A CARDENDEN business owner is nailing life after featuring in a world-leading magazine.
Abbi Gilfillan has recently had her Blabz Beauty Bar showcased in Scratch Magazine as part of a Brand Watch feature.
After becoming a nail technician in 2019, Abbi, who also works full-time as a design and technology teacher, began to formulate, design and develop her own cuticle oils to retail as aftercare.
It has since thrived since she started selling during the pandemic.
“I wanted to provide my clients with the best salon experience and after care service possible,” she explained. “It was difficult to find affordable products that were of consistent high quality so, after months of vigorous research, I formulated my now very popular Blabz Beauty Bar cuticle oil pens.
“Our aim is to provide nail lovers, nail technicians and salon owners with quality products that perform well consistently and are accessible to all and fulfil that promise.
“Having a design background allowed me the freedom to create the labels and packaging just the way I envisioned for my brand. This also allowed me to successfully create Blabz Beauty Bar’s very own website for customers to shop internationally and more conveniently.”
Now operating through Etsy, Instagram and her own website, she has a range of 20 cuticle oil pens as well as a range of other nail products.
Abbi, 23, has been amazed at how her business has grown.
“The initial launch of my products was to my own nail clients in May 2019 – I had no intention of going global with the cuticle oils and was only trying to produce a suitable, high quality aftercare product to help my clients enhancements last longer,” she said.
“Within the first national lockdown in 2020 I began to advertise the oils more on my social media and was inundated with requests from other nail technicians who were keen on purchasing larger amounts.”
Abbi has had to juggle the rise of her fledgling business with her full time job which has meant drafting in family members to help keep up with orders.
“Behind the scenes my family have been super supportive in helping me to build my business and create these products, we work several nights per week – alongside our day jobs – to make up the oils, fill the pens, label them, pack the orders and post them to all my lovely customers,” she added.
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