August 18, 2025 • 32 mins
Let's be honest...we've all been getting our nails done wrong this whole time. That quick SNS mani you love? It might actually be damaging your nails. Those "breathing breaks" you take? Complete myth.
This week, I'm sitting down with Sarah Elmaz - the woman who turns nails into actual art galleries. We're talking three-hour appointments, Disney characters so detailed they look like tiny paintings, and clients who fly interstate just to sit in her chair. But more importantly, she's about to blow up everything you think you know about getting your nails done.
From why SNS is basically just expensive glue and powder, to the real reason your manicure only lasts two weeks (spoiler: it's not your fault), Sarah breaks down everything your nail tech should be doing but probably isn't.
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CREDITS:
Hosts: Kelly McCarren
Guest: Sarah Elmaz (Get Buffed Nails)
Producer: Sophie Campbell
Audio Producer: Tegan Sadler
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Mama Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters
that this podcast is recorded on.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Makeup is My Therapy.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
I'm in love, I'm obsess and I don't even feel
guilty about it.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Nana, Hello, and welcome to you beauty. This is the
podcast for your Face.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
I'm Keller McCarran and this is the formula, the one
day a week that I get to sit down with
the most interesting people within this wonderful wide world of
beauty and pick their brains. And today we are talking nails.
Except nails aren't just like going and getting a money.
Nails can be like such a talking point and a
(00:55):
real representation of someone's personality which kind of giving.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Basic bitch right now.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
But today we've got one of the most iconic now
artists in Australia, Sarah Elmers. She has kindly come up
to Melbourne to join me on a little couchy, so
let's bring her on in.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Sarah, thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
You have been working with nails and nail art for
almost two decades. Yeah wow, how did you get started?
Like you're very big on socials, so walk us through
your career, How did you get started, how to get buffed?
Like all come about? Tell us everything.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
So, yeah, like you said, I've been doing now for
twenty years. I actually grew up and did my school
years in the UK, so I got my now certificate
in the UK and now's and now art was a
very different vibe back then. It was sort of like
a glitter tip that was about as French French with
a little glitter line or something that was about. Yeah.
(01:49):
That was the sort of iconic you know sets back then,
and there was a little bit of I guess American influence.
We had a few in London, some Korean now shops
that did those like crazy long hooked nows that you
could get airbrush like then back then, Wow, So I
used to travel down with my friends and get these
crazy airbrush Now.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Was it something that you always loved? Like love?
Speaker 4 (02:12):
It's quite niche. I'm going to be a beauty therapist
because I really love beauty. Like you wanted to do nails, yes.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
And I wanted them to be Wow. I wanted people
to see them and be like, oh my god, they're crazy,
Like where did you get them done?
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
That's yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
That's great, though.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Yeah, it was really hard growing up. Surprisingly not the
type of art that you learn at school, so a
lot of people do ask that, and I'm kind of like,
actually failed high school art, but it was because we
were painting, you know, like realistic fruit bawls and you know,
the kind of.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Art you could fail out to be honest, I.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Literally, I know how bad?
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Is that?
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Very subjective?
Speaker 3 (02:48):
But I was very creative. My mom's really good at sewing,
and the creative flair was kind of always there. And
I'm a bit of a perfectionist with things that I
like doing, and I will just layser focus on it.
So I think that definitely led to me being a
good now tech because I wouldn't just stop.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
At like oh yeah, that's okay, off you go.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
It had to be perfect. And when social media kind
of came around and everything was photos, I had to
make everything even more perfect because I was like, oh
my god, now I'm going to stare at it and
I'm going to see that little one imperfection that I did.
So I really really honed in on those skills, the
actual Naulah and the character stuff. I have loved Disney
(03:28):
and cartoons since I was a kid, I used to
get up really early in the morning on Saturday Disney.
I'm sure all the millennial young girls did the same thing.
I just loved all types of cartoons, Mickey, Minnie, especially
all the princesses, as I think we all do. We
all imagine that we're Aeriel or we're Bell or something
when we were a kid, did you.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
So when I first started doing the characters, it was
half faced characters that I was doing. That was probably
the very initial stages, and no one really was doing
anything like that, and people were just amazed. And I
started doing a little bit of My Little Ponies and
I had all different My Little Pony sets with like
mixmashed art on each different nail, and people just went
crazy for it, and the face social media kind of
(04:10):
took off, and then slowly Instagram after that. I even
had the guy who was at that time doing Chloe
Kardashian's now has recreated one of my sets on Chloe's nails. Yeah,
really cool.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
So I hope he did.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
He credited me. I was like, that was amazing. Chorn
legend his name is, and yeah, so that was like
a pinch me moment, Like what the heck, like people.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
All over the world everywhere. That's cool.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
So yeah, that was really cool. That's I guess kind
of how it started and how the characters really came
into things like is.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
It Disney that mainly inspires you? I guess that's your signature.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Yeah, I feel like that's my signature. But also I
take inspiration from everything, like I'm in the table there,
like I would be like, oh, I like how those
stripes come together. I want to do that on a nail.
Like you really can take inspiration from anything, like.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
How many people are you seeing a day? Because I
can't imagine that.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
No, short, No, that's the thing, and that when I go,
I'm like an hour exactly so and that is something
else again that I am quite a niche I guess
in that sense. But when I first started, that's why
the half faced characters were really good. So it would
it would be a little bit quicker because people weren't
used to sitting for more than an hour, and.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
When that is quite hard for some people. Yeah, I
watch TV and I'm like I'm ready to leave.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Yeah, I mean I am their sort of personal shrink
as well, I.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
Guess, So saying like you've got a beautiful voice. You
could be a therapist now, I guess you kind of are.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Yeah, I've heard it all. You know, there's been tears, affairs,
you know, like boyfriends coming in and out, and you know,
clients getting married, and yeah, it's definitely a fun time
when they come in for their appointments when you know
them well, So that's something that's fun. But yeah, some
of the really detailed characters, if it's a full character,
if it's more than one character on and out, it
(05:55):
can be upwards of three hours maybe more. I mean
this includes full cutical work, like sculptured nows that are
you know, in a sort of extreme shape. So it
can take a long time. But the people that want
that they come to me because like they don't think
that it's going to be a fort n op minute job.
They know.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
But I've seen on like when you're doing your beautiful
videos that you'll do it on a nail. Couldn't you
just stick the nail can? Okay, so you can. There's
a couple of different ways you can. There's even stickers
as well. There's Japanese stickers that it's just a plane
sheet of sticker and you can actually cut them. I've
been doing that quite regularly because it's a really good
way to get something prepared prior to the client coming in,
(06:33):
and then it's just a matter of sticking on.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
But it's still art. You've still painted it. It still
is really unique. So I've been doing that. It doesn't
really save me any time, but it saves the client's
sitting the time with me. Yeah, but majority of the
people that have come to me are like the whole shibang.
They want a whole lot and they're like I was,
or love it. They love it.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
How much does something like that cost?
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Depending? I try to charge by hour, So yeah, I was.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
Thinking because obviously if I just said, like, do you
even do basic stuff?
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Like I just said, I want just SNS, like that's
what I get.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
SMS is very different to three hours have beautiful detail.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
And with the cuticle work as well. I think that's
something that these days a lot in our techs are
working on more getting that really nice clean cuticle.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
That beautiful cure. Yeah, how do you do it? Walk
us through that? Yeah, So I'm guessing you're not cutting
the way that my lady does.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
You do cut, but you can also do it dry
with an ephile money in that way as well, So
it really depends what you're comfortable with. If you're experienced
and you want to cut, you can cut. The Russian
way is to cut with actual scissors, really really sharp scissors.
But when you've kind of pushed the which technically it's
not the cuticle, it's the epinichy and we call it.
