NAILS By Edinah Bakora

                     

        

                          

Beauty is seen in different ways by women in the world and in Nairobi Kenya, one of the ways is nail care. In the 1990s nail beauty was not of much importance to Kenyan women, even those in the city where trends are first set. However, today many women like to take care of their nails not only for beauty purposes but for health reasons and for better growth of their nails. The nail beauty industry in the country has grown to a reputation in the city, there are so many studios that strictly offer nail application, manicure, and pedicure services.

A manicure involves cleaning the hand nails and some scrubbing of the arms. Pedicure is the same procedure only that it is done to the toenails and scrubbing of the heels to remove all the dead skin. European and Asian countries even have a natural pedicure process whereby the legs are placed in a tank with small fish that eat away the dead skin. (The fish is called garra rufa also known by many spas as “doctor fish”). In Kenya, this service is found in the beauty spas in upper-class areas like Lavington, Karen, and Kilimani. (e.g. Euphoria Fish Spa).

In the twenty-first century, it is not only women who do nail beauty, but men. The services are also offered by both men and women, for example, most women in Nairobi prefer men giving them a pedicure because they feel that they have strong hands to massage their legs well, and they will do it wholeheartedly. Men mainly visit saloon parlors to have a pedicure or manicure once in a while for self-grooming. To remove dead skin and some apply colorless nail polish, yet for women it is mainly for beauty purposes that are done as often as once in two weeks.

Nail polish in the country comes in different colors and types. The newest and most common trend is gel nail polish, which dries fast using a machine with ultraviolet light and lasts a minimum of three weeks up to one and half months depending on what chore an individual does. Normal nail polish from famous international companies like Revlon, Essie, O.P.I, Olay, and others are available in Kenya but very costly. Therefore, most nail artists prefer using local products like Luron, darling, and Golden Rose since they are affordable and they are not counterfeits. These are applied to both artificial and natural nails.

Ladies part with as much as Ksh 500 to Ksh 3,000 to get there nails done. They are called stick-on, tips, acrylics, and overlays. Stick-on are glued on top of the natural nails, and they stick as the name goes; they are charged mostly Kshs 500. Tips and acrylics are applied using bonding glue and nail powder to give them a fine finish, to make the nails look longer and for them to look as natural as possible. These have a lot of work due to the products used. Thus, they are costly, and they start from Kshs 1,000.

Overlays are the newest trend in the city, whereby two artificial nails are piled on each other using acrylic and gel from the root of the natural nails. This is mainly done to strengthen one’s own nails since it will grow together with the natural nails to desired length. These cost from Kshs 2000-5000 depending on the location of the nail spa. Uptown Nairobi, nail studios are very costly compared to the central business district.

Normal polish application costs between Kshs 150-Ksh 300 depending on the location of the nail parlor/saloon while gel polish costs between Kshs 500 - Ksh 1,200 depending on the type and color since there are neon colors and those that have color change. It is unique and the rarest of products taking over in the nail market today with a storm. This trend of color change started early of 2018, and it is the most expensive nail polish. The cheapest place downtown charges Kshs 1,000 to apply color change.

Example of a lady who has Overlays artificial nails.

We got a chance to interview some of the stalls from downtown of the city: river road and bus station; up to uptown Tom Mboya Street, Kenyatta avenue, Moi Avenue and standard street. Moses Macharia owns a nail parlor at down town of Tom Mboya street (also called commercial by locals), and he says: “I went to beauty school despite everyone thinking it is a women’s line of carrier and after finishing school I got a small loan from my bank to start a nail beauty shop business. It was tough at first, especially to get clients and to set prices for my services since there was high competition from other saloons, but eventually I got my clientele. The best part about starting my business is that I get to do what I love and be self-employed. I do nail beauty services and facial beauty too. My clients are both women and men plus, I have employed six permanent employees to help out because we get many clients especially during weekends”. 

There are women who do not like applying nail polish due to several reasons. We were unfortunate to find any and the ones we found did not want to be interviewed due to their strong believe. Some women do not use nail polish or do manicure or pedicure due to their religion or occupation. For instance, women from these churches: Seventh Adventist church (SDA), Prophet Awour Repentance & Holiness Ministry, (famous church in Kenya), Akorino (famous religious sect in Kenya.)

Muslim women also avoid nail polish due their religion however they do manicure and pedicure for themselves in their homes. However most of them being house wives they prefer henna, which they apply as a decoration art on their skin and nails. Henna comes primarily in three colors namely; white, brown, and black. It is absorbed in the nails by drying on the sun and as the nails grow so will the henna fade out. Muslim women prefer this form of nail beauty décor because it is natural and has to be applied on their natural nails and it is very affordable. A bottle is sold at Kshs 20 and a bigger tube is Kshs 50. Both of these can last them four months if applied once every month.

Henna art on nails and skin

Women from different occupations like: doctors, nurses, teachers and chefs just to mention but a few, do not apply nail polish however they do go for manicure and pedicure once in a month to indulge themselves. Eve Hawa  is a nurse at a public hospital and she says: “My job does not allow me to use any nail polish at all, even the nude ones that camouflage with the color of natural nails. I still go to the salon when I get time or once every month to have a nice scrub of manicure and pedicure to keep my nails beautiful and grow naturally healthy”. She spends Kshs 1200/= a month for both pedicure and manicure.

Eve Hawa

Jacqueline Kendi also likes doing pedicure and manicure for beauty reasons and to open pores of her skin. Here is what she says: “I like to take care of myself in order to be confident and when I make my nails it surges my self-esteem too. I like both nail polish and gel polish because I change them according to my moods. Most times I have artificial nails since they last longer and they are very representable in my line of work. In a month I will use Kshs 1000/= for both manicure and pedicure because I go to my studio at a bus station which is affordable to me”.  

