La Manicurista: Beauty services in the comfort of your own home

For Colombian women, personal beauty is a matter that requires special attention. However, going to a beauty salon can mean a long wait, in addition to the traveling time. But in some areas, this problem has a solution, thanks to the ingenuity of María Alejandra Tenorio and María Isabel Montes.

These two young industrial engineers created a platform that allowed beauty professionals to earn extra income with greater flexibility, as part of their 2016 master’s dissertation.

After meeting at school, the two Marías were reunited during their master’s studies. They had both undertaken different courses and become certified beauty professionals, and realized that their earnings were minimal compared to the time and work invested in salons.

Thus emerged “La Manicurista” – an app that revolutionized beauty services, by directly connecting professionals with their clients.

In the beginning, the services offered focused only on nails, but the app became so popular among Colombian woman that users can now find offers for hair removal, makeup, massages and hair styling.

How does it work? It’s very simple. Through a selection process that includes a background check, technical and aptitude tests, and bio-safety certifications, the application chooses the beauty professionals who offer their services in the client’s own home. The business model allows manicurists to choose their work area, based on their location, and through a geolocation service the platform assigns them clients within their chosen radius.

The beauty app promises clients a guaranteed, fast and excellent quality service at a good price, while allowing those who provide the service to manage their own schedules, be independent and even generate more income than if they worked in a fixed position at a salon.

In order to offer a standardized service, the company trains the women it employs, and provides them with a unique set of tools, having teamed up with the Masglo beauty brand.

The social component of this initiative goes beyond the generation of employment for women: around 63% of the manicurists are mothers and heads of household, and about 38% manage to undertake studies thanks to the greater schedule flexibility provided by the platform. Thus it is an alternative offering greater income and also personal development. The more than 400 beauty professionals who are part of the company can provide their services in places close to their own homes.

In 2019, the app experienced growth of 300%, with more than 35,000 downloads. Services are provided in Bogotá, Medellín and Cali, with the promise by its creators to extend them to Cartagena, and other nearby cities.

The platform has also established a financing model in which it carries out venture rounds from time to time to reach other cities and even other countries. Currently, the app has the support of the Chamber of Commerce of Cali, Vive digital Colombia and university institutions including the Pontifical Xavierian University, at its headquarters in Cali.

La Manicurista hopes to soon expand to other cities in Latin America and its creators are studying the possibility of branching out to also provide services to men.