1. About Arctic Studios

Arctic Studios is an online marketplace connecting you with independent beauty and aesthetics studios and practitioners ("businesses"). We provide the platform; we do not provide treatments. Any treatment contract is between you and the business you book with.

2. Your account

You must be 16 or over to hold an account, and 18 or over for treatments marked 18+. You agree to give accurate information, keep your login secure, and are responsible for activity on your account.

If you are 16 or 17, you can book treatments that are not age-restricted, build a practitioner portfolio, and message studios about work. The social side of Arctic (posts, stories, comments and friends) is for people aged 18 and over, and your account is not listed in social search, suggestions or mentions.

To keep younger members safe, conversations involving anyone under 18 are limited to text messages and voice notes: photos, videos, GIFs, files and voice or video calls are turned off in those conversations, in both directions. An adult can send a limited number of messages to someone under 18 until they reply. These limits are applied automatically and are not affected by adding someone as a friend.

3. Bookings & the treatment contract

When you book, you contract directly with the business for that treatment. They are responsible for the treatment, its suitability, aftercare and clinical advice. Disclose relevant health conditions on the forms provided.

4. Payments, deposits, cancellations & refunds

Arctic Studios facilitates bookings and payments between you and the business. The treatment or service itself is provided by the business or practitioner.

The treatment price and any deposit are shown before you confirm. The amount you pay is the displayed treatment or service price; Arctic Studios does not add a fee on top.

Arctic Studios charges an Arctic Transactional Fee on each booking payment. The fee depends on the business’s Arctic partner level, is disclosed before you pay, and is deducted from the treatment payment rather than added to it. By completing payment you agree to the fee shown.

New-client Acquisition Fees are business-side fees. Customers are never charged the 20% or 15% New-client Acquisition Fee, it is never deducted from a customer refund, and it may be deferred until it becomes chargeable to the business under Arctic’s acquisition rules.

Cancellations, no-shows and refunds follow the Cancellation Policy shown at booking. Charges are measured against the full treatment price: none before 00:00 UK time 7 days before the appointment; 50% from then until 48 hours before; 75% from 24 to 48 hours; 100% within 24 hours or for a no-show. You are only refunded money you have paid, less the Arctic Transactional Fee taken from each payment, and a refund is never below zero. The share kept by the business is separate from the Arctic Transactional Fee. Treatments over £100 booked more than 7 days ahead may be secured with a 50% deposit; the balance is due from 00:00 UK time 7 days before and, if unpaid by 01:00 UK time the day before, the appointment is cancelled and the deposit kept, with no further amount chased. If the business cancels, you are refunded everything you paid. The policy that applies is the one you accepted when you booked. Card processing costs on the original payment are not recovered when a refund is issued.

Nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights (Consumer Rights Act 2015, Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013).

5. Gift cards and balance

A gift card is bought from one studio and can only be spent with that studio. Credit won on the rewards wheel is different: it is spendable in the Arctic Studios shop and not against bookings. Both appear together as your balance, and each part shows where it can be used.

A gift card code is only issued once payment has cleared. Until then the purchase shows as pending and the code does not work.

Gift cards are valid for 18 months from purchase. They are not exchangeable for cash and cannot be transferred to a different studio.

Balance is not a deposit and we are not holding your money as a bank would. Where a gift card is unused, your statutory rights are unaffected, including your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

The money you pay for a gift card is not released to the studio when you buy it. It is held and only paid across to them when you actually spend the balance on a treatment, in the same way a booking is paid out after it happens rather than before.

That is why we can say this plainly: if the studio you bought from leaves Arctic Studios or stops trading before you have spent your gift card, contact us at hello@arcticstudios.uk and we will refund the unspent balance. We are not asking you to chase the studio for money you paid us.

Arctic Studios facilitates the sale. The treatment itself is always provided by the studio, and the rest of these terms apply to it as they would to any other booking.

6. Promoted content

Some posts and stories are promoted, which means they are shown more widely than they otherwise would be. Promotion is always labelled as Promoted where it appears.

Promotion on Arctic Studios is currently won through the rewards wheel rather than bought. It never changes who can see a private account: a private profile stays private whether or not it is promoted.

7. Verification

We check businesses’ qualifications and insurance, and higher-risk treatments are reviewed by a person. Verification is a documentary check to raise standards, not a guarantee of outcome or safety.

8. Acceptable use

Social, messaging and calls must follow our Acceptable Use and Community rules. Prohibited content may be removed and accounts suspended.

9. Our liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law we are not liable for the treatments, acts or omissions of businesses or practitioners. Nothing excludes liability that cannot be excluded by law (including death or personal injury from our negligence, or fraud).

10. Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of England & Wales; its courts have jurisdiction. Contact: hello@arcticstudios.uk.