Austin’s Cute Nail Studio: The Inclusive Salon The place Y’all Means All

Tucked among the many paradoxical extremes of Austin’s East Facet, the place modular yuppie condos share avenue corners with gritty hipster bars, stands one rainbow-painted home plucked straight from the quilt of your favourite Lisa Frank binder from fifth grade. Meet the Cute Nail Studio. “[We wanted a place] the place you possibly can are available, be your self, ask for no matter. And we’ll have fun no matter your concept of magnificence is and simply go arduous in that route,” says Jason Darling. He and Maria Darling are the married entrepreneurs behind this dreamy, self-proclaimed “queer as fuck” salon and arguably probably the most attention-grabbing dad and mom on Zoom PTA conferences.

At present, Jason has an immaculate black-line artwork manicure that includes various nail lengths and shapes. He holds his hand as much as the digicam throughout our Zoom name and flares every digit like an accordion fan: “We name them get together fingers — utilitarian and horny.” In the meantime, Maria, face framed by a shag of darkish curls, is the punk-rock model of a Botticelli lady with dyed armpit hair.

The love they’ve for one another and the secure house they’ve cultivated on an in any other case drab downtown Austin avenue is revolutionary — stepping outdoors gender magnificence norms continues to be a tenuous notion within the South. “I’ve been getting my nails carried out at salons since I used to be 23 or 24,” Jason says. “And each time, most locations could be like, ‘So, you simply desire a buff?’ And I might be like, ‘No,’ and get lots of side-eye or folks making an attempt to drag me away from getting, like, a extremely slutty purple.”

It’s secure to say not one of the nail techs at Cute are within the enterprise of swaying patrons from dwelling their slutty-red truths. Their inclusive, welcoming power is felt instantly by your masks as you step into the pastel pink salon. Cute is a clear-eyes, full-heart, can’t-believe-what-the-hell-is-going-on sensory expertise. It transports you right into a “kawaii disco nightmare,” says nail artist Kendall Mastin (kawaii is a Japanese time period for cute).