But once you've pushed that bag and you've done it
(07:46):
with the efhil, you actually get this sort of flap
of skin that really sits above the nail, and so
when you go to cut it, there's not really any
risk of you actually cutting the attached skin. You're only
cutting this kind of white band that you've kind of
opened up that pocket, if that makes sense. Sounds a
little bit gross as well.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Yeah, but I'm just I'm actually because surprised that you're
saying that you can, because so many people for so
long we're saying that you don't have let anyone technically.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Yeah, so technically in Australia we aren't meant to cut
any living tissue, but we're allowed to cut hangnails or
any dead tissue or say, like we were talking before,
if you're in a picker of your skin and you've
got those little hangnails or those little jagged bits of skin.
We are meant to cut that and trim it and
neat in it just so as you can't do any
more damage to yourself. So that's sort of our job.
(08:32):
I guess if you come and you're like, I just
want to eat it up, we would kind of push
them back and then give them a nice little trim,
maybe a little bit of a buff with the ephile
as well, because that also really helps to smooth the
skin out. And then that's it, so you're not sort
of going ham like cutting like into that attached skin.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
I just wouldn't think that someone would do that because
it would hurt, Like if someone was cutting live skin,
that would really. Yeah, it does, and you shouldn't be
able to feel like when someone's doing your nails, you don't.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Feel you shouldn't feel it. Really.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
I had a fungal infection at the start of the year, yep.
And I didn't think it was a big deal. Like
I was just like, oh, I thought it was a
bruise for ages green yeah, in parts, And so I
went to the pharmacy and I know one of the
ladies that works there, and she was like, oh my god,
that's really bad, Like you could lose the nail and
you could end up having to go on a really
high any voluntary.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
About it that bad potentially if it was what we
call in the mail industry are greeny. Usually it's Pseudonoma bacteria,
and that can get trapped, like if there was an
air pocket in your nails that were sitting. Technically, it's
not your fault, it was wherever you were going.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
Well, that's what she said. And then she was like
when did you get your nails done last?
Speaker 1 (09:41):
And I was like, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
The other day she's like, I cannot believe that they
did them, Like they should not have put that polish
on that now because then they're giving it to someone else.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Right well, and also that if they put a dark
polish on top of it, they're making the perfect environment
for that pseudonomo bacteria to breed, and so the green
that you see is the waste from the bacteria. If
it is a Pseudonoma bacteria.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
It's pretty god. Oh I wouldn't have like I had
to go bald.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Did you?
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Because sometimes it is not best because if you do
take the nail off. If you take all your nails off,
you could potentially spread it to others.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Sorry, not bulled, just no sns.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Yeah, so no polish on it, o case, like, yeah,
just that special stuff that's so expensive that like a
fungal lysogel or whatever.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
It's okay. Look, they're generally pretty easy. Like you know,
once you realize it and you're not keeping on covering
it with dark colors, it is going to grow out.
And sometimes when you do take that, if you catch
it early and you do kind of take the enhancement off,
it may just come away with like an once you
alcohol wipe it because it is just that waste byproduct.
(10:47):
But yeah, it's it's not the nicest thing to see
on your nails as well, but especially because.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
I just thought it was a bruise and then to
find out it's a fungal intention I was because I
just mentioned passing. I was like, what is this yeahing?
And she was like that's not good. So you are
not just creating art. You teach the world how to
do it with get buffed pro. So what made you
(11:13):
want to share your secrets? Because not everyone does. Some
people like to date keep they're not girls girls.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Yes, Well, when I started, I felt like my sort
of initial ever, when I started doing now is I
was like, the goal is to like one day teach
people how to do nows before I was ever popular
on social media, so then it kind of slowly turned
into me teaching how I do nows and the way
I do art, so it was very different. It was
(11:39):
definitely like not how I expected I was going to
educate people. And when I started off in social media,
I thought I'll do YouTube videos, and then very quickly
when it was more Facebook and Instagram that took off,
I was like, why am I going to do YouTube videos?
I'm going to give everything away for free? Why would
I do that? Like I've worked so many years and
trained so much to give it all away on YouTube.
(12:01):
I do have a little bit of a following on YouTube,
and I do put a few little videos here and there,
but the actual character stuff that everyone wanted to see.
I was like, you'll have to come to a class
that kind of thing, and then very quickly that went crazy.
I was traveling all over the world teaching people, Like
I said, some.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
Countries teach someone though it's insane you've either got it
or you don't.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
I always think with it yes or no.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Like I think there's definitely a way you can teach
someone to draw, and I try to teach a specific
way where I kind of start off with a very
basic shape and we just do it with like a
clear gel polish, like a circle, say if it's a
character that has a rounded kind of face, and then
we kind of draw from that.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
So you are using actual nail polish.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
You can. That was sort of how it started. I
guess before gel polish came, you know, into the industry,
we didn't really have anything else, so it was just
regular now a vantash. But as you can probably imagine,
it bleed rise, it bleeds, so you don't have much
time to really work with you know, if you're doing
lines and things, or if you make a mistake. The
jail polish will only dry once it goes into the lamp,
(13:04):
so you can really perfect whatever you're doing, and then
once you're ready, you pop it in the lamp and
then it's locked in.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
And it's not going to easily chip away or anything.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
No, or bleed as well, or because some now varnishes
can be quite wishy, washy color as well.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
How long do they usually last for or is it
they just grow off?
Speaker 3 (13:22):
They'll grow off. But like the tips, which actually brought some,
I'll show you as well. But I do little press
on tips just to showcase. That's how I teach in class,
So we just do it on a you know, fake
now tip like a press on. And some of those
that I have that I take around whenever I go teaching,
I've done them maybe almost ten years ago, and that
(13:43):
gel it's still it's like, h it doesn't because it's
top coded and everything's sealed and everything.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Yeah, So that's kind of been a way that I
guess I've been able to showcase to people because I
always was doing the characters on my own nails, and
then once it was time for them to come off,
well they got filed off and that was the last time.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
You know.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
All that was left after that was the photos. Whereas
with these little now tips, I can keep them forever.
I could even if I wanted to stick them for
a party, take them off and put them back the
next day. Yeah, so the actual gel lasts four years.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Can we talk about your beautiful nails?
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Yes, these ones I've got Marie on these ones, and
this was actually with a sticker, so I painted her
on one of those little Japanese clear stickers.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
If anyone is listening, not watching, You've got really beautiful
watch shape.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Is that almond?
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Yeah, i'd say an armand a bit like a Russian army.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
They're very long and like art. They've got art on them,
but not like it's two D two D.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
Yeah, yeah, they're beautiful, like they look very elegant.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Yes, that's what always was what I tried to I
didn't want it to be kind of tacky. I do
love the tatti as well.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
I've just realized, like whenever, Yes, they're all very different. Yeah,
is that your real length?
Speaker 3 (14:54):
No, it can be at times, it has been in
the past, but no, just because normal natural nails are
going to start to arch and have that curve. If
you've ever grown yours a little bit long, you probably
see that as well. Most people have that kind of
natural curve and I get that a little bit as well.
But I like a really straight look from the side,
which is more about the structure. Not everybody loves that.
(15:17):
It's a bit more of I guess, like a competition
style shape, but you definitely can. For many years, I
would have my nails all underneath.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
I just don't like it because they look a little bit,
can get dirty times, yeah, they can get to it.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Yeah, and actually that is my real nail under there.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
But as I said in between nballs, so I don't
often have long nails myself because yeah, and what is it?
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Is it?
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Gel?
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Is it? I have gel on these at the moment.
