Our Story
OUR STORY
Katie Barnes Tool Range is the professional choice for nail tools. Our products are designed and engineered by Katie Barnes, one of the world's leading nail professionals. We are a brand that specialises in providing the perfect structure and core, fundamental skills to help you become a successful nail professional. With over 15 years of experience, Katie is an international multi-award winning nail professional, competition judge, educator, and brand owner who knows what it takes to be successful in the industry. Her comprehensive education and ergonomic tools will help you to perfect your core skills so that you can build long lasting nails with confidence.
Some of Katie's accolades and awards include: Scratch Stars Nail Stylist of the Year, Shooting Star Award and Best Use of Social Media; Professional Beauty Nail Professional of the Year; Nailympia UK Top Tech Division 3; BABTAC Nail Technician of the Year; International Nail Art Master; International Nail Master; Top Tech Stiletto Nails and Top 10 NAILS Next Top Nail Artist. With over 70 awards under her belt, Katie finally hung up her competing boots in 2019 to become both a Judge and a Sponsor of these competitions, as well as coaching and mentoring nail professionals.
Starting off in 2007, Katie opened her own salon in Warwick and in 2011 started her education journey. Obtaining her teaching qualification from the University of Warwick, Katie gained valuable experience educating with Young Nails and then moving on to develop her own independent training academy, writing all her own manuals and courses.
With a wealth of experience in her field, Katie writes and contributes to many industry and local publications, Podcasts and educational literature; has been an advisor to the local authority on industry topics; consulted for well-known brands on their R&D and setting up their own educational programmes; presented multiple seminars at trade shows; is a Scratch Magazine cover star, and has been Scratch Magazines chief blogger since 2015, where she writes a fortnightly blog on both business and nail techniques.
The company is an advocate for charity including creating ‘Nails 4 Heroes’ which creates nail designs at military events with all profits donated to military charities. We are passionate about the environment and helping to remove to use of unnecessarily single use plastic packaging. We have also developed KB Reuse & Resharpen Service. This service encourages the industry to resharpen instead of throwing away worn tools and is inclusive to all nail technicians and their tools, not just those of the KB Tool Range® brand.
Katie is renowned for her experience and knowledge on the competition circuit and her obsession with the creation of the perfectly structured enhancement. For years, Katie has found that the industry tools were missing something: they were too long; too clumpy; blunt or difficult to use and she had to tailor her tools to get the desired results. With this in mind, and following many requests, the Katie Barnes Tool Range® was born. Katie wanted to create a range of tools which she could be truly passionate about and know that the industry was getting the best possible solution at a reasonable price. Development of the range began in 2017 and an extensive amount of research and testing has gone into the range, from both Katie and other respected industry techs, to ensure the tools and packaging meet the needs of the industry.
So whether you are here for nail tools or education, we have the knowledge and the skills to give you the confidence and techniques to succeed.
We look forward to working with you.