A Sidmouth nail technician has been nominated for a national award by her clients for her commitment to making them feel beautiful.

Gemma Nicholls is the owner of the Sidmouth-based mobile nail salon Sweetheart Nails and will be travelling to Windsor for the English Hair and Beauty Awards 2019.

She has been shortlisted in the Nail Technician of the Year category.

She said she was driving when she initially received the phone call tell her that she had been nominated, and did not even realise who it was.

She said: “They said can we email you and I said yes not even realising who it was.

“Then I read the email and I was like ‘oh my goodness’.

“It’s just a massive shock.”

Gemma was put forward for the award via a public vote by her customers, and she said her clients are all really excited.

She will travel to their homes where she spends two hours with them and helps fix their broken nails.

One of her favourite parts of the job is giving people the confidence to feel good about themselves.

She said: “I mainly do nail extensions so I get a lot of people with bitten nails and it’s really nice just to see the transformation.

“Everyone always says how much nicer it makes them feel.

“It’s just really nice making people feel good about themselves.”

She started doing her own nails as a hobby in her spare time before getting her qualification two years ago and then she set up her own mobile salon.

Gemma and her family moved to the Sidmouth area four years ago, having initially lived in Tavistock, as they fancied a chance and always wanted to live near the sea.

Gemma is not confident she will win but said it was nice just to be recognised.

She said she is so grateful to her clientele as without them she would not be able to do what she does.

The ceremony will be held at the Holiday Inn in Maidenhead/Windsor on Sunday (March 17).