Working backstage - the feelings some days after the shows

It is difficult to write a constructive and down to earth blog when you are in the middle of the excitement so I will now write a little bit more about my experience working for Marian Newman and her team.

For me, this was the very first time working backstage and I was both excited and scared because Marian had so kindly let me work at her team. I was very scared of not being technically good enough and excited because working at London Fashion Week is something very few people are allowed to do.

I knew that working backstage is not glamorous at all. And it is right. Nails are, naturally, not the primary "needs", hair and makeup come first. As a nailtech you have to fit in while the hairdresser or makeup artist is working. You never have a workstation, you just walk around trying to grab the model "at the right moment". (Sometimes it felt like that moment never came. :)) You don't have time to perfect your work, just to do it as good as you can with limited time.

You have to be prepared to creep at the floor (to do the models toes), working squeezed in between the hairdresser and/or the makeup-artist and even be yelled at for doing your work (maybe you were at the wrong place at the wrong time...) . Unfortunately I am not very thick-skinned and at one of the shows I became really shocked because a hairdresser yelled at me because I was sitting at HIS territory while doing a models nails. I still think it was kind of a strange behavior, but if it ever happens again, I will be more thick-skinned and not let it go into me.

Another useful thing I learned was how effective colored nail-polish can be. As some of you know I am very conservativ, mostly short nails with pink and white for me. After working for Marian, I think I will use more colors!!!

All in all I have learned so much from this experience. It is difficult to explain, you have to do it to understand how it works and I am very happy I now have gotten this precious experience. Working side by side with Marian and her team, asking, soaking up everything and asking again has been very useful for me. I feel a little bit more prepared for that kind of the industry now!