WAH NAILS to open "salon of the future" in Soho

Nail art pioneer WAH NAILS will open its first tech-integrated salon in Soho on Saturday, which combines nail services, and digital and cultural experiences for its millennial and Gen Z customer base.

Based at 4 Peter Street, the 900sq ft salon has been designed to offer the feel of a night club as opposed to a salon and will feature an innovative "Virtual Reality Nail Designer" to allow customers to try out nail designs and share them via social media before having them brought to life by the WAH team.

The ground floor of the the two-storey salon is set up as a "play and discover" area, with immersive Virtual Reality experiences, nail printing and a product testing zone. The basement is the treatment area featuring six manicure desks, three pedicure chairs and a cocktail bar.

As well as WAH's own range of products, which are sold in 19 countries around the world, the salon will also sell an edit of products from independent beauty brands.

Sharmadean Read MBE, who established the brand in 2009, said she chose Soho for her first salon as it held many memories for her personally from "studying at Central St Martins College of Art to my first job on Shaftesbury Ave".

"[...] to me Soho IS London. I love the existing locals as well as the next generation of entrepreneurs and I’m extremely excited to be part of the community of Soho. I am looking forward to bringing this new innovative concept store to the area where trends historically have started,” Read said.

Read recently made her first move into fashion designing a capsule ready-to-wear and accessories collection for young fashion etailer ASOS, inspired by Princess Diana.