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Support system

Session tech Stephanie Staunton, known for her editorial, celebrity and Fashion Week work, turned her skilled hands to fundraising and raised almost £6,000 for mental health charities in April.

Inspired by her own experiences with mental health issues, Staunton set up organisation Nailing Mental Health to use her position in the industry to raise cash for the charities that provide vital support.

Her organisation held a record-breaking attempt on April 2 in London, where a team of 350 techs from the around the country attempted (within eight hours) to paint the nails of 6,078 people, which represents the number of people in the UK and ROI who committed suicide in 2015 due to mental illness.

Consumers were invited to pay £5 for a file and polish in their chosen shade of green, the signature colour of mental health charities. Although they didn’t break the world record this time, the group raised nearly £6,000, which will be donated to charities Mind and Samaritans.

Nailing Mental Health is also raising money to achieve charity status, which will allow it to help people first hand by paying for private counselling or interim therapy while they await NHS therapy. Another record attempt will be held at Olympia Beauty in October.

Stripping off

This month, the PB team has been trying out IBD’s limitededition collection of nude shades, sent in by distributor Grafton International. The eight-colour line-up showcases a pared-back palette of nudes. Our fave is Faint Kiss, a creamy pink-beige.

Northern correspondent

CND has appointed an ambassador for the North East to deliver training courses at its Newcastle academy. Nikki Irvine will teach a host of courses, from beginners’ Shellac to conversion courses for experienced techs and the Core Nail Art class. Irvine also works out of her own Newcastle salon, Butterfly Beauty.

5 minutes with…

Haley Lomas, Bio Sculpture tech

I’ve been with Bio Sculpture since 2000, when I completed a Level 3 training programme with the brand. The then-director asked if I could do her nails and from that day she invited me to work with the company at head office.

I have the best of both worlds – I work at Bio Sculpture head office two days per week, where I’m involved with all the latest products and happenings behind the scenes, and I’m a mobile technician during the evenings.

I get involved with lots of things with the brand, like creating nails for our social media channels, helping choose new, seasonal colours, doing treatments for journalists and even packing orders when the warehouse is really busy!

I always wanted to be a make-up artist until I discovered my passion for nails. So, if I weren’t working in the nail industry I’d definitely be doing something artistic.

I’m loving nudes at the moment and I’m still really into chrome effects. I’m currently wearing one of our new nude Evo shades, Demi, and I’ve mixed chrome powder into the gel to create a shimmery twist.

It can be challenging for a beginner entering the industry because the market is flooded with different gel products. It’s hard for techs to choose which they want to work with and for clients to choose which to wear. It helps to think about what you really want from a brand. For example, I’m passionate about keeping the natural nail and as healthy as possible. Electric buffers and primers are a definite no.

COLOUR PLAY

Fiji was the backdrop for OPI’s SS17 Trend Tour, a day filled with creativity and colour

OPI nail techs were transported from a training room at the Wella Studios in London to a sun kissed beach in Fiji on the OPI Trend Tour. The spring/summer event focused on the Fiji collection, OPI’s big colour story for the season.

The 12 sunsoaked shades served as inspiration for 14 nail art looks created by OPI ATeam member and nail artist Sophie HarrisGreenslade, some of which she taught step by step to techs on the day.

She also shared innovative tips to help techs get to grips with new art skills, such as creating a watercolour effect by dropping colour onto an uncured base and spreading over the nail with a point brush; or sketching out a bespoke design on paper first to better understand the structure and check it matches the client’s vision. Below, we share an exclusive Fiji design from the day that incorporates some easy but impactful techniques.

OCEAN VIEW

Step 1

On a prepared nail, apply a thin coat of Gel Colour Base Coat followed by two thin coats of Gel Colour in Super Tropicalifijiistic. Cure each for 30 seconds.

Step 2

Apply a tealcoloured transfer foil randomly to the sticky tacky layer.

Step 3

Apply one thin coat of Do you Sea What I Sea? then cure for 30 seconds.

Step 4

Use a striping brush with Artist Series in The Time is White to draw three wavy lines with graduated thicknesses. Cure for 30 seconds.

Step 5

Apply Artist Series in It’s a Steel! beside the white lines. Cure for 30 seconds then apply Gel Colour Top Coat and cure again.

Getting social

OPI educator Elisha Whiten spoke at the SS17 Trend Tour about the most effective ways techs can use social media to get their work noticed online. Here she shares some top tips.

• “Don’t overpost. Instead, just post your #nailsoftheday every day. It’s about quality over quantity.”

• “When posting pictures of nails, try to only have the nails and fingertips or toes in the picture rather than too much background, as the point of the post gets lost. Also make sure the lighting is sufficient so the picture does the nail colour justice.”

• “Be sure to tag the product company, your business name and the client’s name if they allow you to, not forgetting to also hashtag the nail shade, design and anything else that can trend on social media. I love using #opiobsessed, and for the recent Trend Tour we used #OPIFijicollection2017.

• A word of warning: overhashtagging can be overwhelming, so keep it specific for the particular post and stick to a maximum of four tags, because otherwise people don’t tend to read on through the post.”

• “Use social media to boost your business but keep your channels separate from your personal life. Keep it professional to keep your followers engaged and interested.