WMNS Air Jordan 11 Low ‘Pure Violet’ with Tinu Bello, Colour Riot Nails

29.04.22 General



Coveted, fresh and unconventional, the standout guise within the Jordan lineage opts for a summer refresh this season. Championing over 25 years of rich history, intrinsic design and patent detailing, the Jordan 11 is simply unrivalled. The fit now returns – full-fledged and on-fleek for its debut of the ‘Pure Violet’ iteration. 

To celebrate the shoe’s inaugural release, we thought we would take a trip down Shoreditch to visit independent and black owned nail business Colour Riot Nails. Where we had the pleasure of meeting  owner Tinu, who kindly sat down with us to discuss the motivations behind her nail start up and what it is like to be a black owned business slaying it in the nail game. 

Footpatrol: Hi Tinu, before we get into everything, how are you ?

Tinu: I am very good thank you ! 

FP: Could you tell us a little about yourself and what you do?

Tinu: My name is Tinu, and I am the owner and founder of Colour Riot nails. I am also a session manicurist signed to One Represent. 

FP: When was the first time you had realised you had a love for doing nails and  wanted to become a manicurist?

Tinu: To pinpoint an exact time, I would say midway through my beauty therapy course my teacher Peter pulled me aside and he was like you’re really good at this, you have to do it! Then he put me on a nail course and the rest is history. 

FP: You are director of Colour Riot Nails, could you tell us a little bit about the motivation behind running your own store?

Tinu: My child, my son. I would have to say that was my first motivation. I just wanted time with him, I wanted to drop him to school to pick him up and be there when he’s home and just spend time with him. The only way forward was just to start working for myself. That was definitely one of my biggest motivations. 

FP: You mention that you have a celebrity clientele of the likes of Jorja Smith, Rita Ora and Ellie Goulding as well as designing nails for House of Holland and Markus Lupfer shows –  what was it like to have the opportunity to work with these brands and people?

Tinu: It felt very surreal because essentially I started assisting in fashion and through fashion week and it went to like your the lead manicurist and I was like what the f**k! But it was very very surreal, amazing at the same time I felt very honoured that they had chosen me to head their shows. It’s a good experience as well. 

FP: As you know the nail and beauty industry is very oversaturated , how does Colour Riot stay relevant in this new climate after Covid?

Tinu: By not thinking about it, I just feel everyone has their own path and mine is mine. I just don’t think about what’s out there and what I have now. If you start worrying about that you start to put what you’re doing on a backburner. 

FP: If there was any, what challenges did you face first starting out  as a manicurist? 

Tinu: So many! I mean, the beauty industry is, as you said, saturated but it is also not very diverse, especially being a business owner in the beauty industry and also being a session manicurist. That was one of the biggest challenges I had to face , being a black nail tech and that not being the most popular option. I was given so many opportunities , it was hard to get my foot through the door session wise. That was the biggest one. Now that I am here , it’s all good. 

FP: What advice would you give to people starting out in the beauty industry ?

Tinu: Practise , don’t shy away from training, make sure you take your training seriously and after that I would just say practise, practise, practise.

FP: To finish off we would like to thank you so much for the interview! Is there anything you would like to share with the Footpatrol friends and family? A message of positivity, whatever you like.

Tinu: I would say just keep doing what you are doing, I think it is so amazing that you are helping shed light on small businesses, you know, thinking about us because we are always the last priority in everything. To have such an amazing brand like Footpatrol think of us and want to highlight us , I think it’s an amazing thing so keep doing that . Thank you so much, I appreciate it ! 

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