Sometimes it's a crylic. I do change a little bit
between gel and acrylic, but yeah, most of the time
acrylic and jelly. You're ones for long nails like this
that are going to really give you that strength and structure.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
I get them, even when I like, I get SNS,
which is a gel.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
Right, SNS technically not my favorite.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Thing really, Oh my gosh, please tell me why because
I feel like me and a lot of people listening
get SNS.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Okay, So that's why I like it is okay? So
essentially SNS is glue and crylick powder. Yes, right, So
for one, there is a risk obviously of getting the
pseudonoma bacteria like what you said that you'd had, but
you really they're brushing on glue and then popping powder
on top them brushing on more resin and then more
powder on top. There's no way to actually build a
(16:26):
good structure in the nail and make it kind of strong.
You can really only build like what you're working with.
So whatever your nail shape is, whatever you're kind of
if you've got quite a wide now or a narrow now,
that's how it's going to look. With SNS. You're not
going to be able to build any structure or make
any kind of improvements to the shape SNS. Yeah, it's
it's generally you're not able to really build a great
(16:49):
structure in there. So there's no way that you could
do SNS at the length that I have my nails
because they would just break it. It would be a
painful break as well, because there's no structure in the middle.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Well, sometimes some people say, oh, you need to have
brakes and you shouldn't have fake nails on all the time.
And then because we were talking about it earlier and
I was like, I reckon, I've had some form of
a krillic or I don't really like shilak.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
It doesn't work for me.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
At pis off pretty okay quickly, like within two days
it peels.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Yeah, but I'm a picker. Yeah, so that.
Speaker 4 (17:18):
Yeah, Like, I've had some form of something on my
nails ninety percent of the time for the best part
of years a decade, if not longer.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Is that really bad?
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Yeah, well that is one of the like, definitely a
now tech gripe is when people say I'm going to
take my nails off to let them breathe. Well, nails
don't breathe. They're like hair. It's it's dead keraten. Yes,
it's attached to you now, but so you know, if
you accidentally chop your nail or something, it hurts obviously
because it's attached to that now.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
But only down there. Really, that's it.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
So the actual nowl plate surface, that's just the dead keratin.
So there's no the now doesn't need any oxygen, it
doesn't have lungs, it's not breathing. It definitely doesn't need
any of that. But sometimes people do say, oh, they
need a break or they're a bit damaged. I want
to give them a break, and now is it going
to grow? So it's fine if you want to give
them a break, that's fine. But if it was a
(18:09):
client coming to me saying, oh, my nails feel a
bit damaged or I've gone somewhere else in they're damaged,
I would still probably suggest like a kind of short
maybe a structured maney with gel or something, just until
that damage actually grows out.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
Because otherwise, whenever I break, they're so thin and awful
that I end up just damaging. The more I recognize
as I start ripping them straight away, and.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
They'll be really short and then you might be able
to pick out them. So that would generally be my
kind of suggestions. Sometimes people if they have crazy long
nails like me, but they're really rough on them and
then they do some damage and they're like, I want
to give them a break, I'm usually like, let's just
go a little bit shorter, do a gel like, you know,
something like nice and neat that you're not going to
(18:51):
break easily, and just let that damage grow out.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
Let's talk about trends. So spring is around the corner.
What trendsit you forecasting?
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Okay, that we're all doing so many, so many I
think Fruits is definitely, yeah, definitely on trend, and three
D Roos as well, three D Little Disney characters are
really going off at the moment. I definitely think a
little underground kind of trend that's coming is like realistic
skin looking with tattoo like painted on them, kind of cute,
(19:22):
like kind of weird, like quite realistic skin. Yeah, there's
a there's a designer that's been doing some boots like
that and some fashion that looks like skin with tattoos
and piercings and things like that on it. So a
couple girls I've seen have been doing that on the
nails and they've just gone wild like on socials. And yeah,
definitely the piercings too, making the nails look like they've
(19:45):
been pierced with like you know, belly button rings and
stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Yeah, because I don't often see people in the wild
with something true. I might see it on Pinterest or
on social media, but I don't walk around seeing people
in the wild.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Yes, sort of.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
The only person was flex Mummy, who I used to
do a podcast with. She always had some epic.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Now oh yes, yes, and yeah, the only person, yeah,
that I know have seen in the wild. Well that's
where I think I feel like. I guess there's those
niche noil artists like myself that do those kind of
crazy people that really want to put their personality on
their nails and really want to have something to talk about.
Remember you remember it? Yeah, And it's a great advertisement
(20:26):
for me. I never really advertised had to advertise much
when I first started, because my clients were just going
out there in the wild, as you say, and just
everyone would just be like, oh my god, yeah, where
can I get them done? Like that? But I feel
like at the shops, maybe a lot of like retail
girls I think can let their personality out a bit more. So.
I often see them in like you know, cotton On
(20:48):
or something. A girl that works there might have like
some crazy nails or on a retail Well I mean
that too, but if nails are your Thesian.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
Yeah, they're not going to Mecca. They're going to get
their nails exactly. What's the most expensive nails you've ever.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Heard of or a celebrity? Now, Tech did diamonds. I'm
pretty sure it was on maybe Rhianna and an Asap
Rocky or something one of their met gala's. Yeah, so
I think that they were like ten thousand dollars. It
was I think us as well. They were very actual diamonds. Yeah,
supposed it lot more if they were actual diamonds. Yeah, true, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
Why do you even saurce that You're like, I just
need lots of diamonds, diamonds for my client's nails.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
What about colors, like if you just want to.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Definitely bright, always bright, I think in the in the
summer and spring. I always love the corals. I feel
like they always kind of come out in some especially
on people's toes and then people start to match, you know,
nails to their toes. Definitely corals, I think, and maybe
some kind of ready pink cherry type color cherry, very cute.
Speaker 4 (21:48):
What about shape, I think almond is still going strong
the same. You can't imagine like a square different? Yeah,
I think I know that they will come back at
some point they be like I cannot imagine doing an armor.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
No, and a lot of people are doing, probably more
over in Europe, which tends to come here anyway, A
very short, blunt like Russian type square where all the
cuticle work's done they now is very very neat, the
structures very structured and extremely square, but very short as well,
just over the noil tip I.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
Don't like, just very square, sound very square, like it
just would probably make your fingers a bit maybe.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Yeah, what's something you don't like?
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Have you seen the duck tips I have?
Speaker 1 (22:30):
But I thought that was a joke.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
No, it's some people they like it.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Yeah, listen everyone.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
I don't think I would like a tattoo.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Everyone.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
It's got like such different things. Yeah, I agree, though
I thought that was a joke when I saw a
photo of it. Yeah, what are your top tips of
keeping your nails healthy?
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Definitely the cuticle oil and moisturizing if you can every day,
even if you keep it with like your nighttime skin routine,
so it's right before you go to bed, that cuticle
oil and the moisturizer stays on your hands you're not
washing your hands and washing it off straight away. Definitely,
and massaging it into the cuticle because plunking it exactly
and that kind of helps to promote the nail to grow,
as well as having a little scrubbing brush maybe where
(23:15):
you wash your hands, like at your nighttime routine. Again,
keeping the underneath really clean, it's really good for that.
So when you get the soap in there, just grab
that little noil scrubbing brush and go like underneath as.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
Well, probably just use an old toothbrush even Yeah, yeah,
that would. And also because I will always make sure,
like with excess serums and products at the night, that
I put it on your hands, yeap my hands down.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
The neck, then on the back of your hands.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
How do you think that someone could ease off getting
regular nail extensions or if they're really addicted to the
looker but they want to save their nails or you
want to let their nails breathe or save the money. Yeah, now,
like do you have any tips for that or you're
just like no, just keep going.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
I mean yes, so you would love them to keep
going when you but like a more simple like structured
gel money or something like that is not going to
be as expensive. It's going to be a lot quicker
to get it done. You know, if they were trying
to save money from having like quite elaborate nails, I'd
say take the length down, do a short neat, you know,
just painted like gel set. And if they do want
(24:15):
to eventually just go back to their natural nails, so
they want to grow their own natural nails, just take
them off, maybe slowly, let them grow out a little bit,
just thin them out, let them grow out a bit.
