Nail Tech Talks is back! Today, we’re talking to the wonderful Malika, an East London based nail technician with the edgiest style.
- Introduce yourself! Who are you, where are you from and what’s your job?
I’m Malika, I’m 31 and I’m from France but I’ve lived in London for 7 years now. I’m a BIAB and GelX nail artist based in north London
- Why did you decide to become a nail tech/artist?
I always felt quite creative but never really found my medium. Life just naturally put nails in my way when I worked front of house in a beauty salon and I got offered training as a nail tech because I was quite good at doing my own. No one there wanted to do nail art on me or teach me so I learned on my own so I can have fun nails.
- How long have you been doing it for?
4 years
- Where & how did you become a nail tech? Which school? How long was the nail course? Did you do it online/in-person? Was it worth it?
I trained in London. I did a 2 days course in a school in Clapham to get a certificate but the real learning and training was from my manager at the time and leaning from other nail techs on the salon floor. I would definitely recommend a longer course if you don’t have the opportunity to train in a salon. And I would also recommend in-person!
- What kind of challenges did you face when training? Was it hard to find somewhere good?
I wouldn’t say I came across big challenges when it comes to the initial nail training as I got quite lucky with my work paying for it and helping with additional training. But when it comes to nail art, at the time a lot of nail artist were gate-keeping their techniques and I found it really hard at first to how to do certain nail arts. It’s so much better now and you can find a lot of educative content on TikTok for nail art. It’s quite a supportive community.
- What advice do you give to people just starting out?
It can be controversial but work in a (good) salon! Doesn’t have to be forever but you learn so much about customer facing, being organized, managing your time, what you want and don’t want to do when you go self employed and you learn so much from other nail techs! And don’t compare yourself or your progression to others!
- What’s your personal favourite nail look?
A bit (a lot) of chrome, textures, sharp lines and pic’n’mix look 🤌🏼
- What’s your most-requested nail look?
Chrome, it’s easy and you can go neutral or really bling and there’s always a wow factor
- What’s one nail look you never want to see again?
Half moons and inverted-vs. Also not into the duck nails trend at all. That’s 3 😂
- What’s one motto you live by?
“You live and you learn 🤓“
Like her style? Don’t forget to follow Malika on Instagram & Tiktok!