manicurist
Manicurists provide fingernail care. They clean, cut and shape the nails, remove cuticles and apply polish. Manicurists apply artificial fingernails and other decorative items on nails. They advice on nail and hand care and sell specialised products.
manicurist manicurists provide fingernail care. They clean, cut and shape the nails, remove cuticles and apply polish. Manicurists apply artificial fingernails and other decorative items on nails. They advice on nail and hand care and sell specialised products. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include cosmetic manicure, cosmetic skin treatment, cosmetics, cosmetics industry, skin types.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £24,124 a year for Beauticians and related occupations (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 6222). ONS rates this estimate reasonably precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Service and sales workers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only manicurist, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 5. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Frequently asked questions
What does manicurist do?
Manicurists provide fingernail care. They clean, cut and shape the nails, remove cuticles and apply polish. Manicurists apply artificial fingernails and other decorative items on nails. They advice on nail and hand care and sell specialised products.
What skills does manicurist need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include cosmetic manicure, cosmetic skin treatment, cosmetics, cosmetics industry, skin types, sterilise working environment. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace manicurist?
Our AI-durability model gives manicurist a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.