By Chrissy Iley
What I want from a manicurist is precision, intensive care, knowledge and a keen artistic eye. These qualities are in themselves hard to find but you also want someone who’s fun to be with and puts you instantly at ease. Someone with whom you have empathy and can chat with. How delighted was I to meet Amber who works in the John Frieda salon Margaret Street.
Amber is enthusiastic and passionate about beauty. She knows everything about any new product – nails, foundation, lip colour, perfume. But most of all she knows how to do a manicure that looks amazing and lasts. This week she was trying out some exceptionally festive nails. She did a bespoke Pixie glitter nail for me. First of all snow white polish and then an iridescent super glitter was applied from a little pot. It’s way more intensive than a nail polish with the odd bit of added glitter. It’s striking and it means business. The glitters themselves look like little pots of stardust. Some of them with silvery tones, some of them gold, some of the lilac. She showed me how pink plus rose gold made for Cinderella toes like your toes were your own glass slipper.
The actual glittering process takes longer than a normal manicure because the glitter is applied separately with a special tiny but powerful glitter brush. There is a moment where glitter seems to be on every bit of skin and you have to wait twenty minutes for it all to dry before you can wash off the excess glitter. This is after you’ve applied top coat. The result is striking. Glitter nails are not for everybody and Amber is also the mistress of the classic nail in dramatic red or super shiny and delicate.