You could remove them completely you're probably going to look
at having short nails for a little while until that
area kind of grows out.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
And gets healthy.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:32):
So I have to go every two weeks, yep, because
my nails go quite quickly. I guess I get bold
colors like I don't have to, but I like ill. Yeah,
what is the best practice for someone that really doesn't
want to go that often? What do you what would
you suggest to someone that wants to get the most
out of there, so they have to go as little
as possible because it's just an annoying thing to have
to do. Sit there for me, Yes, not everyone feels
(24:55):
that way, but I do.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
So if you are going somewhere that does offer cutical
work and does like say, Russian cuticles, maybe not technically
Russian cuticles, it could be just dry.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Cutical work, and can you explain what that is?
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Yeah, So it's the pushing down of that kind of
epony hum skin there and also trimming off the excess
obviously the dead skin. You don't want to trim any
of the kind of live stuff, just that white band
of skin.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
If it bleeds, no, no, yes.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
Definitely do not want it to bleed. And like CAUs
I find with a lot of my clients and they're
having nails like my kind of length that they go.
Some of them are really naughty and go like six
seven weeks.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
But surely it's half off at that point.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
I mean, well, this is the thing. Because I do
a lot of cutical work. They're what I guess some
normal like shopping center type salons might be just doing
a quick kind of push of the cuticle, not going
as in depth as me. So what it looks like
for that might be what mine looks like at three
weeks and theirs is only a week. Yeah, okay, yeah,
(25:54):
So really focusing on that kind of skin preparation. And
then also because I really kind of tuck whatever medium
amusing safe, it's gel right in kind of under that
like opening that I've made under their skinning.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Like I think that I go to like a shopping
center one yeah, and yeah, they definitely like that.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Do it's spend time? Yes, they do it too.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
And that's their job, you know a lot of the time,
that's their job.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
It's forty dollars yep. I just go in. It's forty
five minutes exactly, and.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
You want to be in and out exactly. You don't
want them sitting there spending thirty minutes just on your
cuticles alone, whereas.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
It's what I every now and then I wouldn't mind it.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Yeah, but see, this is the other thing. I guess
this is the trade off, is that if you did
go to somebody that was doing really thorough cuticle prep,
you may sit in that chair for an hour and
a half to possibly two hours, but you might only
have to come every.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Four weeks exactly.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Yeah. Yeah, so's it's a bit of a trade choosing
one and everybody's got there because I think a lot
of now techs that I've taught have said, like, you know,
the shopping center, someone's like, it's my competition and it's
really tough for me to beat them because they can
do you know, I set for forty five dollars in
forty minutes, and I'm like, but they're not your.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Competition in competition.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
It's like, that's their thing. Let them have that. I
don't really want that kind of Yeah.
Speaker 4 (27:11):
You don't want someone like you want the people to
appreciate it as well. But also that's like saying that
a special effects makeup artist is in competition with a
bridle makeup. Yes, Like they're absolutely not really different different
things and servicing different needs.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Yes. I think that's something that people don't realize in
the mail industry, is that we're all different. We're all
a little bit niche. If someone wants a quick one
hour set, I'm like, I'm not the one for you. Yeah,
I know.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
I don't want to do that.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Yeah, boring, Yeah, I want to do boring. I want
to do little like nail up. Master of your part.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
You want to do someone's bloody nails?
Speaker 3 (27:44):
It's just me?
Speaker 1 (27:46):
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
Our last question is always about hit or miss. So
what is one now technical product that you think everyone
should try?
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Ye?
Speaker 4 (27:55):
And what is something that you see all over socials
that you just go, oh, for goodness sake?
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Definitely, the oil is something everyone should try. Even if
you have your natural nails and you love your natural nails,
putting oil on them, pushing your skin back just a
bit with a cuticle stick, don't be too rough. You
use just your nails to like you could, yeah you could,
and massage you get in and spending like a good
three minutes doing that. I think is such a good
thing for anybody, no matter even men, and I do
(28:23):
my I've got two boys and sometimes like they get
a little bit dryer cuticles and I'll push them down.
I give them a little kind of dry manicure and
put some oil on, and they're like, they sit them,
they look they actually love it. It's really cute.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
If one of them became a nail bity, you would
have been like, well.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
One of them's a picker, not so much a nowl bitter,
but it is a skin picker. But I was lucky.
I guess that I had boys because I have a
lot of mum clients that have come to me and
they've got daughters, and their daughters beg them can I
come to your appointment? You know, and they sit there
and they're like could I have this? Can I have that?
And I'm like, imagine I had girls, I would probably
probably never let me out of the nail studio or.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
They would never want anything to do with nails. And
you would be like, this is.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Right, ashamed, Yeah, exactly where did you come from?
Speaker 4 (29:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Exactly?
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Okay, so that's your hair to people?
Speaker 3 (29:07):
Oil miss miss is probably as I said, the SNS
and maybe the gel X. So the gel X is
a full gel tip. While I do think that they're
really good for occasions, say formals and things like that.
I don't think that they're a nail that should be regularly. Like,
you know, if you're having your nails done all the
time and you're getting full gel tips put on every
(29:30):
time just because they need that, you will have seen them,
but you maybe wouldn't have even known. They're basically a full,
clear kind of plastic tip and it gets stuck on
with the.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
First time you get acrylics.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Yes, except it's a full tip, so it doesn't just
stick on like the free edge part. It goes all
the way down to the cuticle. Oh okay, and it's
put on with gel, so the actual tip is made
of gel and then it's cured with gel. So they're
really quick and easy, and when you get good at them,
you know you can get nails done in a lot
quicker time. My reasoning for not loving them for people
(30:06):
that are having regular nails is because they have to
be removed every time. So every time you come back
they're having them taken off. You're going to thin out
you our play harsh. Essentially, it's going to at some
point thin out the nail and you're going to have
weakening of the noil plate. But again I mean each
to their own, like hopefull one.
Speaker 4 (30:25):
We're in the beauty industry. Yeah, saving lives. No, that's true, exactly,
it's great to know.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
Yeah, I think it's something that just for someone if
like if they don't care if they nails get damaged,
go for it, keep having them done. But yeah, gel
X is maybe not quite the thing that you want
to get done regularly, but definitely for a four more
or girls at school that you know can't have nails
at school and they just want them for two weeks
in the holidays.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
Perfect, They're perfect for that.
Speaker 4 (30:50):
And when I go back to netball, what should I
be asking for if not SNS, I feel.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
Like you need like a structured gel maney.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
So if I say structured gel money, they'll know what
that is.
Speaker 3 (30:58):
Maybe not, maybe not. I'm going to see if I
can find I'm going to see if I can find
someone in Sydney. No, but honestly, like at the end
of the day though, like if you like going to
your place, I don't they get you in and out.
It's easy, though, isn't it. So you know, look, maybe
I'll see if I can find a couple of names
for you and you can try out getting like some
(31:20):
real like thorough noil prep done and see if it
makes a difference. See if you're like, you know what, Yeah,
I can go four weeks now, so yeah, maybe give
that a try.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (31:30):
We appreciate your brains and you're sharing so much with
us today.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Thank you for having me. Yeah, it was really fun.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
I know our ubis are just going to love everything
that Sarah shared today. It was so interesting and I
really well, I need to stop.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Doing a couple of things. You can find Sarah on Instagram.
