It’s coming…. I’ll have to use the “C” word again. I vowed I would stop but unfortunately we are still seeing effects from Covid. Whether it be good or bad, our world will never be the same again in some aspects. Trigger warning, I’ll also have to mention a few more swear words…. cost. of. living. crisis…… But bear with me, we are super positive over here and always find ways to capitalise rather than spiralling into demise….
Now grab a cuppa and sit down, I can talk for England. If you would prefer not to – then join me on Wednesday night 8pm live on the MISSU Facebook Group to see the press ons in action! Otherwise, read on…
Press on nails back in the 90’s (which was 10 years ago – right?) were what we called false nails and we bought them from a market stall in town and it was the closets we were going to get to having nice nails as young teens. They came with nothing other than tip glue, were incredibly flimsy and didn’t last a day. I vaguely remember only having a choice of natural or French tip.
Fast forward to Covid, yep sorry – said it again, and the innovative nail artists and business owners amongst us said “If you can’t come to me for you nails done, I will send the nails to you”. Press on nails were re-born! But they weren’t the flimsy 90’s kind, but beautiful, professionally designed nail extensions. Safe for all members of society to apply at home. Kept us nail artists busy and most importantly kept some cash coming through the door.
So is this now time to but the press on’s back under the rock they came from? Now that we can freely visit a salon again? I think not… we didn’t come this far to let them go. So we are going to find ways to implement them into our every day salon business to help us regain lost revenue, create new revenue, claw back* lost clientele and regain new custom. But how?
*pun not intended
First of all let’s determine who they are for. What are the client dynamics? Press on nails allow people to wear extensions temporarily. Why would they only want them temporarily? Maybe they don’t like extensions, can’t wear extensions, are allergic to product, doesn’t fit their mid-week lifestyle, have young kids, can’t afford the maintenance, only want them on for an event….. the list goes on. The other fact we are facing is that during this cost of living crisis, people are cutting back on their spending! The luxury of having your nails done is becoming one of those things we must live without. Press on’s allow the customer to re-use the nails. They can purchase extra glue tabs to replace the ones you fitted so they can use them over and over again. It saves them money in the long run and they don’t have to give up that one luxury they so dearly love! We do also have some session nail artists who use press ons for models during photo shoots!
One of the main factors I have learned over my career of the hair and beauty industry, teaching and eventually sales is in order to sell something you need to be solving a problem. For example, do you have a cupboard full of shoes and you can’t find a matching pair without pulling out the entire pile? Here, buy this shoe rack. Problem solved. That is a very simple example. Relating it back to nails…. why don’t you have your nails the way you want them? “Because I am a nurse and we aren’t allowed anything on our nails, I would love to have nice nails when I’m off at the weekend” [insert press ons]
There is a market for extension customers, there is a market for gel manicure customers, and there is a market for press on customers. Press on’s are being sold a couple of different ways, lots of our clients who buy press on equipment are solely concentrating on a press on business and that’s fantastic. I want to help you, the salon owner, the nail artist – to reign in on this!
Before we continue to the fundamentals, the FAQ’s and the costing, let me outline a couple more pros to creating press ons that might not have originally come to mind.
- Practice. Practice makes perfect! Instead of wasting money on products and tips, use those tips and sell them! Most press on businesses are creating made to order sets. But some, and this should include you, are making up sets ahead of time and listing them for sale.
- Content. Content creating is something we all struggle to find the time and energy for. You know you’re good enough, and you want to create a dream online presence. So whilst you’re making press ons – film it. Et voila you have lots of content to post on your socials. Whether it be to educate, sell or advertise, content is key! On that subject, just to answer a frequent question I get, the other secret to creating and maintaining a good following and interaction online – is consistency!
Cost: The cost to make a set of simple press ons (ie. a plain colour) is around £2-£2.50. We sell a press on retail kit for £25+vat including the tips. It contains the instruction card for your client, an acetone wipe and a file. It also has the retail bags for you to put everything in, including the tips once you’ve made them. More on displaying your tips in just a moment. You then also need to purchase the glue tabs to apply to the back of the nail. The customer then just needs to buff their own nail, wipe it with an acetone wipe, peel off the back of the glue tab and press the nails on. To remove, soak in warm water for 5 minutes and peel off.
The cost is around £2.50 for you, plus your time. Pricing for press ons differs massively. Depending on the design etc, press ons are charge anywhere from £25 to £100. You need to consider you costs, time and quality.
Further to that, we need to discuss the logistics. Sizing. There are a number of ways to either do this or avoid it. To avoid it, you sell a box of 15 tips. So that the customer only needs to use the size that fits. Thats the easiest way, but it will cost you a few pennies more. The other way is to either size the customer yourself in salon, or ask them to size at home.
Sizing in salon is the best way, and if you are seeing your client anyway for a gel manicure its the perfect opportunity to note down their sizes for press ons. The press ons they are going to wear to their Christmas party then take off and carry on with their natural gel manicure.
Sizing at home also comes with 2 options. (Listen, don’t ever say we don’t try and cater for every scenario!) Option 1, they buy a sizing kit… which of course we also sell. Or option 2 they measure with a flexible tape measure. We have full guidance on how to do this and we have all the sizes noted down of each Flexi Press Tip that we sell.
Displaying your press ons is easy, double sided tape from amazon and a piece of nice card. If you want to go the extra mile you can buy presentation boxes or have custom made cards with your logo. The possibilities are endless really. Get creative with it, remember to keep your costs down.
Whilst I am working on a complete how to video for press ons, don’t forget to join me Wednesday evenings from 8pm live on our MISSU Support Group. I create a set of press ons every week, answer all of your questions and also swatch/demo other products from the range. Don’t be shy… come and say hi!
