Ruth Calder
Owner, nail technician
Fifteen years on the tools. Ruth takes most of the BIAB and repair work, and trains the rest of the team on prep.
Our story
A studio built around nail health, not turnover
Ruth opened Blush in 2016 with one chair, a secondhand lamp and a rule that nobody gets booked in on top of anyone else.
Nine years on the same street
Blush started in the small unit two doors down, with Ruth working alone on Tuesdays and Thursdays around a college teaching job. Word travelled through the school gate and the running club, and by 2019 there was a waiting list.
We moved into number 14a in 2021, added a treatment room, and stopped there. The studio is not going to get bigger. Keeping it small is the only way we can give a set of nails the ninety minutes it sometimes needs.
Most of our clients have been coming for years. Plenty arrived after damage from acrylic sets elsewhere, and we spent a few appointments simply growing the nail back out before anyone talked about colour.
Hygiene we can show you
Single use files and buffers, metal tools autoclaved off site, records kept for every client.
Honest advice
If your nails need a break, we will say so and book you a treatment manicure instead.
The team
Three of us, all with our own regulars. You can request whoever you usually see when you book.
Priya Nandra
Nail artist
Freehand detail, chrome and anything involving a very small brush. Priya keeps our art board updated every season.
Hollie Ward
Beauty therapist
Brows, lashes and facials in the back room. Level 3 qualified, patch tests done in person before every first tint.