Nails and Beauty

Anyone interested in doing a short intensive course in nails or beauty log onto: www.damsonacademy.co.uk. "When I left school after doing my A-levels at 18, I took a year out to study short college courses as I wasn’t sure which course to study at University. I completed a fitness Instructor course and studied beauty therapy because I loved health and fitness and wanted to learn about the body. I came across some private nail courses and started learning how to airbrush nails. I found it fascinating probably because art is my favourite subject. I went on to do a Nail Extensions course with a great product EzFlow Nail Systems that I still teach with and use today.

I trained to an advanced level in Acrylic, Fiberglass, gel and airbrushing, mainly specialising in Acrylic, because I felt if I was to offer a complete service to my clients I wanted to be sure I had as much knowledge as possible and use superior products. In 2002 I visited Las Vegas to compete in the Nail Olympics. I competed in the Mixed Media Nail Art section, which was an amazing experience.

I won the Scottish Nail Technician of the year in 2005 and have been a finalist at the British Beauty Awards three times in the category, Nail Professional of the year.

I have a flare for nail design especially in wider scale composition. When I do my own photo shoots, I do my own nails and makeup, stage the setting and sometimes I use my own hands in the shot and I do the photography as well! I recently did Cat Woman for Gardiner Photography which was a lot of fun because one of my ambitions is to play an action character or heroin in a film in the future!

I have written articles for SCRATCH magazine, Health and Beauty Magazine, Professional Nails and Professional Beauty. I still regularly have my work published; the last article I wrote was about the skincare range Free Spirit Organics. (www.freespiritorganics.co.uk).

As I have been involved in the theatre from an early age, make up has always been apart of my life, from learning how to do my own makeup in various styles to now doing bridal makeovers. I did advanced make up as part of my Beauty Therapy training, which helped to improve my knowledge and skills in camouflage and enhancing techniques. I think once again because it is an art I love it! I love to experiment with colour and see what effects I can create using different tools and products. I regularly teach Beauty Therapy freelance and for a London College, I deliver courses in every unit in level 2 & 3 of Beauty therapy AND I love passing my knowledge and experience onto others. So I didn’t end up going to University but I did qualify in many further education subjects and went onto gain my teaching qualification and A1 Assessors Award.”