A new nail salon opened Aug. 9 in Jefferson City at 2121 Missouri Blvd.
Cindy Andrews said she opened the salon because she was looking for a change after working for 23 years as a nurse. She also opened it in the same building as a business owned by her husband.
Andrews said she has an artistic side and loves creating crafts, including making necklaces. While she enjoyed helping people as a nurse and still works part time for the University of Missouri's Psychiatric Center in Columbia, she loves that her creative side can finally show at work.
"I have a creative nature," Andrews said. "It feels good. The work is entirely different."
Since opening Creative Nails, Andrews has painted the logos and mascots of local high school sports teams like Jefferson City High School, Helias High School and Trinity Lutheran School on nails. Flowers are popular as well, she said, and she's painted pumpkins.
Recently, during the fervor around Monday's total solar eclipse, she painted a solar eclipse on nails.
Creating acrylic nails also brings out Andrews' crafty side. During this process, she takes a powder, wets it, molds it and sculpts it into different shapes.
"My husband said it's almost like Bondo for the fingernail," Andrews said. "You have to form the shape that you want to make it look natural and not too thick."
Creative Nails operates in the same building as TNC Trading Post, which Andrews' husband Thom Nichols owns. TNC Trading Post sells biker and western leather apparel and accessories. It moved from its former location at 120 E. High St. to 2123 Missouri Blvd. in June.
Andrews wanted to go to manicuring school before TNC moved. So she and Nichols found a spot where they could open the store and salon together. She started in April at Sam Brown's Cosmetology & Barber Institute in Columbia and finished the program in July.
Creative Nails is open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and is closed Sundays.
Among other services, customers can get manicures and pedicures. The salon also offers a barrel steamed pedicure, which Andrews said steams the feet for about 15 minutes and exfoliates the skin better than a traditional pedicure.
Andrews hopes to become a certified foot specialist so she can put her registered nurse license to use, working with local physicians to offer advanced foot care procedures at the salon.
Andrews still needs to get certified to do the procedures, but she said she'd love to put her registered nurse certification to use at some point to perform other minor procedures like callous removal at the salon.
Though the salon has been open for just over two weeks, Andrews said business has been brisk and several people already have bought gift certificates.
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