5 Minutes with Michelle from Hit The Bottle

Michelle owns Hit The Bottle, an Australian nail stamping company. With a creative streak and a love of art, she saw nail stamping as a natural progression. Inspired by the world around her, she also likes to have a bit of fun with her products. Hit The Bottle has the most amazing, pigmented polishes which I love to use, so I was excited to interview her this month!

Tell us a little bit about yourself

My name is Michelle and I’m from Coffs Harbour. I’m shy, pretty quiet and reserved really. I love being creative in any way.

Where did your love of stamping/nail art come from?

I enjoyed art at school and from a young age have always loved making “things”. Before I could sew, I’d glue pieces of fabric together. I studied Fine Art at University. I had a nail art blog called “Break Rules, Not Nails” where I did a lot of hand painted nail art. Stamping was a natural progression and not so time consuming as hand painting!

To those who have never heard of nail stamping, how would you describe it to them?

You stamp a design onto your nails with nail polish. Similar in a way to how you would use an ink pad and a rubber stamper to stamp on paper.

Why did you decide to start your own nail stamping business?

After years working as a chef and not enjoying it, I wanted to work in a field I did enjoy. Nails! After doing my Cert 2 in nail technology I was determined to make nails my job.

What inspired the name “Hit The Bottle”? From a branding point of view, I just love it.

Every brand name I thought of was already taken. I like to have fun with nail art, for it not to be serious and if I can, make it funny. So an out of the box idea popped into my head…”Hit the Bottle”. Everyone I ran it past laughed, so I went with it.

Where do you get inspiration for new polish colours, their names and plate designs?

Sometimes people request certain colours. Sometimes I just mix things together and see what happens. Sometimes I have a “craving” for a certain colour. After watching The Bates Motel I had to make a lime green, only to find out the colour theme of the TV show is blue! Sometimes I feel that a colour is missing in the range we have. Sometimes I’m inspired by nature around me such as flowers, plants, clouds. The colour names I try to make funny, describe the colour and if I can tie drinking in there too then it’s a win win! Plate design ideas just come to me. Movies, things around me, patterns, history. The world is full of inspiration.

Nail stamping is such a unique way for someone to show off their personality, so if you could only wear one design on your nails for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

I get bored after a couple of days wearing the same nail art. I’d probably just wear straight black if I had to wear it forever.

When creating a look for yourself, what are your go to products? For a beginner, what products would you suggest?

I tend to always reach for black or silver to stamp with. I have to push myself to reach for something different. For a beginner I’d suggest the basics. Black, white, silver or gold, a good quality plate and a stamper.

What emerging nail stamping trends are you most excited about and what trends would you love to see in the future?

There is a new trend I’ve just seen of pigment in a pen. I would love to try one of these. For quite some time I’ve been working on a tacky stamping polish for pigments. Although this is not a new trend. Not sure what I’d like to see.

If you hadn’t have taken the leap and started Hit The Bottle, where do you think you’d be today (like a sliding doors moment)?

I’d probably still be working in a kitchen and be unhappy about it!

You can follow Hit The Bottle on Instagram or head to the website to view their products!