nail salon

On October 1st, I was invited to the soft opening of a new hair salon called “Eklà Beauté” located on Rue Rebecca. Stepping inside the small salon, I was greeted by a calm and relaxing music, along with a soothing and zen decor: wooden furniture and accent pieces, candles, and Buddha heads, designed by owner Christina Fils-Aimé. I was instantly filled with an overwhelming peaceful sensation, which I thought was very odd for a hair salon.

But that was exactly her goal. To create a small place where her clients can leave their worries and workload outside while getting pampered. A place where her clients can be fully attended to without being rushed and without the crowdedness of typical hair salons. A place that works by appointment only because one on one is extremely important. “I want it to be 100% about my clients. I want them to walk out feeling good about themselves and with a smile on their faces. That’s what I enjoy most of my job, to be able to put a smile on my clients’ faces”.

For us women, getting our hair and nails done is a weekly obligation. Be it to get a wash and blow dry, a hair coloring, or simply a mani-pedi, us women spend a minimum of 2 hours getting dolled-up at the hair salon on week-ends. Needless to say that hair salons have become a meeting point, or better yet a social encounter where the latest gossips travel under the boisterous sound of hair dryers.

If you are looking to escape the cacophony of hair salons, then Eklà Beauté is the “getaway” salon for you. While her specialty is hair coloring and hair treatment, Tina also offers various other salon services such as blow dries, hairdos, mani-pedi, and makeup with also a selection of hair products available for sale.

Christina, “Tina” left Haiti at the age of 18 and moved to New York. There, she became a hair colorist and makeup artist and worked in many hair salons before eventually working for Kérastase and L’Oréal. At 30 years old, she moved back to Haiti and left the hair and makeup business. However her love for fashion and hair care pushed her to go back to the hair business. “Everybody has their own beauty, and as long as I can bring that out for them, to me is priceless.”

Eklà Beauté is open Monday-Saturday from 8AM-5PM by appointments only. To get your special treatment, call 4700-1212.

“The happiest girls always have the prettiest nails” T.T

Every girl likes to get pampered once in a while. But for us in Haiti, getting our nails done is a weekly habit. When I heard a new nail salon with a bar service opened yesterday, the happy hour girl in me decided to check it out.

Offering only nail services, the Nail Bar is the perfect quick stop for those wanting a quick mani/pedi without the noise of blow dryers and commotion of a hair salon.

The salon has an all white setting with a few zen accent pieces which creates a relaxed atmosphere. While getting our nails done, we were offered complementary bubbly as part of the grand opening, but they also have a small selection of drinks, coffee and healthy snack bars available.

At the Nail Bar, they emphasize on cleanliness and sterilization. They use disposable buffers, files, and sticks and all tools are sterilized right after. In addition to regular mani/pedis, they offer princess mani with art designs for girls 12 and under, a jewelry cleaning machine that cleans your rings while getting your nails done and iPads equipped with magazines are avaibable.