Congratulations to Michaela for being the winner of the title of Beauty Boss of the Month, after being nominated by Pure Nails!

After congratulating her on being a winner, we asked Michaela a few questions about herself so that we could all get to know her better...

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How did you get into Nails?

I’ve always loved being creative from a young age. I was never academic at school and preferred music, dancing and art. After leaving school I pursued performing arts and did this at college for 2 years. After finishing my course I didn’t know what I wanted to do so I ended applying for jobs and got a job in a bank. As the years went on I was desperate to not look back on my life and not have done something I really loved and was passionate about. 

Nails has always been a hobby for me since I was little so I decided to take the plunge and qualify in nails. Since qualifying 7 years ago I haven’t looked back, I’ve built up my clientele and work from my home studio.

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What was your most surprising part of the job?

The most surprising part of my job is that there is so many avenues to explore within the role. I’ve recently competed at Professional Beauty in London which I loved as it was my first live competition. I didn’t place but it has given me insight into what areas I can improve on and tweak. I’ve also gained my teaching accreditation this year which I was really proud of as I can pass on my knowledge to other nail techs. I also love being Brand Ambassador for 2 amazing brands Pure Nails and TNLuk (The Nail Lab). I’m besotted with both brands and honoured to be working with both.

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What has been your favourite client request?

My favourite request has been when I have a customer who always comes in for a plain colour and suddenly wants nail art. I get excited as my client is being adventurous and getting out of their comfort zone.

Since lockdown a lot of my clients have converted form acrylics to BIAB (build in a bottle) this again has been exciting to watch as my clients love how BIAB help them grow their natural nails and the length they can achieve with this product.

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What are your favourite techniques?

I do love doing abstract designs. I feel these are still really popular at the moment and you can just free style and experiment with different colours. A lot of my clients love to have this technique.

I do love to do more detailed art especially the SpongeBob set I created all with gel polish. I worked on them over 2 days and was amazed how they turned out.

Will definitely be adding some more cartoon designs again this year to test my skills and to showcase.

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Talk us through your average day.

At the moment I call myself a superhero as I am a busy full-time mum during the day but come evenings I’m a Nail Tech. I will see clients late afternoon for appointments to work around my gorgeous little boy. I love that I can have a home and work life balance and manage the two. I have amazing support from my fiancé and in-laws that makes this work. I also take one night a week to focus on content to share on my socials. Being organised with this helps a lot and works perfectly around my clients and family life.

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Where do you get your inspiration from?

Pinterest and Instagram are always my go to for inspiration as both have so many new styles and trends everyday. Instagram is also a great platform to engage with other nail professionals. Working by myself can be lonely at times so it’s nice to be able to chat with other Nail Techs.

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What advice would you give with others?

Never give up! Since not placing at my recent competition it left me feeling a bit deflated but it’s all a new experience and something to learn from. Also keep on top of training as the industry is always changing. It’s good to refresh any existing training just to up-skill as there may be new techniques on what you are currently doing.

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What are your hopes and plans for the future?

My plans for the future are to expand my nail studio and possibly build a bigger space so I can teach 1:1s and small classes. Also entering more competitions so I can constantly strive to challenge and push myself out of my comfort zone and in turn elevate my skills to provide the highest standard to my clients. 

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Beauty Boss of the Month is our monthly feature to build each other up and praise all success stories, no matter how small! Super stylist, Hard working Nail Tech, Amazing Apprentice, Fantastic New Salon...

Do you know someone who, after all our industry has been through over the last 2 years, is totally bossin' it?!

Contact us to nominate them, we would love to do a feature on them!