The Buff Concept manicure you can file under success

The treatment

A manicure at the Buff Concept Store, Edinburgh, £20.

Why go?

The owners of this new salon, long term friends Carly Robertson and Holly Mackechnie, do a mean mani.

Also, their location means you get to check out all the other independent businesses – a bubble tea bar, juicery, doughnut and coffee shop, gift boutique etc – that have recently opened in these once overlooked Victorian storage units.

Our spy says

This is a very cool space. According to Holly, she and Carly had a reconnaissance mini break to Copenhagen earlier this year, and were inspired by their shopping forays when it came to the interior design.

They’ve painted it white and pale grey, with wire seating slung with goat skin, industrial looking shelving and a small but well considered table of products for sale, including cultish goodies from Swedish beauty brand LA: Bruket and the latest Hemsley & Hemsley cookbook.

There are two busy manicure tables, where the girls mainly use the fortnight-long lasting CND Shellac (I’m one of the very few who asks for a regular mani), and offer pedicures and nail art (the ombre look is popular right now, apparently).

After checking out their Facebook page, I want to try their holographic shade, Psychedelic, from Scandinavian nail polish brand FNUG.

Holly gets to work dissolving and scraping off my cuticles, which have been allowed to run wild, so this job becomes a bit like stripping back an old piece of furniture. Then, working carefully but speedily, she clips away all the dead skin. My raggedy nails are shaped and buffed into the low-maintenance short and square shape that I always opt for.

When they’re neat, Holly massages my hands using a patchouli scented LA: Bruket lotion. She uncorks the lacquer and three layers of the varnish are painted on, then a top coat. My talons look space-age silver, though multi coloured and iridescent when they catch the light, like a pair of Marc Bolan’s platform boots.

The results

Great, I enjoyed my visit to Buff, which has a relaxed vibe, and I love my glam rock nails. According to Holly, there’s more in the pipeline, especially when it comes to their shopping area, which will potentially be featuring the work of up and coming designers. Just make sure your varnish has dried before you indulge in any post-manicure retail therapy.