Nail Salon Gifts for Clients: Cuticle Oil, Lotion and Mask Ideas, Kits and Costs

By Edmond Lin, M1 Nail & Beauty Supply, Markham ON · Last updated: October 28, 2026

Cuticle oil, hand lotion and single-use hand or foot masks are the easiest gifts a nail salon can give its clients. Clients use them at home on the hands and nails you just did, they come sealed and labelled, and bought by the case they cost under $3 per client for a general thank-you, about $6 for regulars and about $22 for your top clients. Put a voucher for the next visit in the same bag and the gift also brings the client back.

This guide is for salon owners planning holiday, birthday or loyalty gifts. It lists the cuticle oils, lotions and masks M1 has in stock in Markham with their price per piece, three gift kits with their cost per client, a complete holiday order list, and one labelling rule to know before you give away products you bottled yourself.

Why cuticle oil, lotion and masks make the best client gifts

A small, unexpected gift makes people want to return the favour. Researchers tested this in restaurants: customers who got a small piece of chocolate with the bill tipped more than customers who got nothing, and the effect changed with how much candy was given and how it was handed over (Strohmetz et al., 2002, Journal of Applied Social Psychology).

The authors explain the effect as reciprocity: customers were returning a favour. In their view, reciprocity explained the results better than a good mood or a wish to make a good impression.

These products suit a nail salon better than chocolate:

• They belong to the service. You finish every manicure with oil and lotion. Giving the client a bottle continues the service at home.
• They keep the set looking good. Daily cuticle oil keeps the skin around the nail soft between appointments, so the nails still look cared for when the client comes back.
• A mask is a taste of an add-on. Hand and foot masks are spa add-ons. A client who enjoys one at home is more likely to book it at the next visit.
• Everyone can use them: there are no allergy questions as with food, and no sizes as with clothing.

Client gift ideas under $5: one for every client

By the case, the lowest-cost gifts are Uhox hand and foot masks at $0.85 a pair, the Cuticle Revitalizer Oil Pen at $1.00 from 40 pens and the PediNatural Cuticle Oil Pen at $1.20. Everything in this table is under $5 per piece, and most of it under $3.

Prices are M1’s listed prices at the time of writing, per piece. Where a product comes in a case, box or pack, the price shown is that price divided by the number of pieces, and the single price is listed next to it. Wholesale and VIP accounts may see different prices when logged in.

• Uhox masks are essence-soaked masks worn like a glove or a sock, with tear-off fingertips or toe tips.
• The Cuticle Revitalizer Oil Pen is a 5 ml pen with a brush tip, in scents such as Lemon, Jasmine, Rose and Lavender. At $1.00 each from 40 pens, it is the lowest-cost cuticle oil in this guide.
• The PediNatural hand cream comes in its own printed gift box, so it needs no wrapping.
• The GelBottle Better Balm is an unscented balm of mango seed butter and shea butter for rough cuticles, dry patches and chapped lips. The slanted nib also pushes back cuticles. Being unscented, it suits clients who don’t like fragrance.
• The ONME oil has dried flowers inside the bottle, which makes it look like a gift on its own. The $2.00 price applies to 100 pieces or more, and you can mix scents to reach 100.
• Voesh, La Palm and AvryBeauty gloves and socks come ready to wear, with the moisturizer already inside. Voesh also makes the same mask as socks, and both come in a Noble Diamond version.

Client gift ideas from $5 to $10: for regulars

For regulars, a full-size brand-name product at $6 to $8 works well: a CND Scentsations lotion, a Cryo Jelly face mask, The GelBottle H2O Cream Mini or a 0.5 oz cuticle oil from CND or Gelish.

The Cryo Jelly Mask is a cooling cellulose sheet mask for the face, worn for 15 to 20 minutes with no rinsing. It is the one face mask in this guide, and an easy way to add something for clients who have everything for their nails.

The GelBottle H2O Cream Mini is a 40 ml travel tube of the brand’s hand and body cream, with shea butter, blackcurrant seed oil and seven botanical oils, in an Amber Orchid scent. The airless pump keeps it clean in a handbag. Clients who wear The GelBottle BIAB or gel polish will know the name.

Client gift ideas from $10: for your top clients

For top clients, choose a large cuticle oil, a premium hand cream or a boxed set, from $16.95 to $25.95.

The Bio Seaweed oil is a large 27 ml bottle with jojoba oil and vitamins E and B. Gerlasan is GEHWOL’s intensive hand cream with urea, aloe vera and jojoba oil. The Aprés serum, with turmeric root extract, almond and jojoba oil, is a natural fit for Gel-X clients and comes in four seasonal scents, including Winter Returns. The jmella and Bouquet Garni sets are boxed and ready to give.

More options: all cuticle oils and all lotions and hand creams.

Three gift kits and what they cost

Each kit puts a cuticle oil or lotion together with a mask. Costs are per client at the prices per piece above.

A budget example. A salon expects 150 clients in December: 10 top clients, 40 regulars and 100 others. Each client gets one kit, the highest one they qualify for:

• 100 thank-you kits: 100 × $2.85 = $285.00
• 40 regulars kits: 40 × $5.62 = $224.80
• 10 top client kits: 10 × $22.32 = $223.20
• Total: $733.00

To count your clients, pull last December’s appointments from your booking software and add 10% for walk-ins and new clients.

