Holly Schippers is no stranger around the NAILS office. She pens a blog on the NAILS blogroll (www.nailsmag.com/fingernailfixer) and is a frequent contributor to the magazine. A nail tech for the last 15 years, she’s been an educator with CND for 10 years. She travels the world teaching classes for CND. Most recently she was in Australia, and earlier this year she taught throughout the U.K. “The FingerNailFixer has become more global than I ever imagined,” says Schippers. “The common thing about nail professionals no matter where they are in the world is the desire to elevate the industry as a whole through education.”

Schippers has made it her mission to make herself more valuable to nail professionals as an educator. And while her heart remains with CND, she’s branched out this year to increase her own salon ticket, as well as to help others do the same. “I have every medium needed to do nails through CND,” notes Schippers. “And now I have added Empower Nail Art films to my art palette to give me more color and design options.”

When Gina Silvestro contacted her about teaching for Crystal Culture, it seemed like the perfect addition to round out her offerings for nail professionals. “Helping other nail professionals find the potential within themselves and providing them the materials to tap into that potential is where my focus lies.”

She’s also pitching in to help with Empower Nail Art owner Lucien Henderson’s concept of non-product-focused nail education. Called The Nail Platform, a group of educators including Henderson, Schippers, Silvestro, Naja Rickette, and David Valentino recently pulled together a day of learning on a variety of topics from acrylic and gel techniques to business building skills in Anaheim, Calif. The group is also committed to improving the trade show experience for nail techs after realizing many of the big beauty shows don’t put enough emphasis on nail professionals.

“Hopefully there will come a day when people feel comfortable and confident to attend education, learn to improve their skills and business acumen, and elevate the industry together,” says Schippers.

Here’s how you can get this month’s cover look:

1. After you’ve prepped the nails thoroughly, apply CND Shellac Base Coat and cure in the Shellac lamp for 10 seconds. Apply CND Shellac in Wildfire and cure for two minutes. Repeat to apply a second coat of Wildfire. DO NOT remove the top film after you cure the second coat.

2. Cut freehand shapes out of Empower Nail Art MsPrints and apply them to the nails. Make sure to smooth the MsPrints down tight to the nails.

3. Burnish CND Additive Gilded Gleam onto the nails being careful not to lift up the MsPrint with the brush. Gently brush out any loose additive from the margins and edges. 

4. Peel away the Empower MsPrints carefully. 

5. Apply a thin coat of CND Shellac in Clearly Pink to protect the Additive layer and cure for two minutes.

6. Cut freehand shapes out of Empower Nail Art film in Rainbow and apply randomly to the nails.

7. Smooth the Empower film down to the nails and trim off any excess in the margins, cut off excess on the extension edge with a crystal file.

8. Seal the nails with CND Shellac Top Coat and cure for two minutes. Remove the top film with 99% IPA and massage in Solar Oil.