cat eye or chrome?) is the ultimate form of self expression. Vogue recently asked<\/a> its audience which manicure they<\/em> would choose to climb the Empire State Building, following Ivan Kuznetsov and Angelina Nikolau\u2019s iconic engagement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The knock-on demand for creative nail art has rocked the industry entirely. I mean, if we weren\u2019t already inspired by Emma Chamberlain\u2019s Met Gala set, designed to match her arty Mugler fit, the jet black (summer) look worn by Hailey Bieber and Charli xcx, or the chrome designs that are everywhere, the time to be inspired was\u2026 now. That is, at least, if we aren\u2019t paying Marc Jacobs\u2019 bare nails statement on their FW26 runway at NYFW earlier this year much notice. Low-maintenance is NOT in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Babe,<\/figure>\n
\"Babe,<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

In London, where a good handful of Vietnamese nail salons line every high street, manicure-seekers are turning to Instagram to find nail artists. And the reasons for this go beyond the effects of the digital age.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like nails are about aesthetics and it\u2019s very much a trust the post process kind of thing,\u201d says Saskia Puxley, known online as Suki Nailz.<\/a> \u201cSo if you can see someone\u2019s Instagram is very well curated and is put together, you can visually see the kind of energy that they\u2019re putting into it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Having started learning how to do nails in lockdown, the Sussex-born, London-based artist has amassed a lot of attention online for her sharply detailed, experimental, and often gothic and chromy designs \u2013\u00a0 such as her viral Year of the Horse<\/a> nails. For Saskia, who was studying Fine Art at Camberwell College of Arts before segueing into her current creative venture, nail art is basically a fashion accessory that can be inspired by almost anything; think seasons, textures, and feelings. It\u2019s why she asks her clients to come to her with moodboards rather than a set they\u2019ve seen online that they want a carbon copy of. What places her private business apart from local salons is the entirely different experience she offers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSalons are about footfall, aren\u2019t they?,\u201d she reasons. \u201cIt\u2019s about how many people you can do in a day. Whereas if you go to an independent person, it\u2019s slower pace. You have one-on-one time with someone and you get to know each other. So it becomes a kind of catch up session, you know? There\u2019s not loads of stuff going on around you, you have like this kind of quiet peaceful time.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that manicures have edged closer to a social activity, which perhaps reflects the desire for human connection and community amid the closing of third-spaces, shifting of working landscapes, and rising use of AI which are all affecting our relationships with each other. Traditional salons, however, often don\u2019t offer this socialising aspect, since their fast-paced in-and-out nature makes it difficult, and slightly awkward, to spark conversation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be quite uncomfortable, just like sitting opposite someone for two hours and not talking at all,\u201d London-based nail tech Kaia Cesay<\/a> agrees. \u201cMe and my clients get deep into what goes on in our lives, do you know what I mean?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Having studied Fine Art at Central Saint Martins, which appears a common thread amongst the nail techs I talk to, Kaia\u2019s clients are largely of the art school genre \u2013 which has only pushed her to be her most creative self. \u201cWorking with artsy people forces you to do all the crazy shit, do you know what I mean? Like people are coming to me with animal teeth and spiders like, put this on my nails and I\u2019m just like, \u2018Okay, anything for some money.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Babe,<\/a>
Kaya Cesay, photographed by Tanya Fevzi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

This creativity goes hand-in-hand with London culture, where people want nothing more than to be remembered when they leave the room. Alongside Paris, Milan, and New York, the city is a fashion capital, and has produced the likes of Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, and Vivienne Westwood. Subcultures (hipsters, goths, hippies) and styles (punk, grunge, indie sleaze) here come and go, building on an already rich cultural lineage. The itch to innovate feels ingrained within the city\u2019s very essence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chii<\/a>, a nail tech who grew up and now works in West London, knows this too well. \u201cThe concepts and the ideas that my clients bring to me are things that sometimes I wouldn\u2019t even think about. It is such a creative city to be in and there\u2019s a lot of crazy minds, and being able to access that type of clientele is really important. It keeps creativity going,\u201d she pinpoints.<\/p>\n

