The Brains Behind your Favourite Beauty Sites - SuperNail Ireland

One of the things that fascinates me most as a blogger and an avid buyer of all things beauty (It's called product piggery and it's an illness) is the story behind some of our favourite beauty sites and the ridiculously friendly and professional people that work tirelessly to run them and ultimately make us beautiful. That got me to thinking, if I'd be super interested to hear their stories, maybe you would be too...

Over the next couple of weeks I have lined up some of the best in the business to give you a little insight into their worlds and maybe a snakey inside recommendation or two for the ultimate beauty buys from their sites, who doesn't want to know that?!

First up is Nila (& her hubby John) of SuperNail Ireland, they're easily one of the nicest couples I've had the pleasure of speaking with and this here be their story:

Nila, born in London (half Irish/Indian), trained as a nail technician in 1996 with Supernail of Los Angeles (Now Supernail UK). Over the years she has worked in salons and as a mobile technician around London. Nila moved to Ireland in 2003 with her Irish husband John, where they run SuperNailIreland.com, bringing beauty to the masses. Here's what she has to say in response to my Jeremy Paxman level of questioning. 

1. What inspired you to set up your site? 

In 2011 Carolyn Sears founder of Supernail UK asked me to become their Irish distributor (Carolyn could do with a whole blog herself - she is known as the first lady of nails, due to the fact that she set up the first nail salon in London in 1979 with Barbara Rossendale  - aka Gwen Steffani's mother in law. They had a client list to beat the band). This was mainly to do with the fact that I couldn't get my beloved Zoya over here and nobody seemed to know anything about fibreglass nails (the backscratchers system). Supernail UK is the European distributor for these brands, but the postage is £24 to the rep of Ireland, so I thought having a distributor over here might just make these fantastic products cheaper and more accessible to the people of Ireland.

2.  How long have you been beautifying the country? 

I stopped working as a nail tech for a few years whilst my children were very small, but opened up my nail salon in Kilfinane, Co.Limerick in 2010. It made me realise just how much I missed the world of nails, so in 2011 I took all my trainer exams in London and became the sole distributor and trainer for the rep of Ireland. I started Supernail Ireland in September 2011 with my husband John. John had been a building contractor, but due to the damn recession, could find no work in his field so joined me in SI. He is good at business, and I am good at nails. It is sometimes a marriage made in heaven. Supernail Ireland is the sole distributor for Zoya, Backscratchers, Qtica skin systems and Pharo sugaring systems.

3.What's your favourite part of the job? 

I love meeting people and anything to do with nails, so for me this is a fantastic oppotunity. Zoya and the other brands are excellent products. I have been using them for the past 15 years, so  when it comes to helping someone choose the perfect shade of pink, or getting someone trained up as a nail technician I never feel like this is work. Myself and John had a ball doing the Irish beauty show recently. I also love when our customers give me a call to chat about colours or our other products. I am still a working nail tech as well as a distributor, so whenever our customers want advise or have a nail related question, I am more than happy to help!

4. What's the one thing about your job that people might not know?  

Well I suppose that many people might think that we are just distributors for Zoya, Qtica etc.., but as previously mentioned I am a working nail tech using the products all day long myself, so I genuinely want people to get the best product for them. So if any of our customers want some pre purchase advise, or have a nail related query, then please get in touch. In today's financial climate nobody can afford to be buying products that just sit on the bathroom shelf. I won't ever recommend something that I don't think will work for or suit a customer. We are also home grown distributors, and very proud to be a small Irish business. 

5. If you could choose just one product to recommend to a friend - what would that be?  

Ooh this is difficult! Different friends, different products. For those who want an excellent hand and body moisturiser, it has to be the Qtica Intense Hydrating Lotion. Not the cheapest, but a little bit goes a very long way. For the best nail polish remover/ nail prep, it has to be Zoya Remove. It really does remove nail polish super fast, but without drying out your nails. Finally for all my nail tech buddies, it has to be Backscratchers Fibreglass. This product allows you to overlay, create extensions and repair natural nail breakages without any damage to the the natural nail, which to my knowledge no gel or acrylic can do. These are the products that my friends seem to love (unlike my baking...)

And there we have it. The low down on all things Super Nail. Fascinating, right? Thanks so much Nila and John for sharing your story. 

If you, like me, are gagging to get your mitts on the new Zoya Beach and Surf collection then head on over to their site for a looksee but please don't blame me when you want everything! To celebrate the new launch, prices on all of the award winning Zoya polishes have been slashed to €9.90 with free delivery on all orders over €30. 

Coming up next week is the brains and über beauty behind Cloud 10 Beauty, Blanaid!