Today is National Nail Price Increase Day – find out what that means and how it will affect you
Nail artists across the country will be collectively raising their prices today (Monday April 8) as part of a new campaign aimed at ensuring nail technicians are paid fairly. Named ‘National Nail Price Increase Day’, the initiative has been organised by The Nail Tech Org after they discovered most nail techs only take home around £7 per hour – less than minimum wage – thanks to rising costs of utilities, tools and supplies.
“When nail techs get their qualification, they don’t realise that they become a business owner overnight and for so long nail techs have not sat down and calculated the costs of running their business,” says Sneha, head of operations at The Nail Tech Org. “Our aim is to educate nail techs so that they can get paid fairly, at least the minimum wage and that the public can enjoy getting their nails done for many years to come.”
More than 5,000 people across the UK will be taking part, although the amount that prices go up is completely dependent on the individual businesses and not every nail tech has to raise them. As part of the campaign, The Nail Tech Org is offering free training and support to help people calculate appropriately for their services as well as communicate the changes to their clients. From a study conducted within their community, the organisation found that most of their members work 23 hours per week and charge £38 per set. Factoring in costs of things like insurance, tools and tax, the techs are making on average £6.99 per hour for their work. Prices have also not risen with inflation over the years.
“So many nail techs plucked their prices out of thin air by looking at what others around them charged (who were also incorrectly charging),” says Samantha Haste, one of the nail artists taking part in the initiative. She agrees that techs have been overworking and undercharging for years and says the only way to make change is to do so in unity, which is why today is so necessary. “That way, no one feels they’re being undercut by others and techs across the world are empowered by their decision to raise prices, not left feeling anxious that they’re going to lose business.”
Haste runs The Nail Dates, an online community of over 600 nail techs across the world, and says that many of the members struggle with burnout from working long hours. She hopes this initiative will help end this by ensuring that they are paid fairly and can stop working 12+ hour days to make ends meet. “At the end of the day, all the nail techs I know absolutely adore doing nails, it goes beyond a hobby and a passion for the majority, and if we price ourselves correctly it will change the game and really bring life back into the community again, not just burnt out souls,” she says. “I’m extremely proud of techs coming together to bring it to life.”
While this is an important first step to ensuring fair pay, nail techs are aware that the fight doesn’t just stop here. Southeast London-based nail artist Trixie says she is glad that the campaign is working to put value on an already undervalued art form, but that her suppliers have already used it as an opportunity to increase their prices too. “It puts us right back at square one,” she says, adding it’s important that clients try to be understanding of the price increases and what’s going on behind the scenes to contribute to them. “It’s disheartening because I, like many other nail artists, really love what I do. I just wish these bigger companies didn’t contribute to making it harder to survive in the profession. If you can, please support your nail techs!”
The fight also doesn’t just stop with the nail artists. Lash and brow tech Emmy Clayton feels optimistic that this campaign will help highlight how people across the beauty industry are being undervalued. “Beauty services are a luxury,” she says, “It’s such a fulfilling industry to work in but a huge majority have been paid less than minimum wage for far too long and some don’t even have a pension. Inflation increases yet our prices have barely shifted. This national movement helps solidify the importance of fair pay and the value of our skills.”
Find out more about the campaign here.
