Lockdown & keeping creative: Christine’s Story…

Hi, my name’s Christine. I own my own business called Nails and Beauty by Christine. I offer various treatments but the busiest service that I offer is nails. When the world went into lockdown, I felt like everything I had worked so hard for all these years had just collapsed within a day. I was devastated. I started to try and come to terms with the fact that I couldn’t work and that my business would suffer.

I was being bombarded with messages from clients telling me how awful they felt without their weekly dose of beauty treatments and decided I had to do something – if not for my own sanity, for my clients. I started researching about press on nails and took the plunge. Advertising on my facebook page, I made a few sets free of charge for friends to take pictures of and post some ideas. Personalising the nails gave my clients the fun of picking what they wanted and let my creative side flow. It was tricky at first, but I found joining Facebook pages to be an amazing help. The girls have a wealth of advice and are so friendly too. I offer sets of 20, 10 additional sizes and 10 exact sizes (I make up sizer charts of false tips send them out and the girls send me the sizes).

I also send out a nail glue so they don’t need to go out and get any (helps with isolating families). Not only does it make me feel better, it makes life that little bit easier for the clients that depended on their “me time”. I am normally fully mobile, so I go to the client’s house. A lot of the girls have serious health issues which restrict them from going out and mothers of young kids who either can’t get babysitters or don’t have the means to travel. Being able to make people happy by doing something so simple really helps with my mental wellbeing through all of this. It has also brought new clients and kept my business name out there which in the long run, when the world returns to normal, will benifit me when I need it the most. It turned out to be an amazing gap in the market that I never knew was there for my area. I may even continue to sell these along side my normal work – who knows.

I have also been able to fit this so easily around my two kids. While they do school work, I make nails!! Perfect!!! then the rest of the day is ours to do fun activities. It also takes the pressure off mounting bills with an income still coming into the house.

Isolation is difficult for everyone. But if you put your creative mind into play you will be amazed what you can come up with!!

I hope everyone is keeping safe and well. Stay safe

Christine

Xox

N.B. Our Salon and Freelance policies don’t provide cover for you to make and sell your own products, although the mixing or blending of oils and creams that you have bought in the UK from a shop or supplier to use as part of your treatments is covered. If you are selling press on nails that you have made, you will need to arrange separate insurance for that aspect of your business.