T&A Trader of the Week: Paul-inna Nails and Beauty in Shipley

Over the years Paulina built up skills and experience and now runs her own business - Paul-inna Nails and Beauty in Shipley - the Telegraph & Argus Trader of the Week.

Paulina, 34, tells us more about the business: I set up Paul-inna Nails and Beauty on November 5, 2022. I’m renting a room in a tanning salon in Shipley. I get on really well with all the staff here.

I offer manicures and pedicures but specialise in nail sculpting - a hard to find service in Bradford. I offer shellac and BIAB (builder in a bottle) services too, but nail sculpting allows me to extend the nail with more control and precision, as opposed to using a standard acrylic tip. If you stick a false nail to your natural nail it looks like a claw once it grows out! With nail sculpting you can shape it with product to follow the natural nail growth so it looks more natural, grows stronger and lasts longer. I say to every client that I’ll find the right product for you as everybody’s nails are different. I offer a bespoke service and trial different nail products until I match the right one for them.

Paulina offers a bespoke service (Image: Shy Burhan)

I don’t give up on them if a product doesn’t work, the clients know that and that’s why they keep coming back. I’m very grateful for the loyalty my clients have shown me. A full nail sculpting session lasts two hours and I have clients travelling from Harrogate, Ilkley and all over the Bradford district. We have such a laugh and sometimes a cry, and an overall hearty catch up. They’re all friends now.

I’m a stickler for hygiene and sterilise my tools in an Autoclave medical steriliser which I paid £2,000 for. In Poland, where I’m from, it is a legal requirement to sterilise all tools in salons after each client and I’ve transferred this practice to my business here. It’s important to sterilise tools properly, especially when you have client after client. I use a different nail file on every client, which I gift to them at the end of their appointment. I use a fresh pair of surgical gloves with every client.

* Do you see your business as part of the local community?

I see lots of familiar faces, including other small businesses in Shipley where I live and work. I’ve been made to feel very welcome and couldn’t imagine trading anywhere else for now, as I’m very happy here. It’s a nice spot, we all support each other.

* What do you have got planned going into your third year of trading?

I want to offer piercings and will offer more slots, as my diary is already booked a month in advance! In the long term I’d like my own salon and employ therapists who can do different beauty treatments. Watch this space.

I’ve come so far. I wake up every morning full of gratitude that this city, its people and their generosity of spirit have given me. I’m so proud with what I’ve achieved in my little salon. One of my proudest achievements is when my five-year-old daughter says, ‘I want to make pretty nails like you mummy when I grow up’. I advise her to focus on her goals and that if you believe you can achieve something, you will. To anyone else, I say, ‘it’s never too late to pursue your dreams. Hard work and determination will get you there. And always have a strong support network around you’. I don’t know if I’d have got here without the love and support of my family and partner.

* Paul-inna Nails and Beauty is at 26 Kirkgate, Shipley.

Paulina has an online booking system via Booksy: shorturl.at/cPm94. Go to Paul-inna Nails & Beauty Facebook and Instagram