Magazine for the professional nail industry.
Issue link: http://nailsmag.epubxp.com/i/141803
TECHNIQUE} behind the scenes Sister Act [ b ] Th G [above] The Geer sisters were contacted b i d by a publisher who was a fan of their popular nail art blog, Hey, Nice Nails!, to author a nail art design book called Nail Candy. [left] Sisters Donne (left) and Ginny Geer started as nail hobbyists when they launched their blog. Now they're licensed nail techs with a salon in Long Beach, Calif. See all of our heavy metal looks on page 170 and log on to www.nailsmag.com/rockofages to see step-by-steps from our shoot. 104 | NAILS MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2013 Sisters Ginny and Donne Geer have long been fascinated with nail polish and nail art. They credit their mom with giving them early nail inspiration (even though they strayed from her traditional reds and pinks). Three years ago, the Geer sisters started their blog, Hey, Nice Nails! (www.heynicenails.com), as nail hobbyists. Their passion for all-things nails showed in the creative designs they were posting online, and they soon both decided to get their nail licenses so they could branch out and bring their "manis to the masses." Hey, Nice Nails!, the salon, opened its doors in Long Beach, Calif., last December and the sisters keep it pretty exclusive — seeing about 25 clients a week. Coming from all over Southern California, their clients are nail art addicts and aficionados, much like themselves. "If they aren't at first interested in nail art, they most certainly get inspired the moment they walk into our salon and see all the possibilities that could come to life on their fingernails," says Ginny, who is the older of the sisters. One of their favorite stories is about a client who was visiting from Michigan with her boyfriend. They were in Los Angeles for a day or two on their way to a wedding and they only got to do a few things while they were in town. He wanted to see the space shuttle and she wanted to come get her nails done at Hey, Nice Nails! "It makes us feel really special and important when people travel to see us like that," adds Ginny. Offering gels, acrylics, gel-polish, and traditional polish, the sisters are always on the lookout for interesting nail art embellishments. They've got a few secret sources, as well as nail distributors and craft supply stores. In addition to their popular blog and their new salon, Ginny and Donne have another reason to be excited. Their new nail art book, Nail Candy, came out in June and is available at Urban Outfitters and bookstores nationwide. "We got a call from our now editor, Lucie Parker, telling us that Weldon Owen publishing was interested in creating a nail art how-to book based on our blog," says Ginny. "And it magically came together while we were doing construction and waiting for proper licensing to come through on the salon." For this month's rock-n-roll-themed style shoot, we showed up with a bunch of jewelry and let the Geers' imaginations run wild. PHOTOGRAPHY BY VU ONG