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You want your hair done on Saturday. By Thursday, you've sent four DMs, two are on "seen", and the one reply you got just says "come we see". No price, no idea how long it takes, and nobody has said whether there's a chair free at eleven.
That back-and-forth is the thing LookFinesse is trying to get rid of. It's a Kenyan marketplace for fashion, beauty, fitness and wellness, run by Beacon Creek, and on the client side you find services near you on a map, request a booking and keep all your bookings in one place.
(If you're the one holding the scissors, the owner's version of this is Stop booking salon appointments in the DMs.)
A pin on a map is only useful if you treat it like a real appointment: a service, a price, a duration, and a place you can actually find.
Where do I start looking?
Most people start from Near me. There's a map with a distance radius, which you can widen a bit if nothing close suits you, or tighten when you only want something walking distance from the stage. Along the top there are tabs for Shop, Book and Deliver, so if it's an appointment you're after you'd stay on Book and narrow it to beauty, or fashion, fitness or wellness if that's your thing. Tap a listing with a pin and you can get directions from right there.
Sometimes you already know exactly what you want, maybe knotless braids, maybe a fade before Monday. Then the Services catalogue is the quicker way in. You filter by salon, beauty, fitness, training or wellness, and when you open a listing it can tell you the price, how long it takes, whether it's in person or virtual, and there's a Book Now button.
The catalogue is still filling up as vendors join, so don't take today's list as the whole picture.
You'll also spot some listings with a Demo badge and a diagonal DEMO ribbon across the photo. We put those up to show what a listing looks like. They aren't real businesses, so please don't try to book or pay them.
What does booking actually look like?
You'll need a free account first. Every account gets 30 days with the features open, and you don't need a card to start.
Then open the service and actually read it, the duration especially. Some vendors have set up options or packages, each with its own photo and price, and it's much easier to pick yours there than to argue about it in chat later. You can add extras, say how many people are coming (useful when you and your sister are both getting done for the same wedding) and leave a note for the stylist.
If the vendor has published time slots you choose one that's still open. If they haven't, send the request anyway, and they'll come back to you with a time. Either way it lands in your bookings, so you're not scrolling up through WhatsApp on Saturday morning trying to find it.
Running late, or can't make it at all? Just message the vendor in the app instead of switching off your phone. Some vendors have no-show or cancellation rules, and where they do, you'll see them on the booking screen before you confirm. For now any fees are only recorded. Nothing is charged until online payments open.
Before you cross town for it
People get caught out here more than you'd think. A pin on the map is great, but look at the duration as well as the start time, particularly if you're leaving work in town and still need to get back to Rongai or Ruaka before it's too late.
Long services like braids or colour are where this really bites. We won't quote you some figure for how long braids "usually" take, because it depends on the stylist and the style. Go by the duration the vendor has put on the listing and plan the trip home around that.
Where a listing offers directions, use them. Nearby and vendor pages can open the pin in OpenStreetMap, Apple Maps or Waze, whichever one you already have.
And if someone in the chat suddenly wants to meet you somewhere else and gets vague about where, stop there. The point of a public listing is that the place is fixed. Keep that conversation in Messages.
Can I pay in the app?
Gift cards work the same way. Salon, spa and trainer vouchers are on the pricing page, but sales only open once checkout goes live, so a request for a personal payment "for a gift voucher" before then isn't from us.
That pricing page also has LookFinesse Premium, with monthly, quarterly and annual passes and a student price at 50% off once you've verified with a school email or a student ID. You'll be able to buy those when checkout opens.
Anything else worth a look?
The AI Stylist is a chat that gives you a few prompts to start with, things like Nairobi weather (what to wear on one of those cold, grey July mornings), occasions, or stylists near you. It's fun to poke at when you're not sure what you want yet.
Then there's the Wellness Center, which has programmes and logs and trackers for habits, hydration, sleep and nutrition. We'll leave the health advice to the professionals and just tell you it's there.
You can also follow creators whose work you like and save items for later.
So which salon is the best one in Nairobi?
Honestly, we can't tell you, and we'd be a bit suspicious of any marketplace that said it could. From the CBD out to the estates there are a lot of chairs, and "best" depends on whether you want a quick weekday trim or a whole day of braids. What LookFinesse shows you is who's listed, the prices they've put up and the times they have free. The choosing is yours.
We also can't promise every vendor is still at their pin. If something feels off, check the directions, message them in the app, and don't pay anyone outside the platform.
What happens to my details when I book?
Usually you'll share your name and number, and sometimes preferences or a few intake answers. Under Kenya's Data Protection Act, 2019 (opens in a new tab) you have rights over that personal data, and the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (opens in a new tab) is the body that oversees it. As a customer you're also covered by the Consumer Protection Act, 2012 (opens in a new tab). Vendors should only contact you in the ways you've agreed to. If you'd rather not hear from one, use the controls in the app or just tell them, and once you've opted out the vendor's automations won't contact you.
Questions people keep asking us
Can I see the vendor's phone number?
Vendor numbers aren't shown to customers, and the chat is meant to stay in Messages, so you don't need to swap numbers at all.
Wait, what's a Demo listing again?
That's one of our samples. It has the Demo badge and the DEMO ribbon on the picture, and it's not a real business, so there's nothing to pay.
And directions?
If there's a pin on the listing, open it from Nearby or the vendor's page, and it'll hand you over to OpenStreetMap, Apple Maps or Waze.
Before December fills up
December is coming, and plenty of Nairobi salons fill up early around then. A booking with a slot you can actually see beats a desperate DM on a Sunday night. Create your free account and start from Services or Near me.
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