New York Sun Article

Beauty Treatments On the Fly

By JOHANNA HUDEN
June 19, 2007

With earlier check-ins, longer layovers, and heavier security, travelers spend more time waiting around airports than ever before. But three working mothers from Florida have created a way to use the downtime luxuriously with :10 Minute Manicure, a chain of airport-based express salons that just opened a branch within John F. Kennedy International Airport.

"We were sitting around discussing business ideas, and we talked about the fact that it was so hard to keep your standard nail appointment," co-founder Lorraine Brennan O'Neil, a former lawyer, said.

Ms. O'Neil and her friends Karen Janson and Vivian Jimenez conceived the concept of providing travelers with a quick and affordable beauty break, including manicures, pedicures, waxing, aromatherapy, and massages.

"Travelers have much longer dwell times since September 11, on average anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes," she said. "People think, ‘I'm here anyway, let me get this off of my plate.' It's one less thing you have to worry about when you get home."

The first salon opened in 2006 at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport. Its popularity led to eight more openings in America and Canada that year. The new JFK location sits within steps of American Airlines's new $1.3 billion terminal.

And they're not stopping there. Five new salons will open this summer at airports including Newark, Dulles, and Miami. The trio has also won a bid to open a second location at JFK.

Men make up between 30% and 45% of the customers, depending on the city, Ms. O'Neil said. She credits that high percentage to the fact that the salons have modern, gender-neutral décors and the simple matter of the in-airport location.

"The men love it, because it's anonymous and convenient," Ms. O'Neil said. "Men are reluctant to go to a salon that's full of women, with blowdryers going and pink walls. A buddy might see them."

Though the salon does offer simple manicures (filing, polish, $15) that take only 10 minutes, there are also longer treatments, such as 30-minute manicures, that include a hand soak and massage, cuticle clipping, nail cutting and filing, and polish ($45). The sports manicure (20 minutes, $25) is designed for men; Nails are buffed instead of polished. Chair massages last between 10 and 45 minutes ($20 to $80).

But can a 10 minute manicure really improve your nails? I put the concept to the test with my ragged, decidedly unmanicured nails. Just as advertised, within exactly 10 minutes, I had stylish, shaped nails painted crimson. With 10 more minutes to dry, I was departure-ready.

Ms. O'Neil and her partners have also branched out with a private-label line of nail polishes in 64 aptly named colors, such as Tarmac, a vampy black; Rain Delay, a sheer pink; and Red Eye, a cherry red. They also created city-specific colors, like Big Red Machine, to honor the Cincinnati Reds, and a bright pink called New York Minute.

How do the services rate? A New Yorker on her way to Miami, Sandy Rodriguez, stopped in for a massage after noticing the salon while wandering around JFK's Terminal 8. She had arrived at 7:15 a.m., and had been bumped from two flights. She was waiting for word on whether she'd get a seat aboard a 3 p.m. flight. "It was excellent," she said of her massage that included a sinus and headache aromatherapy treatment. "This is nice to have this, sometimes you don't have the time to get a manicure before you leave for a trip because you're so busy." The salon also sells beauty products geared to the traveler, including individually packaged items like dental mitts, eyebrow wax strips, and sunscreen wipes. Also on offer are nail polishes in tiny bottles ($4.50) for travel-time touch-ups, lotions by Creative Scentsations, a Danish line of color cosmetics called Gosh, makeup brushes by Japonesque, facial and nail products by Talika, and men's toiletries by Jack Black.

Many products are in miniature bottles in order to adhere to the FAA's strict new guidelines limiting the amount of liquids, gels, and aerosols to 3 ounces, which must be presented in one quart-size clear plastic bag to officers at security check-points.

For Ms. O'Neil and her partners, the early success and resulting expansion has meant the luxury of quitting their day jobs. "It's a dream come true to see it go from an idea by the pool, to an actual business that can support us all. Sometimes you pinch yourself — it's the American dream."

John F. Kennedy International Airport, Terminal 8, Concourse B, 718-553-9610, http://www.10minutemanicure.com/