River Valley is home to eclectic White Pyramid Gallery & Nail Bar, a space that blends art and fashion together.
It is the brainchild of 28-year-old architecture graduate, Arinah Rahid. As a firm believer in making beauty, wellness, and art accessible to everyone, she established White Pyramid during the height of COVID-19, in September 2021.
Arinah’s youth was mostly spent abroad, jetting between France and the Far East. It was on a visit to an overseas art gallery that she was inspired to dip her toes into the entrepreneurial world.
Art is a form of communication, be it on walls or nails. I saw an opportunity to create something different for people to enjoy. They can get their nails done and admire the artwork in the same space.
– Arinah Rahid, founder of White Pyramid Gallery & Nail Bar
With a background in art, Arinah is closely connected to the local arts scene. Aside from providing beauty services, she wanted to rope in both local and international artists and provide them with a platform to showcase their artwork within her gallery.
To her, the collaboration would allow the artists to better connect with the people.
Bespoke nail polishes that’s safe for all
The space exudes luxuriousness, from overall aesthetic to its services. Its all-white interior is anchored with a chic communal nail bar, accented with a Delft Blue backdrop by Carasaven.
Meanwhile, the walls are lined with paintings from various artists: Erick Centeno from Italy, Singapore’s own Amirul bin Azman, and South Africa’s Wendy P. Forsyth. The artworks serve not only as an inspiration for the client’s nail art, but they are also up for sale.
Arinah’s gallery also houses a single facial cabin. Clients can choose from several trending facial treatments ranging from 30 to 80 minutes. Complimentary Sakura Black tea will be served, or if clients prefer, champagne is available at an additional cost.
Aside from the two-in-one art gallery concept, the highlight of Arinah’s business is her proprietary line of 100 per cent vegan, cruelty-free, and 10-free nail polishes.
“We mix all our bespoke nail colours in-house for our customers. As it is a customised nail polish line, there is no limit in terms of the colour range we can provide. White Pyramid customers have the artistic freedom to create their own unique colour to reflect their personalities,” Arinah explains.
On top of her nail polishes being made-to-order, they are also ‘halal’ (it’s water permeable) and safe for pregnant women and children. The vegan polishes are created without 10 of the chemicals most found in nail polishes.
Her nail polishes are also easy to apply and can be peeled off. All the colours are also created to require only a single coat for full opacity, and can last up to a week.
Overcoming challenges with creative solutions
Arinah’s main obstacle upon starting her business revolved mainly around finding experienced and capable staff.
“Similar to other businesses, the challenges we’ve faced over the last couple of years is manpower. In order to beat the manpower crunch, I sometimes take on clients myself to ensure that we provide the best customer service experience.”
She also turned to social media — Instagram, TikTok, and even YouTube — to raise brand awareness. However, she admits her most significant resource has been word-of-mouth referrals from her satisfied clients.
In terms of funding, Arinah shares that she pooled a considerable amount of her savings in order to launch her business. Despite White Pyramid’s initiation during the pandemic, it was fortunate that she managed to break even within the first six months.
For now, she is focused on ensuring the success of her two new stores at Sentosa and i12 Katong — which she opened in less than a year — and distribute their range of bespoke nail polish internationally.
“With the success, my plan is to create numerous nail bars within Singapore and expand my product line to the international market,” she says.
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Featured Image Credit: White Pyramid Gallery & Nail Salon