You know the moment. A client drops into your chair, phone out, showing you a hyper-detailed set she’s saved from her feed, asking “can you do this?” Trend-led nail art is what keeps the appointment book full, and staying ahead of it is half the job.
So we brought in someone who sets those trends rather than chases them. Jenny Longworth is the session manicurist behind some of the boldest hands in fashion, from Rihanna to the Gucci runway, and she joined us to build our exclusive summer set: The Electric Mani.
Watch her build the full set on DJ and actress Rex Adams below then keep the step-by-step to hand for when you recreate it on a client.And once you’ve got the technique down, stick around for the bit we love most: how a girl who tried one free nail in a Birmingham market became the woman fashion houses call first.
The masterclass: creating Treatwell’s electric mani
Jenny Longworth: Hey, I’m Jenny Longworth and I’m here creating the electric manicure for Treatwell. I’m going to do a masterclass to show you how I created the look. We’ve already based our nails in a nudie pink colour, and we’re building the French manicure design using all the different Treatwell colours.
Start by doing a horizontal stripe across the nail. That sits where I want the highest point of my arch to be, and it acts as a guide for filling in the corners to create a nice symmetrical French. It’s flattering, and it makes the nails look longer and more elegant. I’m repeating that process on all the nails, mixing up the colours as I go.
Now I’m going in with some micro polka dots. Don’t hold the dotting tool on the nail for too long, just quick, small dots, because the longer you hold it on, the bigger the dot gets.
Then I’m doing my line work, using the length of the brush to get a smooth line. For me, the key to good nail art is making the design look as if it travels off the edge of the nail.
Zebra stripes now. I’m putting a bit more pressure at the start to make the line thicker, then easing off towards the end to make it thinner.
Tiger stripes next, using the length of my brush again. More pressure at the start so the line’s thicker, then I ease off as I want it to get thinner.
Then some cheetah print. I create a little C shape, facing them in different directions, with small dots in between.
With any nail art design, your top coat is the step that brings everything together and hides any imperfections. Have a look in the light to check you haven’t got any dips or pooling. Then I file a little, finish with a touch of cuticle oil, and you’re done.
Rex: Thank you.
Jenny: You’re welcome,
Rex: They look nice together.
Jenny: Yeah, beautiful.
Jenny: Thanks for watching, I hope you enjoyed our electric manicure for Treatwell and learned a little something along the way. Thanks, guys, bye!
Read Jenny’s story: from one free nail to fashion’s front row
Every salon name starts somewhere small. For Jenny Longworth, the session manicurist now behind fashion’s most talked-about hands, it started at 16, in a Birmingham indoor market, with a single free nail.
She was working a Saturday job in a café when she spotted a tiny nail bar running a “try one nail for free” offer. Back then, press-on nails from the corner shop were about as advanced as it got. Jenny had one extension done, wore it on her little finger to school for two weeks (just the one, because nobody knew what nail extensions even were), and something clicked. “I was like, do you know what? This would be such a good job. I could do this.” She picked up a Saturday job doing nails, and as she puts it, the rest was history.
By 2005, she’d spotted a gap nobody else had: makeup artists on fashion shoots were stuck doing models’ nails themselves, and not loving it. Jenny stepped in. One single-page shoot for i-D Magazine later, her phone didn’t stop ringing.
But she’s the first to puncture the glamour. What looks effortless on the catwalk almost never is. “You see it on the catwalk and you’re like, oh, that’s cool. But you don’t realise it’s taken ten people two days to make those nails. You stay up all night. It takes hours and hours. It’s so fiddly.”
That’s the bit worth holding onto, whether you do nails, hair, brows, or run the whole salon: the niche nobody else wants is often the one that builds the career. Jenny found hers at a nail bar in a Birmingham market and turned it into a name fashion houses call first. Yours might be hiding in the request you keep turning down, or the technique you’ve not quite cracked yet.
Want more? In the full interview, Jenny gets into her favourite A-list moments, the three days she spent hand-building 3D gold flowers for Rihanna, and exactly why she flat-out refused to give Rosalía a natural nail.
Bring the electric energy to your salon
Whether you’re prepping a client for their hols or just fancy stretching your hand-painted technique,the electric mani brings together the season’s biggest nail trends in one exclusive set, made for Treatwell partners. And as Jenny’s story proves, the path from a single nail to a signature look runs the same way every time: find your niche, master your craft, and don’t be afraid to go bold.
So grab your dotting tools, and fire up your fine-liners. When you’re ready to put it in front of more clients, Treatwell helps the right ones find you, book you, and come back for more.
