Stars take a shine to nail styles

Aucklander Leah Light can count celebrities among her clients. Photo / Janna Dixon

Celebrities such as Taylor Swift and Katy Perry are increasingly seeing a New Zealand woman to give them a hand - actually an elaborately painted pair of hands.

The singers each turned to West Auckland-based Leah Light when they were in New Zealand for concerts recently.

Light, who called herself a "celebrity nail stylist", said Swift had seen her work on a Kiwi radio reporter who'd interviewed Swift in Chicago last year.

Then, before her first Auckland concert this month, Swift met fans who'd won tickets to meet her. The singer was so impressed with the little rainbows painted on one of the girls' nails, she asked about them. It was Light's work and the name rang a bell.

"The next morning I got the phone call. Taylor mentioned that she remembered my name from the previous year."

Swift asked only for a simple glittery polish, not one of Light's special designs which have included butterfly wings, skeletons and tuxedo jackets.

Light has also become a regular "international correspondent" to Hollywood celebrity blogger Perez Hilton's Coco Perez website where she gives tips on how to recreate celebrity designs.

Her regular local clients include radio host Jay-Jay Feeney, singer Zowie and actor Kimberley Crossman, currently sporting eye-catching little blouses complete with tiny gold buttons on each finger.

A plain polish, perhaps with a bit of glitter, costs $75 and anything fancy costs another $5-$10 per nail.