An Instagram popular nail artist regularly wows her 18k followers with hand-painted characters from their favourite childhood shows.
From the Power Puff Girls, The Care Bears, The Little Mermaid and The Lion King, there isn’t anything Gemma Pope can’t do when it comes to striking nail art.
This unique style has gained Gemma her popularity as girls as far as the USA order her custom-made press on nails.
Gemma, from Beaumont Road, said: “Choosing to do hand painted nail art in this unique way has led to me gaining 18,000 followers over on my Instagram account with a huge amount following from the USA, which is insane.”
Three of her favourite designs include the white rabbit on top of blue paint with, a Halloween themed Lilo from Disney’s Lilo and Stitch and Peter Pan.
Videos on her Instagram show the painstaking process it takes to draw each design onto the nails, using brushes sent to her to Nails by Dev, a popular USA brand in Florida.
Each set comes in at £65 and is then shipped off to the customers, with Gemma taking on custom made orders as well as appointments at her home-based salon.
She said: “I will just get an idea on my break and then jot it down.
“I’ll work on it whenever I get a chance and some are quicker than others, while some take three hours to do.”
The most popular designs are always Disney themed as Gemma gets many requests for beloved Disney heroines like Mulan.
She said: “I didn’t think it would blow up the way it has done, just 18 months ago I had 300 followers.
“It’s throughout lockdown that I spent time doing this new style.
“Lockdown had a huge impact on my business but looking back now it was in quite a positive way as it gave me time to perfect my nail art skills.”
Gemma’s nails have also been featured in the famous Cosmopolitan UK and USA online and won her nail tech of the year at the UK Hair and Beauty Awards.
She said: “To be given the award and to be recognised for all the hard work I’ve put into my career is amazing, it is a very proud moment for me.”
Look at her nail art on IG @gemmapopenailartist
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