The October Box! Halloween Nail Art, Nail Nightmares & a Very Special Collaboration

I need to be honest. The holiday blues have hit me hard. 😂

My mojo has completely disappeared this month. Between getting back into the swing of working with clients and trying to remember how to do all the TCC business things, it honestly feels like my brain has forgotten how any of this works.

So I started this month's box about a week later than I usually would. Which is obviously exactly what you want when you're planning one of your favourite nail art months of the entire year. 😅

Because October means Halloween. And if you know me, you know Halloween is one of my absolute favourite times for nail art. It is one of our BA Hannah's favourites too, so there was no way we were going to let a missing mojo get in the way of making this box something special.

Then Anthony Messaged Me… 👀

Before I went away, Anthony dropped me a message and we got talking.

We were chatting about a brand he works with potentially joining us. And this is huge, by the way. It is a brand I have personally used for over 16 years.

But that is all I am saying about that for now. My lips are sealed. 🤐

While we were talking, the conversation moved onto the themes for our next few boxes. When I told him about Halloween, he said he would love to get involved.

And obviously my answer was: YES PLEASE.

A Blank Box and Plenty of Ideas 🎨

At that point, I hadn't reached out to any of the brilliant brands in our database who want to join us. That is a pretty big deal in itself, because it meant the Halloween box was completely blank.

No products locked in. No final plan. Just lots of ideas and the chance to build the whole thing together.

We chose Emma Louise Nail Systems and Sparkle Nail Supplies for two very good reasons.

First, Anthony already uses both brands, which made creating this collaboration far easier. That will all make sense as you keep reading.

Second, both brands received amazing feedback when they joined us before. You loved their products, we loved working with them, and bringing them back for Halloween felt like an immediate yes.

Emma is incredible and so is Lorraine. Both of them were up for it straight away, and then Anthony and I got to work planning, sharing inspiration pictures and choosing the products.

And then both Emma and Lorraine sent extras, on top of what we had already agreed within the budget. Honestly, how lovely is that? Those little additions make such a difference, and I am so grateful to both of them for being so generous.

Anthony, His Queens and Four Halloween Tutorials 👑

Anthony shared images from photoshoots he has created with his QUEENS, and honestly, they are incredible. His creativity does not stop there either. His nail art is amazing, and we knew we wanted subscribers to be able to learn from him rather than simply admire the finished designs.

So we decided that Anthony would create four beginner-friendly Halloween nail art tutorials using products from the box.

And here is the honest behind-the-scenes bit, because you know I will always tell you how it really happened.

I was going on holiday and didn't have time to get a separate set of products sent to Anthony beforehand. I also didn't know the exact final products until around ten days before I needed to order them, which is much later than usual.

That is why choosing brands he already uses made perfect sense. He could work with products he had and knew, and somehow, despite having hardly any notice, he created four amazing tutorials for us.

Anthony, thank you. You took a very last-minute idea and turned it into something brilliant. 🖤

Two Last-Minute Nailtopia Finds ✨

And just when you think a box is coming together, you go to Nailtopia and find two more brands you are very glad you met.

That is where I found The Cuticle Cocktail Company, who very kindly sent us some goodies for the box. They already have a huge fan in one of our BAs, Rachel, too!

We also met Saviour at Nailtopia, and they became another last-minute addition to October's box.

Neither was part of that original blank-box plan. Both came along right at the last minute, and honestly, I am so glad they did. It is such a lovely part of going to events like this: meeting people and discovering brands that end up becoming part of what we do here.

NBE Is Back… Yes, Already! 💅

And NBE is back in the box too. Yes, they were only in last month's box. But hear me out.

About a week before the box contents arrived, I used their gel polish colour Magic on a client and thought: our subscribers need this.

Because it is bloody lovely.

It is such a great colour for this season and the months coming up, and I could not leave it out just because we had only just featured them. Sometimes you use something at your desk and immediately know it needs to be shared. This was one of those moments.

The 3D Nail Bits That Were Definitely Not Nail Bits 😂

Not every idea made it into the box, though.

I had also ordered some 3D bits that I genuinely could not wait to include. In my head, they were going to be such a lovely addition to the Halloween nail art.

