New nail and makeup salon offers old fashioned service

Mother and daughter team Karen Peppercorn - a nail expert - and Taylor Ainsworth - a makeup artist and hair extensions technician - have opened Blushington Studio in Windsor and between them, they are hoping to use their 30-plus years of experience to create something unique that harks back to the days when good old fashioned service was the norm.

Karen was the president of Australian Professional Fingernail Association for years, and used to own a salon in Windsor called Gorgeous Nail and Beauty Spa.

She has sold products to other beauty salons, TAFE and colleges, and co-wrote a nail technician book which is used in TAFE training, she said.

"I just do nails - that's my passion," she told the Gazette.

"I do them old style; I don't drill the natural nails like nail bars do. We want the natural nail to grow and have the acrylic overlay.

"The drills ruin the nail and can cut people. My clients like that I'm old school."

Daughter Taylor claims to be one of only two technicians in the state trained in 'flat track weft', a technique for hair extensions, that she says is "the damage free alternative to any other method on the market".

"They're low maintenance, comfortable, and years of experience has gone into perfecting the technique - and people love it. The quality is incredible as well - 18 months later, some clients have their same hair extensions, which is pretty much unheard of."

She also does makeup, both bridal and special occasions.

"I've had makeup clients I've done their formal makeup and now their wedding makeup years later. It would be nice if the industry headed back that way," she said.

Karen said the duo were creating a space where clients would get to know their technicians, and they would get to know their clients.

"When you're sitting down having a service, you want to have a chat," she said. "Bring a coffee in and have a chat to the other clients."

"When you go to [other nail bars] you're rushing in and rushing out. There's so much emphasis on making money that [old fashioned service] is getting lost now. We consider our clients our friends," Karen said.

A 'floral wall' mural at the salon was painted by local artist Nicolee Payne. Embossing on the mirrors reads 'Hello, gorgeous' and 'Oh my god, you look so pretty'.