Jacqueline Kendi.

Other women like Eunice Nkatha do not like fixing artificial nails because she feels that it weakens her natural nails. “Nail beauty is a must for every woman who loves herself and since most saloons massage the ligaments during pedicure, it helps with blood flow especially to us who do not exercise. I make my nails once every week, mostly on weekends and I use my natural nails. I apply nail polish because gel polish is very costly and I cannot easily change it at home since it needs acetone to remove. I spend Kshs 500/= on manicure and Kshs 500/= on pedicure” says Eunice. 

Eunice Nkatha.

Margret Njoki is also another lady we ask her views on pedicure and manicure; she says: “I apply gel nail polish on my own nails, because it lasts and I can do house chores with it since I am a working mother. I like making my nails because it makes me feel beautiful plus it is good for a woman to take care of her nails for a good presentation to other people you work with. I visit the nail studio while I go to the salon to plait my hair and I spend Kshs 500/= on manicure and Kshs 800/= on pedicure”. 

Margret Njoki.

Linda Akoth also likes having a pedicure and manicure. “I make my nails for beauty purposes and because I love myself so I take care of my hands and toes. I will use Kshs 500/= or Kshs 600/= depending on the nail parlor I go to because sometimes I have enough money and I go to a spa and get pampered. I use my own nails because they are long enough plus am more of a natural person who does not even use make up” says Linda. 

Linda Akoth

From the views above most women make their nails because it is a sign of beauty and others because it is a fashionable trend. Sherry Aganda says: “I like making my nails because they make me feel bolder and it is fashionable to have manicured hands in this city. I make mine twice a month or when they get spoilt. For full manicure and pedicure I prefer doing it once a month whereby I spend Kshs 2800/= for both; then after I get artificial overlays for my hands, but toes I just use my own nails”. 

Sherry Aganda.

Irene Kagwe makes her nails for beauty and I find her applying gel nail polish and here is what she has to say: “I make my nails once in a month for my skin to breathe and to also remove dead skin/cuticles. I spend Kshs 2000/= for both pedicure and manicure. Sometimes I do these at home by myself when I have time because it is cheaper and I have a lot of nail polish I buy, and then they end up drying because I do not use them often. However, I prefer nail parlor because they are accurate and experts at applying nail polish plus gel polish is easily available. I don’t like artificial nails though and besides gel lasts even when doing house chore that involve touching water”. 

Irene Kagwe.

Agnes Nduta works at a nail studio and she also gave her view as a person who likes making her nails and as professional nail beautician. Here is what she tells us: “As an expert on nail beauty, I get clients both men and women clients. Men only need a little grooming of their nails and most of them do it when it is a big function like a wedding. Women are my frequent customers and most of them do both manicure and pedicure. I also manicure and pedicure by myself or I tell one of my workmates to apply nail polish on my nails during late hours of work or on early weekdays when we do not have so many customers”. 

As much as Agnes gets to service her nails with a workmate, she still incurs cost because she will be charged for using the company’s nail polish. She uses Kshs 900/= for her toes and hands and she switches from her own natural nails to the artificial nails. 

Agnes Nduta

Esther Kabuki is also another client I found at Siraje Nail Studio at Imenti house in the uptown of Moi Avenue Street, making her nails and here is her view on nail beauty: “My nails are short so I like to come here and have artificial nails fixed. Today am trying out the new trend called overlay with gel nail polish, because my nail beautician tells me it is the best and very fashionable. I make my nails twice a month for beauty, good appearance and it costs me Kshs 2600/= both pedicure and manicure. Pedicure helps to remove dead skin from my heels and also I get to have a good massage. Since I also went to beauty school, I scrub my legs once every month at home to remove the layers of oil applied to the skin daily. As much as we bath daily, we still need deep scrub to open pores for healthy skin not only on the face but also the hands and our legs”.

Alice Asiimwe is also another client I found at Siraje Nail Studio who likes using nail polish on her nails. “I like making my nails because other than hair, nails are a form of beauty to a woman so one has to take care of them. I like this nail studio because they have a unique machine that buffers your cuticles away without causing any damage or breakage to the nails and also gives nails natural color. I apply gel polish sometimes and sometimes normal nail polish. I spend between Kshs 1500- 2600/= depending on what I want for my nails. This I do strictly once a month since I do not do a lot of house chores so my nail care lasts longer”, says Alice. 

Alice Asiimwe

Nail beauty is a very cliché story but we found very unique information about nail parlors in Nairobi. First most Ugandans are penetrating this market in Kenya, for example: Siraje Nail Studio is owned by a Ugandan called Siraje Tubyakira and he has several other shops within the city. He gets many clients because he uses machines to make nails unlike other nail saloons that do everything manually.

Despite him being a foreigner he is heavily taxed and this makes him import his products from his country. He uses nail buffering machine and overlays machine which are not used even in nail studios in high-class areas of Nairobi. “I am passionate about my job and I like what I do. I discovered there is a gap in the Kenyan nail industry when I visited to do some research and I decided to invest my business in Nairobi. Of course I had to get work permit and all the licenses from Nairobi City Council, which was very tough and I was almost quitting. I was even shocked that the nail technology in Kenya was behind compared to my country considering this country very developed economically. In Uganda all of the nail parlors have these nail machines except the mobile nail beauticians. This was an opportunity for me to introduce it to Nairobi and so far, I cannot complain”, says Siraje. 

Siraje, at his nail studio one of his nail studios.

Nail art or nail care beauty is a growing industry that is becoming more dominated with male beauticians too despite it being a world of women and it contributes hugely to the economy of the country by providing employment to the college students; especially self-employment or business which is the better since the government is not creating many white collar jobs for graduates.