The Tipping Point

 DryBar revolutionized the blowout; SoulCycle reimagined the spin class; and if Sarah Gibson Tuttle has anything to say about it, her L.A.-based nail salon Olive & June will do the same for the manicure. “They have all permeated the affordable luxury category,” Tuttle explains of the consumer-facing franchise models that have changed the way we approach beauty services. “But when I wanted to go get my nails done, there was nowhere to go,” she realized when she relocated to Southern California from New York in the Summer of 2012. “So one day I turned to my husband and said, ‘I’m going to open a nail salon”—and she meant it. Having logged ten years at JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, Tuttle’s finance background and steely determination made leap-frogging into a new industry more than just a pipe dream. (“I’m a Wall-Streeter and type-A East Coaster,” she admits.) After logging countless hours at trade shows and visiting every nail salon she could find to immerse herself in the culture, Tuttle started talking to the women in her life about what they liked and disliked about the typical L.A. manicure experience. “[They] were either going to spas that are very high-end and expensive, or low-end places that aren’t clean,” she discovered. “I wanted to figure out how to make the middle a reality.”

Tuttle has succeeded in doing just that with her 700-square foot space in Beverly Hills, which she opened in August 2013 and named after her grandmother and her great grandmother. Aside from the breezy, regularly-Instragammed interiors, the beauty destination boasts a number of points of difference that has made it a hit with the area’s bold-faced names and those just looking for a quality polish change. In addition to a tightly edited selection of lacquers from ten different brands including Estée Lauder, there are also specialty services, like all-organic treatments—and more than a few well thought out amenities. “Your credit card is on file so you don’t have to dig it out with wet nails, and we have customer cards with your cuticle and nail shape preferences so you never have to have that conversation again,” elaborates Tuttle. “It’s an elevated experience on every level.” That idea—and the desire to bring a piece of affordable luxury to everyone who walks through her door—is at the heart of the 34-year-old’s mission for growing her brand, á la Drybar and SoulCycle. “[Nails] really are the least expensive way to change your look, and we’re hoping to have an impact on that.” Click here to see Olive & June’s take on the Spring-favorite nude nail, designed exclusively for Estée Stories.