We've become obsessed with all things nails recently (well, we were obsessed before but seeing all your Nails of the Week entries have made it worse) and after seeing her work on Alexandra Burke's nails at the Isle of Wight festival a few weeks ago, invited lovely nail artist Sophie from The Illustrated Nail to come over to our offices and weave her magic on our hands, and tell us how she got into the industry, while trying to ignore us dribbling over her menu cards.
With The Illustrated Nail, Sophie has madeover the hands of celebrities including Nicole Scherzinger, M.I.A, Keisha Buchanan and Alexandra Burke to name just a few, as well as assisting at London Fashion Week shows for Matthew Williamson, Hannah Marshall and Mark Fast.
For nail art tips, more about Sophie, and to see more pictures of the amazing tribal nails she gave our Hannah, check after the cut!
Showing that it definitely helps to have some creative blood, Sophie originally studied Illustration at university but told us that even though nail art has only recently become a UK obsession, it's always been around her: "My mum used to do them. I went to see the Spice Girls once and she painted Union Jacks on them," she said.
Taking inspiration from everything, but especially prints, Sophie has about a million different designs, although the tribal patterns (inspired by high street clothes) and the tattoo styles (she really wants to be a tattoo artist) are her favourite.
Although they might look complicated, Sophie insists that if you break the patterns down in your head as you do it, it's actually quite simple. "Take your time and do it in layers," she says. Oh and always "squeeze the nail pens before you use them, because they can be quite unpredictable." She also swears by Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat ("It's the only one I'll use.")
If you want to book an appointment with sophie, email her at theillustratednail@live.com, or visit her blog here! You can also sometimes find her at Spitalfields Market, so keep an eye out there on the weekends!