Speaker 4 (31:48):
Please go check out her work because she's just so talented.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
It's actually mind blowing.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
Make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss anything
from us, and come back later on in the week
for Leah and I and Spendy Sabee.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Bye.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
So you trust us with your beauty wreckos, why not
subscribe to Mamma Mia for all your content beauty and beyond.
Sign up this week to get twenty percent off and
we'll match that twenty percent with a donation to Rise Up,
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Beauty give Back before August twenty fourth. Check the show
(32:34):
notes for more
You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Mama Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters
that this podcast is recorded on.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Makeup is My Therapy.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
I'm in love, I'm obsess and I don't even feel
guilty about it.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Nana, Hello, and welcome to you beauty. This is the
podcast for your Face.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
I'm Keller McCarran and this is the formula, the one
day a week that I get to sit down with
the most interesting people within this wonderful wide world of
beauty and pick their brains. And today we are talking nails.
Except nails aren't just like going and getting a money.
Nails can be like such a talking point and a
(00:55):
real representation of someone's personality which kind of giving.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Basic bitch right now.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
But today we've got one of the most iconic now
artists in Australia, Sarah Elmers. She has kindly come up
to Melbourne to join me on a little couchy, so
let's bring her on in.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Sarah, thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
You have been working with nails and nail art for
almost two decades. Yeah wow, how did you get started?
Like you're very big on socials, so walk us through
your career, How did you get started, how to get buffed?
Like all come about? Tell us everything.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
So, yeah, like you said, I've been doing now for
twenty years. I actually grew up and did my school
years in the UK, so I got my now certificate
in the UK and now's and now art was a
very different vibe back then. It was sort of like
a glitter tip that was about as French French with
a little glitter line or something that was about. Yeah.
(01:49):
That was the sort of iconic you know sets back then,
and there was a little bit of I guess American influence.
We had a few in London, some Korean now shops
that did those like crazy long hooked nows that you
could get airbrush like then back then, Wow, So I
used to travel down with my friends and get these
crazy airbrush Now.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Was it something that you always loved? Like love?
Speaker 4 (02:12):
It's quite niche. I'm going to be a beauty therapist
because I really love beauty. Like you wanted to do nails, yes.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
And I wanted them to be Wow. I wanted people
to see them and be like, oh my god, they're crazy,
Like where did you get them done?
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
That's yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
That's great, though.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Yeah, it was really hard growing up. Surprisingly not the
type of art that you learn at school, so a
lot of people do ask that, and I'm kind of like,
actually failed high school art, but it was because we
were painting, you know, like realistic fruit bawls and you know,
the kind of.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Art you could fail out to be honest, I.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Literally, I know how bad?
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Is that?
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Very subjective?
Speaker 3 (02:48):
But I was very creative. My mom's really good at sewing,
and the creative flair was kind of always there. And
I'm a bit of a perfectionist with things that I
like doing, and I will just layser focus on it.
So I think that definitely led to me being a
good now tech because I wouldn't just stop.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
At like oh yeah, that's okay, off you go.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
It had to be perfect. And when social media kind
of came around and everything was photos, I had to
make everything even more perfect because I was like, oh
my god, now I'm going to stare at it and
I'm going to see that little one imperfection that I did.
So I really really honed in on those skills, the
actual Naulah and the character stuff. I have loved Disney
(03:28):
and cartoons since I was a kid, I used to
get up really early in the morning on Saturday Disney.
I'm sure all the millennial young girls did the same thing.
I just loved all types of cartoons, Mickey, Minnie, especially
all the princesses, as I think we all do. We
all imagine that we're Aeriel or we're Bell or something
when we were a kid, did you.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
So when I first started doing the characters, it was
half faced characters that I was doing. That was probably
the very initial stages, and no one really was doing
anything like that, and people were just amazed. And I
started doing a little bit of My Little Ponies and
I had all different My Little Pony sets with like
mixmashed art on each different nail, and people just went
crazy for it, and the face social media kind of
(04:10):
took off, and then slowly Instagram after that. I even
had the guy who was at that time doing Chloe
Kardashian's now has recreated one of my sets on Chloe's nails. Yeah,
really cool.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
So I hope he did.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
He credited me. I was like, that was amazing. Chorn
legend his name is, and yeah, so that was like
a pinch me moment, Like what the heck, like people.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
All over the world everywhere. That's cool.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
So yeah, that was really cool. That's I guess kind
of how it started and how the characters really came
into things like is.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
It Disney that mainly inspires you? I guess that's your signature.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Yeah, I feel like that's my signature. But also I
take inspiration from everything, like I'm in the table there,
like I would be like, oh, I like how those
stripes come together. I want to do that on a nail.
Like you really can take inspiration from anything, like.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
How many people are you seeing a day? Because I
can't imagine that.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
No, short, No, that's the thing, and that when I go,
I'm like an hour exactly so and that is something
else again that I am quite a niche I guess
in that sense. But when I first started, that's why
the half faced characters were really good. So it would
it would be a little bit quicker because people weren't
used to sitting for more than an hour, and.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
When that is quite hard for some people. Yeah, I
watch TV and I'm like I'm ready to leave.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Yeah, I mean I am their sort of personal shrink
as well, I.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
Guess, So saying like you've got a beautiful voice. You
could be a therapist now, I guess you kind of are.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Yeah, I've heard it all. You know, there's been tears, affairs,
you know, like boyfriends coming in and out, and you know,
clients getting married, and yeah, it's definitely a fun time
when they come in for their appointments when you know
them well, So that's something that's fun. But yeah, some
of the really detailed characters, if it's a full character,
if it's more than one character on and out, it
(05:55):
can be upwards of three hours maybe more. I mean
this includes full cutical work, like sculptured nows that are
you know, in a sort of extreme shape. So it
can take a long time. But the people that want
that they come to me because like they don't think
that it's going to be a fort n op minute job.
They know.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
But I've seen on like when you're doing your beautiful
videos that you'll do it on a nail. Couldn't you
just stick the nail can? Okay, so you can. There's
a couple of different ways you can. There's even stickers
as well. There's Japanese stickers that it's just a plane
sheet of sticker and you can actually cut them. I've
been doing that quite regularly because it's a really good
way to get something prepared prior to the client coming in,
(06:33):
and then it's just a matter of sticking on.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
But it's still art. You've still painted it. It still
is really unique. So I've been doing that. It doesn't
really save me any time, but it saves the client's
sitting the time with me. Yeah, but majority of the
people that have come to me are like the whole shibang.
They want a whole lot and they're like I was,
or love it. They love it.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
How much does something like that cost?
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Depending? I try to charge by hour, So yeah, I was.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
Thinking because obviously if I just said, like, do you
even do basic stuff?
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Like I just said, I want just SNS, like that's
what I get.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
SMS is very different to three hours have beautiful detail.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
And with the cuticle work as well. I think that's
something that these days a lot in our techs are
working on more getting that really nice clean cuticle.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
That beautiful cure. Yeah, how do you do it? Walk
us through that? Yeah, So I'm guessing you're not cutting
the way that my lady does.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
You do cut, but you can also do it dry
with an ephile money in that way as well, So
it really depends what you're comfortable with. If you're experienced
and you want to cut, you can cut. The Russian
way is to cut with actual scissors, really really sharp scissors.
But when you've kind of pushed the which technically it's
not the cuticle, it's the epinichy and we call it.
But once you've pushed that bag and you've done it
(07:46):
with the efhil, you actually get this sort of flap
of skin that really sits above the nail, and so
when you go to cut it, there's not really any
risk of you actually cutting the attached skin. You're only
cutting this kind of white band that you've kind of
opened up that pocket, if that makes sense. Sounds a
little bit gross as well.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Yeah, but I'm just I'm actually because surprised that you're
saying that you can, because so many people for so
long we're saying that you don't have let anyone technically.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Yeah, so technically in Australia we aren't meant to cut
any living tissue, but we're allowed to cut hangnails or
any dead tissue or say, like we were talking before,
if you're in a picker of your skin and you've
got those little hangnails or those little jagged bits of skin.
