Manicurious: Nail bar, fashion space & cafe…triple the fun!

PUBLISHED November 21st, 2012 01:23 am | UPDATED July 22nd, 2024 03:19 pm

Here are a few of my favourite things:

Shopping.

Looking pretty, getting pretty, having someone fuss and pamper me with prettiness as the end goal.

Eating cake.

So imagine my utter glee and admittedly, totally girly wonder to discover that such a place that combines all my favourite pastimes exists! In heaven? NO, in actual real life, in a little heaven-sent place called Manicurious which happily indulges pretty much everything I like to do. In fact, you know what?… I’m going to go out on a limb here and say, pretty much what all ladies like to do. Curious? ahaaaaaa, see what I did there!

Walking through the door, the first thing you see is the shop, filled with jewellery from the likes of Icing, L’ile aux Ashby, Ashlynes, Laurel, Dusk and By Invite Only; adorable brooches from The Little Drom Store and sweet bits and bobs in felt from the ever present mrkt. Everything has been curated by the folks at Manicurious and is quirky and stylish, much like its surrounds. But it’s not all for the girls, with Sunglasses by Ksubi and Waiting for the Sun, watches and weird, kitsch figurines by Nooka and Fullspot, and paper goods and lifestyle products from Livework and Cookie Cutter, there’s enough to keep your fella entertained whilst you indulge in a little TLC .

If you have made an appointment, as you walk in, a charming gentleman, Shawn the owner and manager, approaches you by name and leads you through to the salon, straight past the cakes, Dammit! But don’t worry, we’ll come back to that later – however, here’s a quick glimpse just to get those tastebuds tingling!

It’s a nice touch to receive a personal welcome and once you’ve been sat down in the comfy retro armchairs, been offered a drink and given a soft blanket for your legs, you feel a bit like you’ve popped round to a friends house for tea, rather than being at a nail salon.

With a huge selection of colours, you are totally spoilt for choice and both Ms Demeanour and I were very happy with our mani-pedi. They offer a wide selection of services from classic manicures, gel, hand and foot spa, your manicure can even involve crystals! In fact although we didn’t sample the skills, they are known for their exotic, funky and altogether different fashion-led nail art. You can check out their list of services here. Alot of care is taken and they are quite strict about making sure your nails are completely dry, so much so that by the end, we were pining for cake! Like “pleeeese can we go now, I want to eat sweet things!” They very kindly acquiesced!

In a cosy little space between the shop and the salon sits the cafe, the origin of the inviting coffee aroma, and a selection of enticing baked goods. We went for a slice of the Smore’s Pie ($7),

and a zesty Strawberry Lemon Tart (also $7).

The sweet treats are courtesy of Windowsill Pies who bake all their delicious offerings fresh, with the best ingredients and lots of love, care and attention to detail. I can taste the love. My Smores pie was filled with gooey chocolatey goodness topped with fluffy toasted marshmallows and home-made graham crackers. Yum! Whilst the Strawberry Lemon tart tangy and refreshing and reminiscent of a summer’s day. I also had their Hazelnut latte whilst I was having my nails done which was nutty, creamy and delicious, and I later found out, complimentary when having a treatment! Nice touch. The coffee is supplied by boutique coffee roasters Papa Palheta so you know it’s a darn tasty bean!

The thing about Manicurious is it’s a curated space of my favourite things, your favourite things, and whose ever genius idea it was to seamlessly integrate the three concepts into one. In a rush? No problem, you can dash through and do a 3-in-1 mani-coffee-purchase attack! But if you have time, I suggest you take the afternoon off, and go to relax and be pampered in a place that satisfies all your senses and leaves you happy in far more ways than one!

Manicurious is located at 41 Beach Road, 189680.