‘I did Sophia and Cinzia’s nails’: Manchester nail tech shares her experience

Influencers and co-hosts of The Girls Bathroom podcast, Sophia and Cinzia, selected Lindsay Heigh as the nail tech for their tour manicures, sending an influx of followers to her social media accounts.

Fashion and lifestyle influencers, Sophia Tuxford and Cinzia Baylis Zullo, well-known for their trendy manicures amongst their 420,000+ YouTube subscribers, sought a space-inspired nail look to match their ‘planet’ themed podcast tour.

Lindsay working in Luxe Salon in Manchester City Centre

The duo posted their manicures to their huge follower base, sending an influx of love, support and interest to the hand-painted nail artist’s Instagram page, @nailsbylindsayy: “The feedback has been overwhelming. The amount of love and support I have had from fellow nail techs makes me feel very lucky to be in such a great community.”

She continues, “The engagement on my platforms has also been crazy, and more intense than I expected! I expected to gain a couple of followers, but to see my following increase by 800 overnight was quite insane. I have also had a massive influx of people trying to book in, which again, I am very grateful for!”

The Manchester-based nail tech explains how she secured the duo as clients: “I was contacted by them on Monday 2 September, when they reached out to ask if I would be able to fit them in five days later.”

She continues, “I was really excited about it, but also very nervous. I knew it would be a big opportunity, so tried to channel the nerves into excitement!”

When asked where the inspiration for the nail looks came from, she credited the pair for their creative input: “They sent over a variety of nail art inspiration, including a couple of 3D elements, such as flowers, butterflies, pearls and lots of chrome. They also requested some chrome planets to be part of it – as expected!”

Cinzia Baylis Zullo’s planet-inspired manicure by @nailsbylindsayy

Lindsay tended to the nails of the online stars in their hotel room, saying, “I had a really good experience, they were absolutely lovely and made me feel so relaxed. They were such fun nail art sets to do, and the girls were on board with me being creative, so it was really fun!”

On the creative process of the manicures, she shares: “When we did the nails, we sat down and focused on each nail at a time, deciding how we could take elements they liked from the inspiration and channel them into a cohesive set that would suit them, as well as the tours vibe!”

Cinzia, aka @cinziabayliszullo, opted for a two-toned pink manicure, with 3D hearts and butterflies, hand-painted flowers, star decals and pearls spread across feature nails.

While Sophia, behind @sophiatuxford, sported similar gel hearts and pearls, but added fun silver, chrome planets and a dainty green alien character on her pinkie nail; a nod to the tours space theme.

Sophia Tuxford’s podcast tour nails by @nailsbylindsayy

Commenting on the finished sets, Lindsay says, “Both the sets turned out really well and I loved that they had some similar elements so they were complimentary of each other’s, but not matching.”

The tech noted that despite the excitement, she also really felt the nerves: “Prior to doing their nails, and even after I finished them, I felt quite a bit of imposter syndrome. I was worrying if I was good enough, wondering why they would contact me out of everyone, and debating whether I had done a good enough job.”

She concludes, “So, for anyone that has seem me do this and may think I’ve made it look easy, I want to share that there were so many nerves (which is more than okay) and everyone feels similar behind closed doors – you don’t see everything on social media!”

Lindsay’s Instagram story addressing the support

If, like Lindsay, you have felt yourself experiencing feelings of low confidence, read our article on imposter syndrome via the September issue of our digital magazine.

Follow Lindsay on TikTok and Instagram.