After months of boredom-induced nail biting and chipped polish from unsuccessful manicures at home, we’ve never been more ready to have our glamorous nails back…
I’m sure many of us tried some DIY beauty solutions during lockdown, coming to the painful conclusion that our eye-catching acrylics and creative nail art designs just can’t be recreated at home.
Thankfully, Manchester’s salons have reopened and are welcoming us with open arms to get glammed up with a new set of nails this spring.
Whether you want a fresh pub garden manicure or desperately need your nails neatening up, look no further than these must-visit nail salons in central Manchester.
Doll Parts
Doll PartsManchester
Doll Parts is a groovy nail salon is based in Affleck’s in the Northern Quarter, meaning you really don’t need to travel far to get a new set of nails.
ADVERTISEMENT
The venue is offering a variety of fun and artistic nail art designs to meet your tastes, as well as acrylic and gel extensions.
The creativity of this funky salon knows no limits – meaning you can let your ideas go wild with their designs!
It’s A Nail Thing is a new salon that has just launched at Hatch on Oxford Road, making it the student quarter’s hottest new salon.
It’s an inclusive salon of three independent nail technicians that share a love for unique designs, creating some intricate and artsy pieces in the process.
ADVERTISEMENT
Nail art has never been trendier than it is right now, so It’s A Nail Thing is the perfect place to go and get your fill.
This squad of creative nail technicians have grouped together to form Nails By Ya Gal Studio, providing us with the latest and trendiest in nail art designs.
Each member of the team has their own Instagram filled with funky and fresh nail art designs – I think several appointments may be necessary to book in with each of them!
The salon is a 20-minute walk outside of Piccadilly Gardens, but it’s definitely worth the short journey for their insanely intricate designs.
The Nude Nail Company is well-versed in gel manicures and bespoke nail art, creating a selection of adorable designs.
ADVERTISEMENT
They’re capable of everything from funky pastel designs to more simple and elegant block colours, so the sky is the limit.
Although they’re based in Didsbury, they operate both home-based and mobile, making it a great option if you don’t feel confident venturing into a salon just yet.
The surprisingly affordable luxury eyewear brand made famous by Peaky Blinders’ Cillian Murphy
Daisy Jackson
Most of us who watched Peaky Blinders finished the later seasons with a new-found obsession with stylish eyewear, thanks to the glasses Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby started wearing as his character progressed.
But did you know that you don’t need to run a dodgy racketeering enterprise to afford his accessories?
The lovely tortoiseshell frames were made especially for the hit BBC show by IOLLA, a Scottish brand who opened their first English store right here in Manchester last summer.
The brand specialises in fashionable, innovative glasses with a totally transparent pricing strategy – no hidden costs or added extras.
The Peaky Blinders glasses by IOLLAIOLLA’s Frosted Collection. Credit: SuppliedPic copyright Phil Tragen 2021
So that means you can get a stylish new pair of specs for £85, which includes prescription lenses and coatings.
What’s the catch? Erm, there genuinely isn’t one.
The new store at St Ann’s Square is a stylish space where shoppers can browse and try on the full IOLLA range, from the tortoiseshell MacDonald frames (the closest you can get to Tommy Shelby’s) to the bold cat-eye shape of Kelly.
Then there are the Frosted collection glasses, launched today, which take IOLLA’s best-selling styles and create them with new frosted coloured acetates.
All the glasses and sunglasses are handmade, uniquely designed and built to last – something that caught the eye of BAFTA-nominated costume designer Alison McCosh, who approached them to create a pair of frames for the fifth season of Peaky Blinders.
Anyone who visits IOLLA can have a styling session with an eyewear expert and build their own eyewear wardrobe.
Customers are encouraged to have their eye test prescription to hand (IOLLA don’t offer eye tests) before placing their order through their digitally enabled platform either in person or online.
The viral online shop selling ‘mystery boxes’ of amazing vintage clothes
Sophie Smith
An online shop is selling boxes of vintage clothing for an absolute bargain – but the catch is you never know exactly what you’re going to get.
Shop Vintage Mystery Boxes will specially choose items from its massive collection of branded vintage clothing and package them up for you, with three-item mystery boxes starting from just £65.
And given that the boxes often include things like North Face puffer jackets (which retail for around £300), you’re set to make some major savings.
Turning everything we know and love about shopping on its head, Shop Vintage Mystery Boxes is providing a brand new service that gives you the chance to grab some seriously good-value designer clothes, but you’ll have no idea what you’re actually getting until it arrives on your doorstep, The Hoot reports.
Mystery boxes certainly aren’t a new development in the retail world, but people are losing their minds over the options that are getting sent out to customers for less than £50.
Image: Shop Vintage Mystery Boxes
And its social media marketing is absolutely on point too – the brand films themselves packing up orders and posts them on TikTok, racking up millions of views a week.
Popular combinations seem to include North Face jackets, Champion, Nike and Tommy Hilfiger sweatshirts and t-shirts.
Humbly offering incredible items in their boxes, the company does state that “we do not overhype and oversell our boxes, they are what they are and always very good value for money. Put your trust in us and we won’t let you down!”
Prices start at £45 for menswear and womenswear, and offer three different types of packages: vintage, comfy and cosy- and if you’re lucky enough you’ll be able to watch your order getting packed on TikTok.
In one of the company’s latest videos, a North Face puffer jacket, embroidered Champion sweatshirt and Tommy Hilfiger t-shirt can be seen being packed up for a happy customer.
New, the items could retail at anywhere up to £250-£300, but instead this Shop Vintage Mystery Boxes customer won’t pay more than £65, with the added perks of reducing fashion waste and supporting a small business- seems like a win, win really.
Each contain vintage items from the 80s, 90s and 00s and the internet can’t seem to recommend the selections enough.
One happy customer said: “This will be my 4th box, first one for a man and I can’t fault it at all. Every item I’ve had is top quality. Nike puffer (reversible) 2 champion jumpers and a Tommy tee for this price! Amazing! I would 1000% recommend shop vintage, my partner is absolutely over the moon!”
Over on TikTok, Shop Vintage Mystery Boxes is also sharing what happens when they come across fakes (it includes lots of snipping – and a drop off at the charity shop).
Racking up hundreds of thousands of views (sometimes millions), people really can’t seem to get enough of these boxes- and it’s not hard to see why.
For more information on how to place an order with Shop Vintage Mystery Boxes, visit their website.
Daisy Bradbury -
23rd April 2021 
