A Rhondda woman has gained quite the following throughout lockdown for her super detailed nail art.
Abi Markey, 28, of Nailedit Beauty, has seen her works of art like her Easter nail creations liked over 30,000 times on social media, featuring half-eaten Maltesers bunnies and Creme Egg nail sets.
The Tonypandy -based salon has now been nominated for a prestigious industry award, with Abi being selected as one of the top five finalists in the Nail Art Specialist of the Year category at The Gel Bottle Awards.
Abi has had a busy year of nominations as she was also nominated for Nail Technician of the Year at the Welsh Hair and Beauty awards in Cardiff city stadium.
Having worked in beauty since she was 19, and after working extremely hard throughout the pandemic when she had to close, the artist was happy to have her hard work recognised.
Abi added that while Instagram is an amazing place for creativity, it can also be easy to compare yourself and doubt whether you're good enough at times.
She said: "You think you're not good enough but to be recognised by such a big brand means the world to me, and to be in the top five it means that all my hard work that I put in is being appreciated."
Abi's Instagramable salon is attached to her home in her transformed former garden shed, where she thinks up her detailed creations.
Her ideas are never the same as everyone else. And, as she is so unique, she never struggles to come up with new ideas as she gets inspiration from anything and everything.
She said: "My ideas come from everywhere, it could be clothing it could be a theme, it could be food.
"I like to do themed nails and nails about TV shows like Friends, Love Island or I'm a Celebrity. I like to create nails out of things that are trending. I get inspiration from everything and anything."
You can check out her latest creations on her Instagram page which now has a following of over 48,000 people and is getting shared by big names like Cadbury, ASOS and Missguided.
The Gel Bottle is a well-known brand in the industry that has been worn by the likes of Katy Perry, J-Lo and the Kardashian sisters.
The category Abi has been nominated for recognises the creative flair of nail art skills, including impressive technical and artistic skills, and high quality and original work.
Abi said she was honoured to even be nominated for the award after being self-employed for five years, adding that it feels like her hard work is being appreciated. She said: "I was so shocked to be nominated for the Gel Bottle awards because Gel Bottle is huge. I've used them for four years, they're a major brand, Kim Kardashian has her nails done with The Gel Bottle and all the big celebrities.
"I was so shocked and to be in the top five as well for just nail artists, there's so many talented girls and boys on Instagram with nail art so I was super excited and buzzing for the awards next week."
The sets that Abi are most proud of are her Easter nails that blew up on social media and her I'm a Celebrity nails that were liked by a few celebrities. She added: "That was a big deal for me, I was so proud of that."
Voting closed on Sunday December 12 and the winners will be announced via a live virtual ceremony on Monday, December 20 at 8pm on The Gel Bottle's Instagram page.
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