Then they arrived.

And they were absolutely HUGE. Not a little bit bigger than expected. Definitely-not-for-nails bigger. 😂

So, sadly, they could not go in. I was so disappointed because I had been really excited about them. A little behind-the-scenes reminder that sometimes what you have planned and what actually turns up are two very different things!

What Was in the Halloween Box? 🎃

Emma Louise Nail Systems

Emma Louise Nail Systems brought us a proper little Halloween nail art collection:

• Blooming gel
• Gel polish colours Insomnia and Envy
• A gold gel paint pot
• Black pigment
• Two amazing acrylic colours for our acrylic girls
• A Halloween-themed foil

And if you are a gel-only tech, those acrylic colours can also be used as pigments, so they are not just for the acrylic girls!

There was one more last-minute twist here too. The original colour we had fallen in love with had already been in a previous box, and we only realised on packing day, as everything was being prepared for delivery to me. Because apparently this month needed another plot twist. 😂 So the final gel polish colours were Insomnia and Envy.

Sparkle Nail Supplies

Lorraine brought the sparkle with a limited-edition gem mix created exclusively for the TCC box and their amazing Witches Brew glitter.

A gem mix just for our box? How special is that!

NBE

The gel polish colour Magic. The one I used on a client and immediately knew you needed, because it is bloody lovely for this season and the months ahead.

The Cuticle Cocktail Company

A cuticle oil from our lovely Nailtopia find, who already have a huge fan in Rachel.

Saviour

Their famous Nail and Skin Restoring Oil, another very welcome last-minute addition after meeting them at Nailtopia.

The nail art products were chosen to work alongside Anthony's tutorials and help subscribers create Halloween nail art without making it feel intimidating. With the generous extras, our last-minute Nailtopia additions and that lovely NBE colour, there was even more to discover.

The Education: The Nail Nightmare Edition 😱

I wanted to keep the education completely on theme this month, right down to the names. So October's education is called The Nail Nightmare Edition.

Because the real nail nightmares aren't ghosts and monsters. They are the message that arrives days after an appointment with a photo of a chip, crack, lift or missing nail, and that sinking feeling when you're not quite sure what happened or what to say next.

This guide covers:

• The Chipped Tip
• The Side Wall Slash
• The Snapped-Off Tip
• The Free Edge Break
• The Middle of the Nail Break
• The Pocket of Doom
• The Cuticle Creeper
• The Sidewall Lifter
• The Free-Edge Lifter
• The Cracked Apex
• The Split & Peel
• The Nail That Won't Stay On
• The Ones Not to Touch
• Message templates
• Repair policy
• Your nail tech repair kit

It is there to help you understand what may have gone wrong, decide what needs repairing, know when not to touch something, and handle those client messages with far more confidence.

[ADD ANY FINAL EDUCATION DETAILS OR LINK]

Your November Content Calendar 📅

Subscribers also received the November Content Calendar.

This one is all about turning attention into action: building comments and conversations, attracting clients and getting those all-important December appointments booked in before the festive rush takes over.

We Also Did Nailtopia! ✨

As if this month wasn't already busy enough, we also did Nailtopia. And as you can see, a little bit of it found its way into October's box!

There is a whole separate story coming about that because it absolutely deserves its own blog. For now, just know that I will be sharing all the details very soon.

[ADD LINK TO NAILTOPIA BLOG]

Thank You 🖤

To Anthony, thank you for bringing your creativity, your artistry and your incredible tutorials to this box, especially with such little notice.

To Emma and Emma Louise Nail Systems, and Lorraine and Sparkle Nail Supplies, thank you for saying yes straight away, being as brilliant to work with as ever, and sending those lovely extras on top of what we had planned.

To The Cuticle Cocktail Company and Saviour, I am so glad we met at Nailtopia. Thank you for becoming part of this box, even at the last minute!

And to every subscriber, thank you for sticking with us through the holiday brain, the later-than-usual start and all the chaos that goes on behind the scenes. I really hope you love creating with this one.

Any boxes left will be in our buy now section. Please keep an eye out :)