We are meant to cut that and trim it and
neat in it just so as you can't do any
more damage to yourself. So that's sort of our job.
(08:32):
I guess if you come and you're like, I just
want to eat it up, we would kind of push
them back and then give them a nice little trim,
maybe a little bit of a buff with the ephile
as well, because that also really helps to smooth the
skin out. And then that's it, so you're not sort
of going ham like cutting like into that attached skin.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
I just wouldn't think that someone would do that because
it would hurt, Like if someone was cutting live skin,
that would really. Yeah, it does, and you shouldn't be
able to feel like when someone's doing your nails, you don't.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Feel you shouldn't feel it. Really.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
I had a fungal infection at the start of the year, yep.
And I didn't think it was a big deal. Like
I was just like, oh, I thought it was a
bruise for ages green yeah, in parts, And so I
went to the pharmacy and I know one of the
ladies that works there, and she was like, oh my god,
that's really bad, Like you could lose the nail and
you could end up having to go on a really
high any voluntary.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
About it that bad potentially if it was what we
call in the mail industry are greeny. Usually it's Pseudonoma bacteria,
and that can get trapped, like if there was an
air pocket in your nails that were sitting. Technically, it's
not your fault, it was wherever you were going.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
Well, that's what she said. And then she was like
when did you get your nails done last?
Speaker 1 (09:41):
And I was like, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
The other day she's like, I cannot believe that they
did them, Like they should not have put that polish
on that now because then they're giving it to someone else.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Right well, and also that if they put a dark
polish on top of it, they're making the perfect environment
for that pseudonomo bacteria to breed, and so the green
that you see is the waste from the bacteria. If
it is a Pseudonoma bacteria.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
It's pretty god. Oh I wouldn't have like I had
to go bald.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Did you?
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Because sometimes it is not best because if you do
take the nail off. If you take all your nails off,
you could potentially spread it to others.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Sorry, not bulled, just no sns.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Yeah, so no polish on it, o case, like, yeah,
just that special stuff that's so expensive that like a
fungal lysogel or whatever.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
It's okay. Look, they're generally pretty easy. Like you know,
once you realize it and you're not keeping on covering
it with dark colors, it is going to grow out.
And sometimes when you do take that, if you catch
it early and you do kind of take the enhancement off,
it may just come away with like an once you
alcohol wipe it because it is just that waste byproduct.
(10:47):
But yeah, it's it's not the nicest thing to see
on your nails as well, but especially because.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
I just thought it was a bruise and then to
find out it's a fungal intention I was because I
just mentioned passing. I was like, what is this yeahing?
And she was like that's not good. So you are
not just creating art. You teach the world how to
do it with get buffed pro. So what made you
(11:13):
want to share your secrets? Because not everyone does. Some
people like to date keep they're not girls girls.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Yes, Well, when I started, I felt like my sort
of initial ever, when I started doing now is I
was like, the goal is to like one day teach
people how to do nows before I was ever popular
on social media, so then it kind of slowly turned
into me teaching how I do nows and the way
I do art, so it was very different. It was
(11:39):
definitely like not how I expected I was going to
educate people. And when I started off in social media,
I thought I'll do YouTube videos, and then very quickly
when it was more Facebook and Instagram that took off,
I was like, why am I going to do YouTube videos?
I'm going to give everything away for free? Why would
I do that? Like I've worked so many years and
trained so much to give it all away on YouTube.
(12:01):
I do have a little bit of a following on YouTube,
and I do put a few little videos here and there,
but the actual character stuff that everyone wanted to see.
I was like, you'll have to come to a class
that kind of thing, and then very quickly that went crazy.
I was traveling all over the world teaching people, Like
I said, some.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
Countries teach someone though it's insane you've either got it
or you don't.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
I always think with it yes or no.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Like I think there's definitely a way you can teach
someone to draw, and I try to teach a specific
way where I kind of start off with a very
basic shape and we just do it with like a
clear gel polish, like a circle, say if it's a
character that has a rounded kind of face, and then
we kind of draw from that.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
So you are using actual nail polish.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
You can. That was sort of how it started. I
guess before gel polish came, you know, into the industry,
we didn't really have anything else, so it was just
regular now a vantash. But as you can probably imagine,
it bleed rise, it bleeds, so you don't have much
time to really work with you know, if you're doing
lines and things, or if you make a mistake. The
jail polish will only dry once it goes into the lamp,
(13:04):
so you can really perfect whatever you're doing, and then
once you're ready, you pop it in the lamp and
then it's locked in.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
And it's not going to easily chip away or anything.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
No, or bleed as well, or because some now varnishes
can be quite wishy, washy color as well.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
How long do they usually last for or is it
they just grow off?
Speaker 3 (13:22):
They'll grow off. But like the tips, which actually brought some,
I'll show you as well. But I do little press
on tips just to showcase. That's how I teach in class,
So we just do it on a you know, fake
now tip like a press on. And some of those
that I have that I take around whenever I go teaching,
I've done them maybe almost ten years ago, and that
(13:43):
gel it's still it's like, h it doesn't because it's
top coded and everything's sealed and everything.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Yeah, So that's kind of been a way that I
guess I've been able to showcase to people because I
always was doing the characters on my own nails, and
then once it was time for them to come off,
well they got filed off and that was the last time.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
You know.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
All that was left after that was the photos. Whereas
with these little now tips, I can keep them forever.
I could even if I wanted to stick them for
a party, take them off and put them back the
next day. Yeah, so the actual gel lasts four years.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Can we talk about your beautiful nails?
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Yes, these ones I've got Marie on these ones, and
this was actually with a sticker, so I painted her
on one of those little Japanese clear stickers.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
If anyone is listening, not watching, You've got really beautiful
watch shape.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Is that almond?
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Yeah, i'd say an armand a bit like a Russian army.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
They're very long and like art. They've got art on them,
but not like it's two D two D.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
Yeah, yeah, they're beautiful, like they look very elegant.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Yes, that's what always was what I tried to I
didn't want it to be kind of tacky. I do
love the tatti as well.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
I've just realized, like whenever, Yes, they're all very different. Yeah,
is that your real length?
Speaker 3 (14:54):
No, it can be at times, it has been in
the past, but no, just because normal natural nails are
going to start to arch and have that curve. If
you've ever grown yours a little bit long, you probably
see that as well. Most people have that kind of
natural curve and I get that a little bit as well.
But I like a really straight look from the side,
which is more about the structure. Not everybody loves that.
(15:17):
It's a bit more of I guess, like a competition
style shape, but you definitely can. For many years, I
would have my nails all underneath.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
I just don't like it because they look a little bit,
can get dirty times, yeah, they can get to it.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Yeah, and actually that is my real nail under there.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
But as I said in between nballs, so I don't
often have long nails myself because yeah, and what is it?
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Is it?
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Gel?
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Is it? I have gel on these at the moment.
Sometimes it's a crylic. I do change a little bit
between gel and acrylic, but yeah, most of the time
acrylic and jelly. You're ones for long nails like this
that are going to really give you that strength and structure.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
I get them, even when I like, I get SNS,
which is a gel.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
Right, SNS technically not my favorite.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Thing really, Oh my gosh, please tell me why because
I feel like me and a lot of people listening
get SNS.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Okay, So that's why I like it is okay? So
essentially SNS is glue and crylick powder. Yes, right, So
for one, there is a risk obviously of getting the
pseudonoma bacteria like what you said that you'd had, but
you really they're brushing on glue and then popping powder
on top them brushing on more resin and then more
powder on top. There's no way to actually build a
(16:26):
good structure in the nail and make it kind of strong.
