Style Diary: It's been a minute... :)

Hello Lovely People

So it really has been a minute.. or two... or maybe a few more. But the good news is, I'm Baaaack! But where to even begin?

Well, life sure has been a roller coaster since I last updated my blog. A lot has happened but at the same time things feel the same. But I have definitely grown and learnt so much about myself, for which I am extremely grateful for.

I was working and living life but I wasn't 100% happy, so I decided to take the plunge and leave the job I was in, followed my heart and studied the beautiful art of nails. Yup, that's right, NAILS! Since I was at school I loved playing around with nail polish and trying all sorts of fun and colourful designs. When I left college I decided to give this long nail trend a bash and I fell in love, but sitting there at the salons I always thought to myself "I could do this." So I did! I would buy nail gel from Clicks and Dischem and practise on myself, I would get creative and try everything, it started getting to the point that I had people at work asking me where I got my nails done and when I said I did them I had them all asking me to do their nails. And that's where it all started. I thought why stay in a job that is really not bringing me much happiness at all? Why not take the plunge and become qualified and make a living out of something that actually does bring me happiness? Because when you do something you love, you never work a day in your life!

I did my first course through Bio Sculpture and I fell even more in love with this art. People think that doing nails is a cute, easy job. While it is fun to "play" with designs there is a whole lot more that goes into it all than what meets the eye. I very quickly found out that to be able to master the practical side of things, I first had to master the theoretical side of things. Boy oh boy was that harder than I thought but I loved every moment of it! I love a new challenge and I love to learn new things and apply my mind to something new! We needed to know the anatomy of the nail and the finger and the hands in order to know exactly the treatments to be able to offer our clients. At first I thought I would NEVER get it all, there were things I had no idea how to pronounce and thought How the Hell is this ever going to stick in my brain? But after lots and lots of studying, it finally stuck and I was able to pass my exam. Then onto the practical! All I can say is 1) thank you to my mom and sister for being ever patient guinea pigs and sacrificing your nails for me! 2) Its not as easy as it looks in the videos. :) But eventually after hours, days, weeks and months of practise I was finally ready to do my exam and become a qualified Nail Tech. Goodness was I proud of myself!

Fast forward a year and I decided, lets try acrylic! So I did my research and I finally settled on doing my course through NSI Western Cape. So cocky me thought "I'm good at this, how hard can acrylic really be??" Well, I was in for a very rude awakening. I can tell you I have shed MANY tears over an acrylic french application. I have cried, shouted, thrown my tools down in frustration, stormed out of the room and wanted to give up many times. But I am glad that I had my mom there cheering me on, encouraging me and helping me and believing in me when that was the last thing I could do for myself. Eventually after what felt like an eternity of practising over and over and over again I was finally able to do it and I amazingly did it well enough to get my certificate haha. I can still say an acrylic french is not #1 on my list of favourite things to do, but I am grateful for the lesson it taught me throughout the process.

I have also done a nail art workshop with the very talented Minel of Minelliart, I learnt a lot from her and the workshop helped me feel a lot more confident in offering clients nail art.

Since then I have done all sorts of weird and wonderful designs. For my nephews 1st birthday his party theme was Peter Rabbit, so my sister definitely needed some little Peter's on her nails! I have been privileged to do wedding nails for a few brides and help them feel beautiful on their big days, most recently it was for my lovely new little sister, who married my brother almost a month ago. I have done, moon phases, flamingos, unicorns, dream catchers, dandelions, diamante everything, cherry blossom trees, ombre, lace work, you name it and I have done it, and if not, I will try it!

I have always been a very creative person, I mentioned in a previous post how I took my moms fabric and made myself a skirt when I was still small. I always loved drawing and painting, so much so that my art teacher was frustrated with me because I had decided not to take art as a subject until matric (I do regret that). Creativity is just something that is in me that I always need a way to express and get out, so I followed one of my passions and became a nail tech/nail artist.

Starting my own little business has had its fair share of ups and downs, that is only natural. And even though there have been times that I have felt like whats the point? I still would never give up on my dream for anything! If we work hard and believe in ourselves, its amazing what we can accomplish.

I love what I do, I love nails and I love fashion and I love being able to help women look great and in turn feel great. The happiness they have resonates with me and I feel the happiness with them!