It’s not enough in London to have brightly coloured nails these days. The hippest girls are having unique designs painted onto their talons, thanks to nail bars like the pioneering Wah. If heading up to Dalston seems a bit of a trek then thank god for Scallywags’ newly opened Needles & Nails. It’s part tattoo parlour, part beauty salon, but what makes N&N exciting is what happens with that second N.

Rather than employing nail technicians, the new venture above Loaded (where Edgeworld used to be) is staffed by fine art students. So if you want strawberries, Muppets or burgers painted on your claws you know they’ve got the skills. Basically your imagination (and the size of your nails) is the limit with what you can have done. Like Wah there’s a friendly, hangout-y vibe, but you might have to fight your way past MTV and Cosmopolitan magazine, who have both been down to check out Needles & Nails already.

Needles & Nails
7-8 Kensington Gardens
Photo By James Kendall