You can really only build like what you're working with.
So whatever your nail shape is, whatever you're kind of
if you've got quite a wide now or a narrow now,
that's how it's going to look. With SNS. You're not
going to be able to build any structure or make
any kind of improvements to the shape SNS. Yeah, it's
it's generally you're not able to really build a great
(16:49):
structure in there. So there's no way that you could
do SNS at the length that I have my nails
because they would just break it. It would be a
painful break as well, because there's no structure in the middle.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Well, sometimes some people say, oh, you need to have
brakes and you shouldn't have fake nails on all the time.
And then because we were talking about it earlier and
I was like, I reckon, I've had some form of
a krillic or I don't really like shilak.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
It doesn't work for me.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
At pis off pretty okay quickly, like within two days
it peels.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Yeah, but I'm a picker. Yeah, so that.
Speaker 4 (17:18):
Yeah, Like, I've had some form of something on my
nails ninety percent of the time for the best part
of years a decade, if not longer.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Is that really bad?
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Yeah, well that is one of the like, definitely a
now tech gripe is when people say I'm going to
take my nails off to let them breathe. Well, nails
don't breathe. They're like hair. It's it's dead keraten. Yes,
it's attached to you now, but so you know, if
you accidentally chop your nail or something, it hurts obviously
because it's attached to that now.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
But only down there. Really, that's it.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
So the actual nowl plate surface, that's just the dead keratin.
So there's no the now doesn't need any oxygen, it
doesn't have lungs, it's not breathing. It definitely doesn't need
any of that. But sometimes people do say, oh, they
need a break or they're a bit damaged. I want
to give them a break, and now is it going
to grow? So it's fine if you want to give
them a break, that's fine. But if it was a
(18:09):
client coming to me saying, oh, my nails feel a
bit damaged or I've gone somewhere else in they're damaged,
I would still probably suggest like a kind of short
maybe a structured maney with gel or something, just until
that damage actually grows out.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
Because otherwise, whenever I break, they're so thin and awful
that I end up just damaging. The more I recognize
as I start ripping them straight away, and.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
They'll be really short and then you might be able
to pick out them. So that would generally be my
kind of suggestions. Sometimes people if they have crazy long
nails like me, but they're really rough on them and
then they do some damage and they're like, I want
to give them a break, I'm usually like, let's just
go a little bit shorter, do a gel like, you know,
something like nice and neat that you're not going to
(18:51):
break easily, and just let that damage grow out.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
Let's talk about trends. So spring is around the corner.
What trendsit you forecasting?
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Okay, that we're all doing so many, so many I
think Fruits is definitely, yeah, definitely on trend, and three
D Roos as well, three D Little Disney characters are
really going off at the moment. I definitely think a
little underground kind of trend that's coming is like realistic
skin looking with tattoo like painted on them, kind of cute,
(19:22):
like kind of weird, like quite realistic skin. Yeah, there's
a there's a designer that's been doing some boots like
that and some fashion that looks like skin with tattoos
and piercings and things like that on it. So a
couple girls I've seen have been doing that on the
nails and they've just gone wild like on socials. And yeah,
definitely the piercings too, making the nails look like they've
(19:45):
been pierced with like you know, belly button rings and
stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Yeah, because I don't often see people in the wild
with something true. I might see it on Pinterest or
on social media, but I don't walk around seeing people
in the wild.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Yes, sort of.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
The only person was flex Mummy, who I used to
do a podcast with. She always had some epic.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Now oh yes, yes, and yeah, the only person, yeah,
that I know have seen in the wild. Well that's
where I think I feel like. I guess there's those
niche noil artists like myself that do those kind of
crazy people that really want to put their personality on
their nails and really want to have something to talk about.
Remember you remember it? Yeah, And it's a great advertisement
(20:26):
for me. I never really advertised had to advertise much
when I first started, because my clients were just going
out there in the wild, as you say, and just
everyone would just be like, oh my god, yeah, where
can I get them done? Like that? But I feel
like at the shops, maybe a lot of like retail
girls I think can let their personality out a bit more. So.
I often see them in like you know, cotton On
(20:48):
or something. A girl that works there might have like
some crazy nails or on a retail Well I mean
that too, but if nails are your Thesian.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
Yeah, they're not going to Mecca. They're going to get
their nails exactly. What's the most expensive nails you've ever.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Heard of or a celebrity? Now, Tech did diamonds. I'm
pretty sure it was on maybe Rhianna and an Asap
Rocky or something one of their met gala's. Yeah, so
I think that they were like ten thousand dollars. It
was I think us as well. They were very actual diamonds. Yeah,
supposed it lot more if they were actual diamonds. Yeah, true, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
Why do you even saurce that You're like, I just
need lots of diamonds, diamonds for my client's nails.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
What about colors, like if you just want to.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Definitely bright, always bright, I think in the in the
summer and spring. I always love the corals. I feel
like they always kind of come out in some especially
on people's toes and then people start to match, you know,
nails to their toes. Definitely corals, I think, and maybe
some kind of ready pink cherry type color cherry, very cute.
Speaker 4 (21:48):
What about shape, I think almond is still going strong
the same. You can't imagine like a square different? Yeah,
I think I know that they will come back at
some point they be like I cannot imagine doing an armor.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
No, and a lot of people are doing, probably more
over in Europe, which tends to come here anyway, A
very short, blunt like Russian type square where all the
cuticle work's done they now is very very neat, the
structures very structured and extremely square, but very short as well,
just over the noil tip I.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
Don't like, just very square, sound very square, like it
just would probably make your fingers a bit maybe.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Yeah, what's something you don't like?
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Have you seen the duck tips I have?
Speaker 1 (22:30):
But I thought that was a joke.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
No, it's some people they like it.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Yeah, listen everyone.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
I don't think I would like a tattoo.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Everyone.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
It's got like such different things. Yeah, I agree, though
I thought that was a joke when I saw a
photo of it. Yeah, what are your top tips of
keeping your nails healthy?
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Definitely the cuticle oil and moisturizing if you can every day,
even if you keep it with like your nighttime skin routine,
so it's right before you go to bed, that cuticle
oil and the moisturizer stays on your hands you're not
washing your hands and washing it off straight away. Definitely,
and massaging it into the cuticle because plunking it exactly
and that kind of helps to promote the nail to grow,
as well as having a little scrubbing brush maybe where
(23:15):
you wash your hands, like at your nighttime routine. Again,
keeping the underneath really clean, it's really good for that.
So when you get the soap in there, just grab
that little noil scrubbing brush and go like underneath as.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
Well, probably just use an old toothbrush even Yeah, yeah,
that would. And also because I will always make sure,
like with excess serums and products at the night, that
I put it on your hands, yeap my hands down.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
The neck, then on the back of your hands.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
How do you think that someone could ease off getting
regular nail extensions or if they're really addicted to the
looker but they want to save their nails or you
want to let their nails breathe or save the money. Yeah, now,
like do you have any tips for that or you're
just like no, just keep going.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
I mean yes, so you would love them to keep
going when you but like a more simple like structured
gel money or something like that is not going to
be as expensive. It's going to be a lot quicker
to get it done. You know, if they were trying
to save money from having like quite elaborate nails, I'd
say take the length down, do a short neat, you know,
just painted like gel set. And if they do want
(24:15):
to eventually just go back to their natural nails, so
they want to grow their own natural nails, just take
them off, maybe slowly, let them grow out a little bit,
just thin them out, let them grow out a bit.
