I’ve been a long time fan of DIY Nails – headed by the uber talented Tammy Koslowski. She designed the nails for ITCOW’s last show (and our fashion film), has done collaborations with some of my favourite Scottish designers including Rebecca Torres, Isolated Heroes and Bonnie Bling and gurl only went and did my nails all fancy for the Glasgow Film Festival Opening Gala. It was about me and Tammy got some REAL TALK on the go and I found out more about the lady behind the falsies.
First things first – how did you come up with DIY Nails? Give me the full low down of how you went from doing your own nails to full blown nail entrepreneur?
I’ve always loved painting my nails and when a friend bought me a nail
pen I couldn’t stop using it! I did leopard print on my nails in all
different colour ways for about a year and then when I saw how huge the
nail art community was on tumblr, I decided to
start my own blog documenting my own attempts and re-blogging inspiring
designs (looking back, my nails were so horrible and messy!). The ball
just kept on rolling from there I suppose, friends wanted me to do their
nails, then friends of friends/people I knew
from my blog so I started painting nails at vintage fairs at the
weekends and then scored a wee spot in a local boutique. A lot of girls
wanted their nails done that weren’t close by so I painted false nails
and sold them online and the rest is DIY Nails history
haha. I never intended it to be anything other than a way to put my
pictures on the internet but I guess it just all happened at the right
time and I’m so happy at how it’s turned out. I’ve been so lucky getting
to work on photo shoot sand meet other creatives,
plus I get to talk about nails pretty much all the time, which suits me.
You are all up in the collaborations – why do you think that indie designers are all about the nails?
Well nails are so hot right now! I think most creative girls love having
their nails done and it’s something that people will always notice, I
don’t know about you but I’m always like “I LOVE YOUR NAILS!” “What’s
that on your nails?” and most people I know
are the same. People use their hands a lot and it’s the only beauty
treatment your really get to see on yourself without a mirror! I also
think it’s a great way for indie designers to branch out to people who
may not know about their brand or offer something
of theirs at a cheaper price point.
Where do you find your inspiration?
On photo shoots I usually pay attention to what’s going on with the
makeup and styling, my nails are never really over the top or fussy
(unless that’s in the brief), I like them to compliment everything and
look effortless. Plus, up in Scotland, using nail
art on shoots or for shows is still a bit risky/extravagant for clients
so you want to prove that you’re there to tie everything in and make
sure every part of the model is as gorgeous as she is!
As for my online store, my inspiration just comes from my customers
and my friends. I know what colour combinations they like, I know they
like buying simple sets of nails that they can still customise and I
listen to all their ideas. Pretty boring I guess.
You’ve been releasing some GORGE decals at the mo. Spill – what exactly
are decals. Are they easy to apply?
Decals are essentially just water transfers. They’re a bit fiddly in the
sense that you have to cut round them, soak them in water and slide
them off backing paper before you apply them but once you’ve done it
once it’s super easy! I think they’re great, I used to use a lot of decals before I even put a nail pen to my nails! I
used to have Disney characters all over my fingers and toes.
Any favourite nail design? Upcoming trends a sista should be watching out for?
There’s too many to even think about, I think everyones favourite will
always be the glitter gradient. It’s o easy to do, you don’t have to be
neat and it always looks great! As for trends, nail art is MASSIVE, a
whole host of different people could tell you
different trends to look out for. Textured polishes are really big right
now, I love Illamasqua’s speckled nail polishes. I don’t like getting
too caught up in trends.
What piece of kit could you not live without?
I think anyone who does nail art will say the same, Seche Vite topcoat. I
also couldn’t live without CND’s Solar Oil. Cuticle oil is an absolute
essential is you want healthy nails.
Top tips for those fine fresh fierce folk who want to start their own business?
My biggest piece of advice would be to make sure you start a business
doing something you love. No matter what you do, your passion will shine
through and that’s essentially what draws people to you and what you’re
doing. People smell a moneymaker a mile off.
I also think, in your first year, you should say yes to everything.
People tell me I let other people walk all over me when it comes to
doing free work, but if I hadn’t have done those free jobs I wouldn’t
have me the people who got me all the work I do now.
And always be nice and polite! And if you’re in Scotland make sure you
utilise all the amazing help we have on offer here, there are so many
organisations willing to help young people in business out. I would have
given up a long time ago if it wasn’t for PSYBT
or Business Gateway.
Any super hot projects you’re working on just now you can share with us
😉 (obviously in LOVE with your Bad Blood collab. Full on swoon. I would
like some rappers on my nails too please.)
The Bad Blood collaboration will be ongoing, we have come up with too
many amazing ideas!! (When I say we, I mean Nick!) And as for super hot
projects, I have a few up my sleeve. DIY Nails will be changing over the
summer, not completely but I’m working on
something a bit different for my website and for events, gotta keep it
fresh! I always know it’s time to move on when I see other companies
doing similar things so I’m starting a new chapter, kind of. And then
there’s the ongoing struggle of trying to get my
products manufactured but that’s a whole other story!
Favourite nail artists?
Again, too many. I could sit here for hours. So my two ultimates are
Madeline Poole because she makes the most simple designs look fresh,
unique and really expensive. And obviously, Sophy Robson, because she is
the ultimate nail queen and paved the way for
all the other nail artists you see today.
And now for my favourite part – the QUICK FIRE ROUND.
Falsies or Natural: Both!! Falsies if you like to change it up but if you’ve got beautiful natural nails then don’t hide ’em!
Stiletto tips or Square: Going to be awkward and say almond.
Long or short: Long!
Tupac or Biggie: I might be working with Bad Blood but do I really look like I like rap music? Hahaha! Tupac
Sloths or Sugar Gliders: SLOTHS
Harry Potter or LOTR: Harry Potter obvz
Teacakes or Caramel Wafers: Teacakes
Sophy Robson or Wah!: They are both super inspirational and do completely different things!
Although Sophy has Nail Porn and pioneered designer nail art, Sharmadean
Reid has set up an amazing brand that’s brought it to the high street.
You can hook yourself up with some sweet falsies or decals by visiting DIY Nails and get all the latest from her collaborations and generally be an internet creep by following on facebook.
You’ll no doubt find me creeping on either of those sites either liking the shit out of everything or filling my virtual basket to the brim with delicious nail goodness! Thanks again Tammy!
All pics c/o DIY Nails.