Talking to… Thanh Vu

The owner of salon chain Dream Nails tells Kezia Parkins about growing up in a family of nail techs and changing perceptions of Vietnameseowned nail salons

Back when Dream Nails owner Thanh Vu’s family arrived in the UK, the world of nails was slim pickings for us Brits, with simple polish manicures being the most readily available treatments. Meanwhile, the nail industry was booming in the United States, with acrylic nails the talon of choice.

In the ’90s, areas like Brooklyn in New York were buzzing centres of cultural and creative expression, with many people choosing long, blinged-up and airbrushed looks to complement intricate hairstyles and iconic fashion.

Vu, who is of Vietnamese descent, had family in the US who had made careers within this growing industry and came over to pass on their skills to Vu’s mother and other family members in the UK, who already had a salon.

A family affair

Vu remembers always being surrounded by nails. Her mum trained at her aunt and uncle’s salon in Hackney, East London before opening her own salon. “I can remember nails being spoken about a lot around the dinner table with the family, sharing techniques with the aim of mastering skills, and conversations about the business side of things too – whether it had been a profitable month or not,” she says. “It would even get a little competitive between my aunties over who did the quickest or the best set.”

Vu’s family when they arrived as refugees from Vietnam

It wasn’t just the women in her family who did nails; her uncles also got involved. “A lot of Vietnamese men do nails and they are some of the best artists out there,” says Vu. “I think it is something within us as Vietnamese people that makes us very good at nails, both men and women. We have this sort of natural ability to be very intricate.” Vu thinks that how Vietnamese people are taught handwriting in school could play a part. “You are taught to be very precise and perfect, and if you look at Vietnamese people’s handwriting, it all tends to look the same,” she says. “From a young age, its drilled into you to be very elegant with your hands.”

Living the dream

Growing up in a family of nail techs, it’s unsurprising that Vu had urges in her teens to go against the grain. “To be completely honest, it wasn’t something I wanted to do,” she admits. “Because I was so surrounded by nails, I think I didn’t appreciate it as a craft and disregarded it.”

Despite her mum wanting her to follow in the family footsteps and eventually take over the salon – which became one of the first New York-style nail bars in the UK, located in Shoreditch, East London – Vu didn’t feel pressured. “She really let me go out there and try different things,” she says. “I went to college, had job in retail, just normal things girls tend to do in their teens.”

But by the age of 20, she had come round and her mum paid for her to go to go to the London School of Beauty and Make-Up in central London, where she got her Level 2 and 3 qualifications while working in the family salon at the weekend. After getting her qualifications, Vu decided to do a stint at another salon. “Its easy to get complacent working with family for long periods, and I wanted to get experience in a European-style salon,” she recalls.

Vu says that as she has got older, her career in nails has grown into a huge passion. Despite being a successful businesswoman – her businesss Dream Nails has grown to become a chain of five salons, with the first opening in Loughton in 2016 – Vu still likes to spend time in the chair.

“I make sure I schedule a couple of days a week where I’m still working as a nail technician, and I thoroughly enjoy that. I love seeing my regular customers, who I have become so close with, as well as running the day-to-day business.” Vu has become so close with some of her clients over 15-plus years of working with them that some even attended her wedding.

Changing perceptions

Vu recalls that back before acrylics were big in the UK, the only way that extensions were really being achieved was with fibreglass. “My mum was probably one of the first to introduce the US-style nail technique with acrylic into London,” she says. Back then, getting their hands on product was one of the biggest challenges, so her family would have to import in bulk from the US. “I can remember going into the loft as a kid and it was just floor-to-ceiling nail products,” says Vu.

Key Dates

1986
Than Vu's family arrives in the UK from Vietnam

1998
Vu's mother opens a nail salon in Shoreditch, London

2007
Vu's father opens a nail supply store

2016
Vu opens her first Dream Nails salin, in Loughton, Essex

2018
Opens second and third salons in Wanstead and Royal Wharf, both in East London

2020
Further organic expansion led to the launch of Dream Nails Blackwall Reach in London's Canary Wharf

2023
Dream Nails Gallions Reach opens in a vibrant new community in the heart of Docklands, East London

2024
Plans to open a sixth salon in London's Hackney Wick with more soon to follow 

It made sense, then, for the family to become a wholesaler for the UK, and at one point Europe, of products such as acrylic powders and liquids and other products hard to come by in the UK.

If you are familiar with East London you will probably have spotted the huge, retro-looking store called US Nail & Beauty Supply on the corner of Mare Street. It was opened by Vu’s dad around 20 years ago.

It was around this time, Vu says, that Vietnamese-owned nail salons started to get a bad reputation. “I think the fact that the perception of Vietnamese owned salons is still bad is quite unfair,” she adds. “Around 20 years ago, a lot of Vietnamese people in this country couldn’t speak English, which made communication and customer service difficult, but that has changed now.”

Vu credits some of Dream Nails’ success to being a blend of Vietnamese and European. “I’m from a very typical Vietnamese background, learning a very Vietnamese way of doing nails, but also pulling together good customer service, great design and cleanliness.”

Vu loves classic style nails herself but allows her staff the freedom to create abstract and trending looks

The Dream Nails salons have cool, urban interiors

English is the only language spoken in Dream Nails salons, to avoid upsetting those Brits who, fairly or unfairly, find it rude when staff speak in Vietnamese. “Things at Vietnamese-owned salons have changed completely and are nothing like they used to be,” says Vu.

Dreaming of the future

Vu takes particular pride in the way that Dream Nails is ahead of the game with nail techniques, trends and systems. The salons offer acrylics, builder gel, Bio Sculpture gel polish, dipping powder and even Après Nails’ full cover tip system, which has gained huge popularity but is largely used by independent nail artists.

“I make sure that all my staff and I are trained in every system; we want to be able to offer everything,” says Vu. As well as helping to meet client demand, she says that keeping up with new techniques is also important in supporting the team. “I’m a nail tech, so if my staff have any problems they know they can come to me for help because I understand nails. There are lots of nail salons being opened by people that are not nail professionals who set out really unrealistic expectations of their staff,” she adds.

Vu believes in growing the business slowly and organically: “We wait until the last salon we have opened is really successful before we move to open another one.” Hinting to accelerated growth, though, Vu says she wants to open a few more Dream Nails salons in 2024. A site has already been secured for a sixth in Hackney.

To add another element of customer service and to allow clients to navigate the world of nails, Vu and her husband have also created an AI chat tool, available on web and Whatsapp, to provide 24/7 answers to clients’ common questions about treatments, prices and more.

The chatbot can instantly tell clients the difference between gel polish and builder gel, the cost of nail art and other frequently asked questions that often take nail techs’ attention away from clients.