You could remove them completely you're probably going to look
at having short nails for a little while until that
area kind of grows out.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
And gets healthy.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:32):
So I have to go every two weeks, yep, because
my nails go quite quickly. I guess I get bold
colors like I don't have to, but I like ill. Yeah,
what is the best practice for someone that really doesn't
want to go that often? What do you what would
you suggest to someone that wants to get the most
out of there, so they have to go as little
as possible because it's just an annoying thing to have
to do. Sit there for me, Yes, not everyone feels
(24:55):
that way, but I do.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
So if you are going somewhere that does offer cutical
work and does like say, Russian cuticles, maybe not technically
Russian cuticles, it could be just dry.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Cutical work, and can you explain what that is?
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Yeah, So it's the pushing down of that kind of
epony hum skin there and also trimming off the excess
obviously the dead skin. You don't want to trim any
of the kind of live stuff, just that white band
of skin.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
If it bleeds, no, no, yes.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
Definitely do not want it to bleed. And like CAUs
I find with a lot of my clients and they're
having nails like my kind of length that they go.
Some of them are really naughty and go like six
seven weeks.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
But surely it's half off at that point.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
I mean, well, this is the thing. Because I do
a lot of cutical work. They're what I guess some
normal like shopping center type salons might be just doing
a quick kind of push of the cuticle, not going
as in depth as me. So what it looks like
for that might be what mine looks like at three
weeks and theirs is only a week. Yeah, okay, yeah,
(25:54):
So really focusing on that kind of skin preparation. And
then also because I really kind of tuck whatever medium
amusing safe, it's gel right in kind of under that
like opening that I've made under their skinning.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Like I think that I go to like a shopping
center one yeah, and yeah, they definitely like that.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Do it's spend time? Yes, they do it too.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
And that's their job, you know a lot of the time,
that's their job.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
It's forty dollars yep. I just go in. It's forty
five minutes exactly, and.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
You want to be in and out exactly. You don't
want them sitting there spending thirty minutes just on your
cuticles alone, whereas.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
It's what I every now and then I wouldn't mind it.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Yeah, but see, this is the other thing. I guess
this is the trade off, is that if you did
go to somebody that was doing really thorough cuticle prep,
you may sit in that chair for an hour and
a half to possibly two hours, but you might only
have to come every.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Four weeks exactly.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Yeah. Yeah, so's it's a bit of a trade choosing
one and everybody's got there because I think a lot
of now techs that I've taught have said, like, you know,
the shopping center, someone's like, it's my competition and it's
really tough for me to beat them because they can
do you know, I set for forty five dollars in
forty minutes, and I'm like, but they're not your.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Competition in competition.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
It's like, that's their thing. Let them have that. I
don't really want that kind of Yeah.
Speaker 4 (27:11):
You don't want someone like you want the people to
appreciate it as well. But also that's like saying that
a special effects makeup artist is in competition with a
bridle makeup. Yes, Like they're absolutely not really different different
things and servicing different needs.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Yes. I think that's something that people don't realize in
the mail industry, is that we're all different. We're all
a little bit niche. If someone wants a quick one
hour set, I'm like, I'm not the one for you. Yeah,
I know.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
I don't want to do that.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Yeah, boring, Yeah, I want to do boring. I want
to do little like nail up. Master of your part.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
You want to do someone's bloody nails?
Speaker 3 (27:44):
It's just me?
Speaker 1 (27:46):
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
Our last question is always about hit or miss. So
what is one now technical product that you think everyone
should try?
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Ye?
Speaker 4 (27:55):
And what is something that you see all over socials
that you just go, oh, for goodness sake?
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Definitely, the oil is something everyone should try. Even if
you have your natural nails and you love your natural nails,
putting oil on them, pushing your skin back just a
bit with a cuticle stick, don't be too rough. You
use just your nails to like you could, yeah you could,
and massage you get in and spending like a good
three minutes doing that. I think is such a good
thing for anybody, no matter even men, and I do
(28:23):
my I've got two boys and sometimes like they get
a little bit dryer cuticles and I'll push them down.
I give them a little kind of dry manicure and
put some oil on, and they're like, they sit them,
they look they actually love it. It's really cute.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
If one of them became a nail bity, you would
have been like, well.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
One of them's a picker, not so much a nowl bitter,
but it is a skin picker. But I was lucky.
I guess that I had boys because I have a
lot of mum clients that have come to me and
they've got daughters, and their daughters beg them can I
come to your appointment? You know, and they sit there
and they're like could I have this? Can I have that?
And I'm like, imagine I had girls, I would probably
probably never let me out of the nail studio or.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
They would never want anything to do with nails. And
you would be like, this is.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Right, ashamed, Yeah, exactly where did you come from?
Speaker 4 (29:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Exactly?
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Okay, so that's your hair to people?
Speaker 3 (29:07):
Oil miss miss is probably as I said, the SNS
and maybe the gel X. So the gel X is
a full gel tip. While I do think that they're
really good for occasions, say formals and things like that.
I don't think that they're a nail that should be regularly. Like,
you know, if you're having your nails done all the
time and you're getting full gel tips put on every
(29:30):
time just because they need that, you will have seen them,
but you maybe wouldn't have even known. They're basically a full,
clear kind of plastic tip and it gets stuck on
with the.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
First time you get acrylics.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Yes, except it's a full tip, so it doesn't just
stick on like the free edge part. It goes all
the way down to the cuticle. Oh okay, and it's
put on with gel, so the actual tip is made
of gel and then it's cured with gel. So they're
really quick and easy, and when you get good at them,
you know you can get nails done in a lot
quicker time. My reasoning for not loving them for people
(30:06):
that are having regular nails is because they have to
be removed every time. So every time you come back
they're having them taken off. You're going to thin out
you our play harsh. Essentially, it's going to at some
point thin out the nail and you're going to have
weakening of the noil plate. But again I mean each
to their own, like hopefull one.
Speaker 4 (30:25):
We're in the beauty industry. Yeah, saving lives. No, that's true, exactly,
it's great to know.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
Yeah, I think it's something that just for someone if
like if they don't care if they nails get damaged,
go for it, keep having them done. But yeah, gel
X is maybe not quite the thing that you want
to get done regularly, but definitely for a four more
or girls at school that you know can't have nails
at school and they just want them for two weeks
in the holidays.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
Perfect, They're perfect for that.
Speaker 4 (30:50):
And when I go back to netball, what should I
be asking for if not SNS, I feel.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
Like you need like a structured gel maney.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
So if I say structured gel money, they'll know what
that is.
Speaker 3 (30:58):
Maybe not, maybe not. I'm going to see if I
can find I'm going to see if I can find
someone in Sydney. No, but honestly, like at the end
of the day though, like if you like going to
your place, I don't they get you in and out.
It's easy, though, isn't it. So you know, look, maybe
I'll see if I can find a couple of names
for you and you can try out getting like some
(31:20):
real like thorough noil prep done and see if it
makes a difference. See if you're like, you know what, Yeah,
I can go four weeks now, so yeah, maybe give
that a try.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (31:30):
We appreciate your brains and you're sharing so much with
us today.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Thank you for having me. Yeah, it was really fun.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
I know our ubis are just going to love everything
that Sarah shared today. It was so interesting and I
really well, I need to stop.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Doing a couple of things. You can find Sarah on Instagram.
Speaker 4 (31:48):
Please go check out her work because she's just so talented.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
It's actually mind blowing.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
Make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss anything
from us, and come back later on in the week
for Leah and I and Spendy Sabee.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Bye.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
So you trust us with your beauty wreckos, why not
subscribe to Mamma Mia for all your content beauty and beyond.
Sign up this week to get twenty percent off and
we'll match that twenty percent with a donation to Rise Up,
an organization supporting women affected by domestic violence. Use code
Beauty give Back before August twenty fourth. Check the show
(32:34):
notes for more
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