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A Week in My Shoes: Karen-Louise
Karen-Louise is a Salon System nail expert who knows how to juggle her time. Check out her whirlwind work week!ABOUT KAREN-LOUISE
LOCATION: London
QUALIFICATIONS: NVQ Level 2, Beauty Therapy, Gel Application and Nail Art, Acrylic Application, Hard Gel and Soft Gel Application
YEARS IN THE BUSINESS: 6 years
TWITTER: @karenlouisenail
INSTAGRAM: @karenlouisenail
Monday
It’s an 8am start at Big Sky Studios for a shoot with a haircare range. The brand’s incredibly colourful so I was really excited to get creative with nail designs for this one – and I got to work with one of my favourite models! She has amazing natural nails and that always helps when you’re on a shoot. The shoot runs over so I'm there until about 8pm but we do get to order pizza to the studio. Pizza always makes everything better!
Tuesday
I helped assist with the launch of Salon System’s brand new PRO-Polish by GELLUX collection. The idea was to offer desk-side nail appointments to the press, using the new range. It’s the brand’s first ever long-wear polish so the press were excited about the news. We travelled to all corners of London for appointments at the major publication houses. The new collection is called Picture Perfect, so to tie in with the film theme, we also had some fun with a Polaroid camera, snapping pictures of the finished look! It’s a busy but relaxed day!
Wednesday
Another busy day with the Salon System team; this time we’re filming a SS17 nail step-by-step using the new PRO-Polish collection. I created a sports luxe style using the Picture Perfect collection in Freeze Frame and Camera Ready. There is a real emphasis on simple designs and lines for Spring/Summer. Once I get home I need to start organising my team for LFW and start prepping the nails for the Henry Holland show. Being a freelance means you don’t always have a cut-off time!
Thursday
I have a 9am call time for Vivienne Westwood’s Anglomania campaign. I’ve been working on this for about two or three years now, so I feel like I’m part of the furniture. It’s always a fun day and I always look forward to seeing her fabulous creations. The nail looks tend to be very clean. I’m finished by lunch-time and then rush off to a Notting Hill meeting for a large project I am working on with my favourite hair stylist, Lara Zee. Lara and I have been working with each other a lot since the 2012 London Olympics (where I did the nails for the athletes). When I get home I continue to source nail techs around the UK for a Nail Bar Tour with Lucozade.
Friday
This morning I’m arranging staff for my LFW and Nail Bar Tour events. Not for long though, as I need to head off to Trinity Hospice for a ‘My Makeover’ event. A friend, the makeup artist Lee Pycroft, curated the event and the idea is to give manicures, makeovers and beauty tips to patients at the hospice. It touches my heart seeing their faces light up once they’ve spent the afternoon with us. Then it’s home time and I spend some time working on some step-by-step nail art tutorials for Salon System. I chose a look using Freeze Frame. I’m totally obsessed with this gorgeous blue shade!
Saturday
I spend the first part of the morning confirming nail techs to work with me for LFW and my nail bar tour and finishing off some last pieces of admin before I finally stop to have lunch and enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Love Karen-Louise’s work? Pick up our free Summer magazine in store to see one of her gorgeous creations and a step-by-step showing how to recreate the design using the new Pro-Polish Picture Perfect collection!
Feature originally published in Capital Hair & Beauty Summer magazine 2017
All imagery supplied by essencepr. Words by Charisse Kenion.
Freelance Focus
Freelance Focus, is a one stop resource for anyone working as a freelancer or thinking of going freelance in the hair & beauty industry, which includes a FREE downloadable guide filled with advice, useful insights, experiences and tips (from experienced freelancers) to help you understand the steps needed to make the right choices for you.
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