For over 10 years, when Bianca Christopher wanted her nails to look professional and pretty, she visited her favorite salon, Bellacures, for some pampering.
“It was the ambience, the cleanliness, the décor—everything just added to the whole experience,” she says. “The service was consistent, and the customer service was always fantastic.”
After getting married and planning a family, Bianca started thinking about leaving her career in sales and advertising and began to focus on what else she could do. One day, while looking over the Bellacures website, she noticed that they franchised and wondered if that was something she should pursue.
In August 2021, she decided to go for it and opened Bellacures in Westlake Village. The salon is big and bright, with large, comfortable gray microsuede armchairs and colorful pillows. Each side table in between is adorned with a white orchid. Planters on the side walls are overflowing with greenery and help add to the tranquility of the space.
“My intention is to have a place that is warm and inviting,” she says. “I want it to be your one or two hours of peace. You can sit down, get the best customer service and the best manicure and pedicure and feel renewed when you leave. We have a lot of returning customers, which has been great.”
The brands of products used are all high quality and include Dazzle Dry, a nontoxic vegan polish that is highly resistant to chipping, and OPI. In addition to basic manicures and pedicures, what’s unique about Bellacures is that cuticle care, a massage and hot towels—which some salons charge extra for—are always included. There are also complimentary drinks such as sparkling and still water, Prosecco, coffee or tea, and hot chocolate in the winter.
“It’s a whole experience,” adds Bianca. “One of our favorite special services is the Cannacure mani-pedi,” she says. “It’s an extended service lasting a little over an hour if you do the pedicure. We drop a CBD bath bomb into the water, and the lotion and the scrub are CBD-infused. Those are really good for relaxation, but also to alleviate pain if you have some foot problems. The feedback from customers is that they feel like they’re walking on air.”
Another popular service is called the Seasonal Signature, and that can be a manicure or pedicure, but most of the time people choose a pedicure.
“That’s about an hour and a half and is everything you could imagine you want a pedicure to be,” says Bianca.
It’s usually scented for the season, and for winter it’s vanilla and cinnamon. With that, you get a walnut scrub, a callous treatment, paraffin wax, and then of course, a pedicure.
“You’re also served a cup of tea, or in winter, you can choose hot chocolate,” she says. “We’ll even put a few drops of Bailey’s in there if you want to really get wild! It’s such a lovely treatment and you’ll walk out feeling really renewed, rejuvenated and warm.”
Another unique offering from Bellacures is that it provides single use/pre-packaged nail products for each client. This way, clients are protected from any possible cross-contamination with other clients. As an added bonus, clients are able to take their files/buffs home with them to help maintain their beautiful nails!
The front desk staff, she says, is friendly and hardworking, and she loves to mentor them.
“I also have a great team of highly experienced people who do the manicures and pedicures. They always show up to do their best and accommodate each customer’s specific needs and desires.”
Going into almost two years of this pandemic, she feels it’s more important than ever for people to pamper themselves.
“I think we’re exhausted and honestly a little traumatized, and self-care is being emphasized more, which it should be. We can’t pour from an empty cup.”
Bianca hopes to help fill that cup.
“I put my heart into this and I’m so grateful for every customer who comes in and chooses us for that little free time they have, and I hope we deliver on every expectation.”
For more information and to make an appointment, go to Bellacures.com.