The order list for that budget

Cases come in fixed sizes, so the order is a little bigger than the kits. Here is what the salon above would order:

Use the spare hand masks and gloves as an add-on during the service, or as the welcome gift for new clients in January.

A PediNatural or Codi case holds one scent, so if you want clients to choose, buy two or three cases in different scents. The ONME $2.00 price applies to 100 or more pieces, in any mix of scents, and the Cuticle Revitalizer Oil Pen is $1.00 each from 40 pens. Both are in-store and phone prices (see below).

Buy 10 cases, get 1 free. Every product in this guide sold by the case, box or pack is also on a buy 10, get 1 free offer: order 10 cases of the same product and the 11th case is free, while stock lasts. That takes about 9% more off the price per piece. It suits salon groups, or two or three salons ordering together.

How to get these prices. The ONME $2.00 price, the $1.00 pen price and buy 10, get 1 free apply to orders placed in store at 8555 McCowan Rd, Unit 4, Markham, or by phone at (437) 660-9988. They are not applied automatically at online checkout.

Order cases in early November, before popular scents sell through.

Which client gets which gift

• Every client in December: the thank-you kit, handed over at checkout. Keep the kits behind the desk so nobody takes two.
• Regulars: the regulars kit, with a handwritten card from the tech who does their nails.
• Top clients: the top client kit or one of the boxed sets. Let them pick the scent if you can.
• New clients: a cuticle oil pen and a hand mask, plus a voucher for their second visit, so the first gift leads to a second appointment.
• Birthdays: a cuticle oil and a birthday voucher. If your booking software stores birthdays, it can remind you a week before.

When you hand over the gift, take ten seconds to explain it. Cuticle oil: a drop on each cuticle every evening, massaged in, kept off fresh polish until it is dry. Masks: how long to wear them. Voesh lists 15 minutes for its gloves and socks, La Palm 5 to 10 minutes, and AvryBeauty 15 to 20 minutes for the Cryo Jelly face mask.

Give them a reason to come back

Put a voucher in the same bag as the gift, so the client has a reason and a date to book the next visit.

• Write the voucher for a specific add-on (a hand or foot mask treatment, a paraffin dip, nail art on two nails) rather than a dollar amount. If the gift was a mask, the voucher for the in-salon version is the natural next step. Add-ons cost you little and fill your quiet weeks after the holidays.
• Berkeley gift certificate books come in pads of 50 with envelopes, for $9.00 a book. Number each one and keep a record of who got it.
• If you want an end date on a free voucher, check Ontario’s gift card rules under the Consumer Protection Act, 2002 first. In general, gift cards that clients pay for cannot have an expiry date in Ontario.

Give products in their original, labelled packaging

Pouring a gallon of lotion or cuticle oil into small bottles looks cheaper, but those bottles should not be given away. Under the Food and Drugs Act, “sell” includes distributing a product even when no money changes hands (Food and Drugs Act, s. 2). A cosmetic label in Canada must include the ingredient list and the product’s identity in English and French (Health Canada, Labelling of cosmetics). A small bottle filled at the back counter has none of that.

Sealed retail products already carry a full label, and they look like a gift. By the case, a labelled 100 g PediNatural tube costs $1.70, less than an empty 0.5 oz cuticle oil bottle ($1.75) before you add the oil, a label and the time to fill it.

Mistakes to avoid

• One strong scent for everyone. Not every client likes the same fragrance. Stock two or three scents and let the client choose, or ask before you hand it over. Keep a few unscented Better Balm tubes for clients who prefer no fragrance.
• A salon-size bottle as a gift. A gallon or a 24 oz pump bottle belongs at the manicure table, not in a client’s handbag. Pick tubes, pens, small bottles and masks in their own pouch.
• A mask with no instructions. A client who doesn’t know how long to wear it, or that the tips tear off, won’t enjoy it. Explain it at checkout or tape a small card to the pouch.
• Gifts that look like leftovers. A gift bag, a ribbon or a sticker with your salon’s name costs cents and makes a $3 gift look planned.
• Ordering in mid-December. Cases and popular scents sell through. Order in early November and keep 10% spare.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

• Codi Lotion Sizes Compared: 100 ml vs 750 ml vs 1 Gallon
• CND Systems Explained: Shellac Base and Top Coats, Vinylux, Plexigel and Brisa
• Paraffin Wax Treatments in the Salon

References

• Strohmetz, D. B., Rind, B., Fisher, R., & Lynn, M. (2002). Sweetening the till: The use of candy to increase restaurant tipping. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32(2), 300–309. doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2002.tb00216.x
• Food and Drugs Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. F-27, s. 2 (definitions of “sell”, “label”, “package”). laws-lois.justice.gc.ca
• Health Canada. Labelling of cosmetics. canada.ca

Everything above is in stock at M1 Nail & Beauty Supply in Markham, Ontario, for pickup or delivery. Prices and stock change; check each product page before you order. Quantity prices and buy 10, get 1 free: in store or by phone at (437) 660-9988.