Owning a nail business automatically means you need to keep updated with the latest designs and fashions. Yet how are you supposed to keep up with an industry that keeps changing? The good news is if you offer everything from the past and you keep adding more designs and fashions you can keep up with the changing trends. French-style manicures have not gone out of style, well the concept keeps resurfacing even after it becomes 'old.' The point is recycling some concepts is an option, while also maintaining your ability to learn new designs.
- Magazines
- Celebrities
- YouTube
- Television
- Checking out the Competition
Magazines do the Research for You
Magazines are a great resource to use as a way to find new images of nail designs. Any fashion magazine that shows current trends in fashion will help you locate some new designs. You can bet your bottom dollar there will be something about beauty and fashion in magazines about current trends and the models will have nail art, whether it is more simplistic or very detailed.
Magazine publishers look ahead at what they want to put in their issues. Often they are looking a year to six months in advance before the publishing date. Writers look to see what is coming and what is current, and decide what to write on fashion and design topics. For you, this means every client is reading the magazine at the same time. You may have had someone enter your shop already with a magazine asking if you can do your nails like the model or the nail stickers being pictured in it. So you know how powerful this publication media can be to your business.
Celebrities Start Trends
Celebrities are often the place trends start. Models are certainly celebrities and in magazines, so it stands to reason that popular celebrities will also be used for inspiration when it comes to nail art and fashion. Perhaps there is nail art in a new movie that someone saw. Perhaps there was an interview of their favourite celebrity and their nails caught the person's attention.
Like magazines, all other publication media including tabloids, newspapers, online news sites, and online celebrity media will gain attention and help you discover current nail designs and trends. Not only is the publication media helpful, but many celebrities are posting online about their lives.
You can read about some celebrities who just got their nails done and put up an Instagram or Pinned it on Pinterest.
YouTube Tutorials from Regular People
Granted it will take time to do some research, but if it keeps you in trends and ensures your business is a success there is no reason not to take hours online at the end of the day to research current trends. You also have the ability to set up e-mail and text alerts from social media and YouTube when new things arrive on the scene. This can take away some of your research time.
Despite the timing issue, you definitely want to search the most popular nail videos that are currently online to see what new trends and designs are out there. A simple search on YouTube can pull up thousands of results including videos from Fashion Week, popular magazines and regular people. The most popular videos are going to rank the highest, ensuring you locate the trends everyone else is finding.
Television Always has Trends
Television will certainly have trends. All the commercials, beauty shows, talk shows, and much more will showcase current trends. You can also see current trends in dramas and primetime shows. Any show that is set in the present is going to have current nail trends. In fact, you may have someone visiting a beauty salon going for the newest trend in nails. You can certainly pick up new concepts and designs by watching your favourite shows. It is a time saver in some regards. It won't always work, but it is just one more way to consider finding trends outside the typical options that you have.
Checking out the Competition
You can believe that the competition has come to your shop. They have walked in, looked around, perhaps even made an appointment and checked out your skills. It is the only way to know what clients want and whether the competition is getting their clientele for some reason.
You will want to check out the competition not only for good business sense but for the nail designs they have. You can't steal unless it is a popular design that has been recreated by a celebrity, but you can see what is happening and what their clients are choosing in terms of colour, fashion, and designs.
More Ways to Stay Updated
As an owner of a nail shop, you know there are hundreds of beauty magazines from around the world, as well as exclusive offers that come to you. You also have all your representatives that sell you the nail supplies you use. When a vendor comes to your shop to try to sell you new nail colours, decals and other supplies, you have a chance to look over what they feel is the next thing in popular designs.
You not only have typical methods like vendors to keep up to date through but the five other methods mentioned above. They are media-led like social media, magazines, celebrities, television, YouTube and the competition. It doesn't matter where the ideas come from, as long as you are taking notice. Your clients want you to be up to date with the latest fashions and designs so you can recreate them for the client.