At first glance, choosing a name for your beauty business seems to be one of the most pleasant and relaxing elements of opening a salon - truly a moment of relief from all of the dreadful paperwork. Unfortunately, usually, it’s not really the case. You may find yourself paralysed by the number of possibilities, or just the opposite - sitting on the couch for hours, staring blankly at the wall, with your head as empty as the piece of paper you have prepared to write down your ideas on. The name of a cosmetology salon (or a hair salon, or a nail salon, or a lash studio…) can truly make it or break it, so you cannot just roll with whatever comes to your mind first. Your business’s name is a vital part of its branding - let’s talk about how to make it fit your style and help you stand out from the crowd at the same time!
Let’s begin with stating what are the characteristics you are looking for. The perfect beauty salon name should:
Other traits (being descriptive or abstract, outlining what your business does or not, using mainstream or made-up words) depend on your personal approach and are up to you to decide. However, there are some things you should look out for - let’s discuss them for a minute!
As an experienced professional, you had to notice that a lot of hairdressing or cosmetology company name ideas seem rather repetitive. Unoriginality itself isn’t a major sin, but can have severe consequences - you can easily get mistaken with tons of salons with the same (or very similar) name. One of the most common examples of such a situation is when you name your salon after yourself. Let’s say your name is Jennifer and you are a beautician, so you go with “Jennifer Beauty”. You may feel like you have ticked all the boxes, as you feel your business name is personalised, self-explanatory, short and straight to the point… yet after a quick Google search, you will find out that there are dozens of “Jennifer Beauty” businesses in the world, three of them in your city and additionally a “Jenny Beauty” two streets away from you. While the name+occupation model may seem like a safe choice, it’s not only rarely memorable, but it can also easily end up with customers mistaking you with one of the many other Jennifer Beauties and Natalie Lashes in the neighbourhood. Try to avoid the most predictable combinations - such as various flower names (mainly roses and lilies), the word “beauty” in multiple languages (especially French and Italian), and all the synonyms of the word “glam”.
Sometimes too much originality can be a sin as well. When you name your business in a foreign language, using an archaism or simply a less-known term, you have to make sure people will know both how to spell it and how to pronounce it. An unusual name may be easy to memorise, yet searching for such business later on can be a nightmare. It’s even worse when you choose an ordinary word but go with unusual spelling - let’s say you want to name your hair salon “Gr8 Hair”. It surely will look modern and hip on the logo, but is guaranteed to cause a lot of trouble. Firstly, many people won’t get the wordplay right off the bat, so get ready for clients calling you “Gee-Ar-Eight Hair” salon. Secondly, which is much worse, when having your salon recommended, people will hear and then search online for the name “Great Hair”. This way, they may either not even find your business or not make the connection at all - which means you are losing potential customers.
Before you settle on any specific name, it’s best to check whether it wasn’t already trademarked by another company. What’s more - even without a registered trademark, someone might own the rights simply because they were using the name first. Make sure to always do your research and treat the issue seriously - being a small business doesn’t make you immune to such troubles!
When choosing a name for your beauty salon, you have to bear one important thing in mind - even though the business belongs to you, the true recipients of your services are your clients. So even though the name should definitely fit your taste, the priority is to appeal to your target audience. A slang word won’t work for a salon with more mature and conservative clientele, while an overly cutesy, flowery name may throw off trendsetters looking for something unconventional and stylish. The chosen name may have a special meaning for you, but bear in mind that it won’t be clear for your customers. A salon’s name isn’t there to have a sentimental value for the owner - it’s a vital element of the salon's marketing strategy and it’s good to treat it as such.
Depending on the culture or environment you descend from, words can have different connotations. Something that is perfectly innocent for you may have distasteful or even offensive meaning for someone else. Sometimes it’s the local slang that will be your doom, as a phrase you think has a nice ring to it may turn out to have a hidden meaning. Be especially careful when reaching for words in other languages and from other cultures. For you, it may feel exotic or more sophisticated, but for people who are actually representing this community, it may be laughable or straight-out disrespectful. Finally - pay attention to proper spelling! There is nothing worse than giving your business a fancy name that is written incorrectly.
Avoid being impulsive with your naming. Think about the future of your salon - maybe you will undergo a massive rebranding in the future or your business will expand. A name that is too descriptive can be a problem in such a case scenario. Following a short term trend is a similar story - something that seems so cool currently can quickly turn to be outdated and straight-on annoying. A phrase from a currently trending Internet meme can earn you great publicity at the moment, but two months from now will only cause raised eyebrows and sighs of irritation. Maybe you are super into a certain TV show and feel beyond tempted to name your nail or beauty salon with a catchphrase from it… however, if it is not something you’ve adored for years but just a recent discovery, better take a step back. First of all, you may be over it in a month, and secondly - if the series is still going on, its plot, meaning or overall quality can suddenly change, even drastically. You don’t want your business to be associated with something you have no control over whatsoever!
With all these warnings in mind - where can you look for ideas? Beautician or hairdressers salon name proposals can actually get very creative. Feel free to take inspiration from one of these:
Have you chosen the perfect name for your salon? Now it’s time to choose the perfect salon management system! If you want your business to grow and thrive with functionalities like online booking, automatic appointment reminders or digital appointment book - Booksy is a perfect solution for you. Try it for free!
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