Before I start this post, can we just take a moment to gawp in amazement at my nails here? The paisley was drawn on by hand. Yeah, I know, isn't that incredible? No wraps or stencils here! Everyone who has noticed my nails (So that's a good proportion of people at work, customers I've been serving and even staff in shops when I've been paying for something) can't believe that they're hand-drawn. I had these nails done by the incredibly talented Fran, at the WAH Nails pop-up nail bar at Lambert's Yard a couple of weeks ago. WAH Nails are here in Leeds for a limited time until 2nd January, which is a real shame as I know I'd be going back at least once a month if they were here permanently (My bank balance would hate me mind you)! Still, it's better than not being here at all so I can't complain too much.




So, who are WAH Nails? I must admit that I have heard of the brand before, but didn't know really what they did. WAH Nails are based in the Oxford Circus Topshop store in London, where they have been going from strength to strength since 2010. However, it had modest beginnings back in 2005, when it was a London-based fanzine, expanding into a blog and events over the years, lead by founder Sharmadean Reid. Now, their nail art has had such an impact across the world - as far as Tokyo in Japan, even - that they have worked London Fashion Week, The Brits and even at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, just to name a few. The joy of having WAH Nails is that there are hundreds of designs to choose from - you name it, they will do it! You can even bring in your own ideas, and they will try their best to make it happen. They have even expanded into bringing out their own nail range at Boots, which includes polishes, pens, press-on nails, tools and even books to help you recreate their designs at home. Whilst I was there, Fran showed me the Ultimate Nail Art Kit, which at £85 is not cheap but is a nail-art lover's dream.




When I sat down for my appointment, I really had no idea what I wanted apart from monochrome - and as you can imagine, I was there for quite a while deciding! Fran was brilliant at helping me decide what I wanted to have and had some great suggestions for bringing the whole look together. We went for WAH London's 'Y2K Mirror Shine' on my thumbs, alternate black/white paisley designs on my ring and point fingers using their nail art pens, 'The Trillest Holographic' on my middle fingers and finally a sweep of 'Heart of Darkness' with a matte top coat on my little fingers. As a design across the whole hand, I think you'll agree with me when I say that it works really well. I was left ecstatic by the result and couldn't stop staring at them for the rest of the evening! If only I was this good at doing my own nails...

If you want to book an appointment to have some fabulous nails of your own, send an email to wah-leeds@lambertsyard.com. You'll have to be quick though, as mentioned they're not here for long!