Born to a beautician mother who opened her first salon in Ladbroke Grove at 19, Chii has been surrounded by nail techs all her life. \u201cEast Asia in general has influenced so much of the nail art styles that we do and that I practice,\u201d she says, speaking about how Vietnamese salons have influenced different aspects of her work. \u201cGrowing up in salons, I used to watch my mum get the deep French tips and watch the way they would work. It\u2019s really nostalgic, so I definitely think that there are a lot of things that we have taken from East Asia, and Asia in general with doing nails.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to go to those salons in South London that would charge like \u00a310 for a set and I survived,\u201d Kaia agrees. \u201cI do reference those old salons a lot in my work. I love the aesthetic, you know, like the old lions and the flowers and, even up in the studio I have one of those nail artboards where you put all the individual nails. So, in my head, the Vietnamese salons are the root of the nail industry. And even now, there are like five shops on every high street and they\u2019re not shutting down anytime soon.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nostalgia as a vessel of influence is unsurprising \u2013 I mean, we didn\u2019t mourn over 2016 for nothing, right? In whatever regard Vietnamese salons are held to, it\u2019s undeniable that they are integral to the industry. Their politically and socially unstable nature, though, cannot be ignored. Many people associate nail salons with exploitation<\/a>, human trafficking<\/a>, and modern slavery<\/a>, due to the unregulated nature of the industry. In the UK, for example, technicians don\u2019t need to hold a formal license to practice. However small the number of recorded cases is, there\u2019s a systemic reputation that has led to many salons suffering.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, it is difficult to imagine a world in which the business of local Vietnamese salons faces adversity, because their loyal clientele are drawn back time and time again because of the low prices. These salons make manicures accessible to everyone and this cannot be said for most other beauty treatments \u2013 think a \u00a330 acrylic nail set versus a \u00a3100 chemical peel. And, the effect of the growing popularity of private nail techs on these salons isn\u2019t qualitatively measurable, because, ultimately, they offer different services.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone pretty much gets their nails done, like there\u2019s plenty of business to go around,\u201d Saskia says. \u201cI would hope that [private nail techs and local Vietnamese salons] don\u2019t negatively affect each other.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

What is clear is that consumer patterns are shifting, and what people are seeking for their manicures is moulding closer to the refined experiences private techs can offer. That\u2019s why this year, it appears they are replacing local salons as the go-to. Many local salons cannot execute the same detail of a nail art reference photo that a client shows them, because often these designs require more time than is typically on offer at their appointments. \u201cOne of the reasons I did start doing my own nails when I was younger is because in the nail shops, they wouldn\u2019t want to do the designs I would give them,\u201d\u00a0 Kaia reflects. \u201cSo I was like, I\u2019ll do it myself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Babe,<\/figure>\n
\"Babe,<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

With nail trends dominating the beauty industry, it is no wonder people are looking for techs who can give them exactly what they want. Each day, social media apps like Pinterest are flooded with new inspo \u2013 some fleeting and others lasting a while (polka dots are still going). For nail techs, trends can be both exciting and frustrating; while they allow for different approaches and takes based on personal styles, Chii, for one, is often over it already.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI really like a lot of the trends when they come, but I get bored very easily,\u201d she says. \u201cI think the way that trends dominate the nail industry is great in a lot of ways because a lot of them are obviously inspired by fashion, furniture, interior, all that kind of stuff. So I think it\u2019s actually really interesting to see how things kind of filter down. But I also think that once you do those things for a month and then two months, you need to figure out new ways to make it interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Kaia, her style is so distinctive that she manages to avoid trends that don\u2019t match her own artistic aesthetic. \u201cI have my personal favourites, like right now, polka dots are cute, stripes are cute, but like, my client base will never ask for Hailey Bieber nails or bubble bath nails or like blueberry milk nails or whatever,\u201d she says. \u201cWhich I\u2019m quite grateful for because those are not my personal vibe. If you look through my page, you\u2019re not going to book me and be like, hey, can I just have a nude?\u201d<\/p>\n

The status of nail art in the beauty industry is, at least for now, securely anchored as a gateway to creative expression. And, whether it\u2019s the set you get done at your local high street salon or at your chosen private artists\u2019 studio (who, let\u2019s be real, you probably found on Instagram) that makes you feel like\u2026 you, then, you\u2019re sorted, babe. In this day and age where there is a constant turnover of trends, finding your taste takes experimentation \u2013 and the same could be said for finding your nail tech. So, whether you\u2019re maxxing out on chunky charms, funky French tips, or glowy nudes, there\u2019s almost certainly an artist for you. The possibilities are endless!<\/p>\n

Words<\/strong> by Tanya Fevzi<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t27 August 2026\t\t\t<\/div>\n
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Beauty<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\tI spent the night with Ariana and fell in love with pop again<\/span> <\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wonderland BABE, WHERE ARE YOU GETTING YOUR NAILS DONE? The local Vietnamese nail salons that line London\u2019s high streets have long been the go-to for manicures. But the city\u2019s private techs are offering an entirely new experience, and we\u2019re here for it.\u00a0 Over the past decade, what is valued most within the beauty sphere has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,257],"class_list":["post-2114860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-wonderlandmagazine-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2114860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2114860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2114860\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2114860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2114860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2114860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}