A new independent beauty salon has opened in Wiltshire as a former chef swaps cooking for nail treatments.
DQ Nails and Beauty was opened on Monday, July 17, at Potters Yard in Malmesbury by local beautician Darcy-May Quinnell.
The salon has enjoyed a successful opening week and Ms Quinnell believes her clientele is already on the rise.
The 26-year-old said: “It’s actually gone really well, and I’ve had quite a lot of interest which is so nice.
“There have been people that I recognise but the majority coming in have been people I don’t recognise, so it’s really lovely to have that mixture.”
Ms Quinnell is originally from Malmesbury, but moved to London for five years where she worked as a chef.
But her career path took an unexpected turn last summer, when she began treating her own nails after becoming fed up with the damage working in a kitchen did to them.
“It was really ruining my nails and I just wanted to do something for myself”, she said.
“I started doing gels on myself and that turned into doing them for family and friends, before long I decided I didn’t want to be a chef anymore and this is something I really loved doing.
“I decided to just go for it, so I saw the salon in May and moved in this June.”
While the transition from chef to local salon owner has occurred rapidly for Ms Quinnell, she is not the first member of her family to set up a business in the town.
Her brother, Tyler, has run TQ’s Barbershop on Gloucester Street since opening it in lockdown, and his influence was key in giving her confidence to take the plunge.
She added: “He was a massive inspiration for me, and I thought if my brother can do it then I can as well.
“I felt quite confident but also nervous at the same time because it was such a big step.
“But I felt happy and confident enough to go through with it because it was a passion that I just completely fell in love with.”
Ms Quinnell added she is keen to support other independent businesses and sourced food and balloons for her opening party from local stores such as The Cake Tin.
DQ Nails and Beauty will offer a range of services, primarily focusing on prescriptive nail treatments which are bespoke to different clients, including lash and brow treatments, Indian head massage and gel extensions.
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