New Earswick salon nominated in York Press competition

Lasting Impressions Beauty and Aesthetics in New Earswick has been nominated by readers of The York Press as a contender in our Best Beauty Salon competition.

Readers can vote for the Best Beauty Salon 2024 by picking up a copy of The Press newspaper until Saturday, October 12, with the winner set to be announced in the week commencing October 21.

The salon interior (Image: Supplied) On receipt of the news of the nomination, home-based salon owner Karla Capes said: “I was absolutely shocked.

“I mean, I have entered and won a couple of competitions around the UK but locally, it means more, as those clients are the ones who come back to see you and buy your products from within your own community.”

The former dental nurse and carer said she said she wanted to ‘do something that me feel good and help other people’ and moving into treatments at the salon helped give a creative side to her work which she felt was lacking.

Nail designs created by Lasting Impressions Beauty and Aesthetics for Halloween (Image: Supplied) Karla said: “I was a young mum, at 19 I had my youngest daughter, and then being on my own with the two children, it became clear that you can’t afford to have luxury treatments.

“So I trained myself originally how to do nails and I started off doing my friends and family.

“While I was at the care home, I gained a qualification in nail technology and that’s when I decided to go self-employed.

“My friends seemed to be in a similar situation to me, it was difficult for them to afford to do anything for themselves.

“Having seen the joy that brought to other people, I started to enjoy making other people feel better.”

Once Karla received permission to set up at her home, she enlisted help from her Dad, Steve Greenwood, and husband Andrew Capes.

Karla said: “My dad was absolutely amazing, got it built in a day, it was painted the next day and all the electrics were done by Andrew.

"We got it up really quickly and I soon saw my client base double."

The owner said she has a focus on people living with mental health issues and feeling better about themselves.

She said she took a ‘behind the mask’ course surrounding the topic of mental health, saying how important it is for her to be aware of sensitive matters which might come through the doors of the salon.

Karla said: “In lockdown, I started to look at other things I could offer that would be more than the nail side and help in other areas and boost confidence.

“I did microblading and semi-permanent make-up qualifications to help people living with alopecia.”

Karla said the nicest thing about owning her own salon comes from being a hands-on person and people pleaser.

She said: “The best part is seeing a client’s confidence grow after coming in a little unhappy.

“But knowing that they leave with their head held a little higher raises your own head too”