NAIL TECH TALK: Kayleigh Bowser of Kayleigh Creates Nails
By Callie Iley | 05 June 2021 | Feature, Tech Talk
Scratch chats to Kayleigh Bowser of Kayleigh Creates Nails about her career change from teacher to nail tech…
I have always loved painting my own nails, and before I got married, a friend took me to get a set of gels done. I was instantly in love with the shine and longevity of the manicure! At the beginning of 2020 I decided to go and train in nails so I could do my own safely and correctly. Not long after, the whole country was plunged into lockdown. Like many people, lockdown gave me the opportunity to slow down. I was a secondary school Textiles and Art teacher and had been teaching for 10 years, I was feeling more and more like my creative side was being lost in the general day to day of teaching life, and was enjoying the job less and less.
During the first lockdown, I became obsessed with all the nail art tutorials that the nail tech world were delivering on Instagram and I was practicing every single night. I setup an Instagram account for my designs and found I had people messaging asking if I would be taking bookings when lockdown was over. I was just loving how I was able to paint and create really exciting nails and I was absolutely buzzing that people were asking for my art on their nails! I considered trying to do nails around teaching, but felt that would virtually be impossible because teaching isn’t a regular 9-5 job and I wouldn’t be able to dedicate regular time to nails and felt it would get pushed to the side. So I handed in my notice and finished teaching after the lockdown was over, and opened up Kayleigh Creates Nails during the middle of a global pandemic!
I completed my training at the Stourbridge Nail Academy and I have never stopped learning since. Lockdown was a blessing in disguise for me as I was able to really focus on learning and improving my skill set. I was continuously researching the best products to use that were of the highest quality. I completed my EFile training with Lucy James at Willow Academy and that became an absolute game changer for me. I now virtually complete everything with my Efile and that was down to the really thorough training.
Before being introduced to nail art on Instagram during the first lockdown, I was a plain colour girl as I never knew this world of nail art existed! What has got me absolutely hooked on nails is how every set can be different. I love adding my own flair to a set of nails and love how a client looks at their hands after having them done – it brings me so much joy when clients love the nail art I have produced.
Everywhere I look, I get inspired. As my background is in textiles, I am always looking at prints, wallpapers and fabrics as a source of inspiration and Pinterest is a fantastic tool to keep all my inspiration in one place.
My advice to someone who wants a career change to the nail industry like I did would be to go for it but make sure you do your research. Going from employed to self employed was a daunting leap, but it has been well worth it. Know what you want to offer your clients – I was always clear in my mind that I wanted to offer an experience and I wanted to use the best products and offer the best service. I’m a perfectionist so if something isn’t quite right, I am renowned to start again!
My next career steps are to add more services to my portfolio such as brows and lashes and I would love to eventually offer make up services as well. A dream would also to become a session nail tech working on tv, film and fashion photo shoots.