Social media helps The Nail Cult following grow

Ms Davis started her business, a small salon called The Nail Cult, in March 2021 and it was just starting to take off when lockdown hit.

"It was really hard because my business is based in my home so I had to shut down straight away," she said.

"I made a few custom press-on sets for people where I would send out a sizing kit, then get it back and go from there to create the nails and that helped keep me busy."

During the lockdown, Ms Davis created a Facebook page for her business, restyled her home salon and took a closer look at her pricing structure.

"When I started out it was like you had to be 'in the know' to find me. I liked that and it's where I came up with the name 'The Nail Cult' because it was a little bit underground," she said.

"In lockdown I launched the Facebook page which I think was a really good time to do it because everyone was on their phones dreaming about when they could get their nails done again."

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She also had to field hundreds of questions about when she was reopening.

"There was so much interest over lockdown and I even had people asking if I could secretly come to their house to do their nails which I had to politely say no too," she said.

"I opened back up on October 11 and it was the biggest week I've had since I started the business."

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While manicures started as a hobby for Ms Davis, she quickly realised it was something she could do forever and decided to start her full time business.

She is now an ambassador for Cut the Crap Nail Supplies, an Australian-owned supply business based in Canberra.

"I'm in a chat group with the business owner and other ambassadors who were in the same position as myself in lockdown and we were given great moral support and advice," she said.

Although Ms Davis was nervous about having to check her client's vaccination status to meet government criteria for reopening, she has been pleased by how proactive people are.

"I worried if I would have to knock somebody back and they'd get angry about it," she said.

"But so far everyone's been really good. People have been sending their vaccine information ahead of time and I've had some asking if they can book in for December when the vaccine mandate ends."

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Ms Davis said the reason people were so keen to get back to the salon after lockdown was to reconnect.

"Nails is a real self-care thing and it's very personal so you bond with your nail artist while you're getting them done," she said.

"I think people have really been craving that aspect of it because we've been in lockdown and not interacting with people.

"I've also really missed that and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again."