A STALYBRIDGE beauty business is celebrating three decades of treating customers and being a mainstay of the high street.
Not bad considering The Waxing Station’s owner Nikki Smith did not actually want to go down that line of work.
30 years in business has been marked at the Armentieres Square firm with fun and frivolity, from both staff and a loyal customer base built up over time.
However, had Nikki had her way when she was younger, she may never have gone into that kind of business at all – but for a lucky win.
She said: “I didn’t even want to do beauty. I wanted to be a lawyer.
“But I did a BTEC in beauty that involved physiology, business finance and A-Level law.
“I thought, ‘What do I do?’ When we came to the end of the course when I was 19, though, I won a wax machine in a raffle at college.
“That’s the only reason I started beauty, doing beauty from home.
“I started working on friends in my mum and dad’s spare room, then my parents bought me a bed, then I got another piece of equipment.
“I was still working as a life guide and gym instructor and doing business. I became a health and fitness manager in Stockport, but all my clients were mobile.
“I then worked at the hospital as an exercise cardiac physiologist for about nine years, still doing my mobile beauty every night of the week.
“But I just couldn’t give one of them up, I loved both jobs.
“So I started to go part-time in the hospital to then start my business and I had a little salon in Cockbrook, in Chameleons.
“Eventually, I left the NHS 17 years ago and used my savings to convert a unit on Trinity Street, opposite the Civic Hall.
“I went full-time straight away, yeah and I’ve not looked back, I don’t have any regrets about anything I’ve done.
“I can’t believe it’s been 30 years – but it doesn’t feel like 30 years.”
After taking the plunge, Nikki and The Waxing Station have gone from strength to strength in a much-changed industry.
Some things have not changed, however, including some of her clients, who have stayed with her for decades.
Nikki, who lives in Mossley, added: “My longest client is called Louise Hope. She used to come to my house when I used to set up.
“I’ve people coming from Holmfirth, Worsley. I’ve even got a lady who comes all the way from Gisborne, near Skipton, but she’s been coming to me for 27 years.
“And with the clientele loyalty, I’ve gained most of my friends through my business and I do a lot of outings, I’m a bit of a social butterfly and my clients have become family and friends.
“Evie, who works with me on a Saturday, she was three-years-old and had nails done. She been here four years now!
“Then there was Mia and their parents now are all friends. So it’s quite nice.”
Offering intimate waxing, as the business name suggests, for both male and female clients, The Waxing Station is about much more.
Manicures, pedicures and aesthetics are also available, but the old school way is still the best.
“With aesthetics, I refer now – it’s a doctor only clinic,” Nikki continued.
“But we’re a waxing specialist regarding male and female customers’ intimate areas.
“Years ago, people may have thought I just did waxing. That’s a specialty, but now we’re so busy as we do spa pedicures, manicures and massage.
“The only thing we’ve never brought back after the onset of COVID-19 was facials. I can’t, I’m too busy!
“That made us throw everything away. So I lost thousands of products and to bring something back in, something else will have to be removed.
“It’s like, ‘Don’t fix it when it’s not broken.’
“When I first started, there was no competition. I think I was like one of the only mobile beauty therapists and when I’d do bridal make-ups, I’d always see the same girls.
“But the problem with the beauty industry now is girls are getting qualified and just want to stick a needle in someone.
“I’m still old school, so I only have doctors that work for me. The doctors are my friends, they’ve been doing it for almost 18 years now, before it became ever popular. I think I was the only Botox clinic in Stalybridge!”
Three decades in, Nikki may still be very much hands on, but he is also in a position where the quality of her staff allows her that bit of time for other things.
Making sure she can help others.
She told The Correspondent: “I’ve just got two main therapists and a Saturday girl, plus me. It’s enough.
“The girls I’ve got now, they’ve been the strongest team, and I feel like now I can pull away a little bit – even though I haven’t done, I still do stupid hours.
“The thing I want to get back into is my charity work, because I’ve done that for 30, 31 years, supporting different causes and I’m an NSPCC committee member.
“But I want to get back into it a bit more, I do love my charity work.”
*THE WAXING Station is based at 32, Armentieres Square in Stalybridge and can be contacted either by phone at 0161 304 7735, or by email at thewaxingstation@gmail.com. It can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/wax1995/.