NIKKI CRUZ

CREATOR OF AESTHETIC BEAUTY

Nikki, describe your current life situation in a nutshell…

 All over the place. Im currently restoring a 1971 VW beetle, I've stripped the inside and taken all the exterior parts off so it can be painted and new upholstery fitted. I'm just so proud of myself that I've taken apart a car and will get to put it back together. My dad is helping but that's by telling me what tool to use and how to do it. I've got a manual so it should be fun struggling haha. I have my coffee table book, my art prints, my skincare business, freelance photography and content creation. I have so many projects going on but that's how i like it, I like to keep myself busy or i just want to sleep. Plus i have two kids so I'm pretty much tired and hungry everyday. I'm hungry now.

Freelancing in the creative realm, what do you feel are the positives and what are the negatives (if there are any)?

There's so many positives! I can choose projects that i want to work on or if I feel it's not right for me I can say no. i can work in my pyjamas. I just have a lot of freedom and it just feels right working on building a business for myself because i want to be the boss, not work for one. Negatives when your starting out income isn't just rolling in consistently so you you still have to have another job to pay for life. I don't have to work and my partner tells me I should just focus on my business but I choose to and I want to contribute to our family so I was lucky to find a night fill job and i do that at night so I can do all my creative work during the day.

Tell us about your secret project that we have been so eagerly awaiting, Soel Walker… 

Oh my baby. I've been working on this project for a year and half now and it's something I'm really passionate about, skin. I used to have really, really bad acne and i found that my confidence level plummeted so much that i would never want to leave the house or I would cancel plans and events because I didn’t want to show my face. Finally i went to a dermatologist and we fixed my skin but then a few months after it being fresh the acne slowly started coming back so i just made my own skincare routine and products and found that they worked so i thought i would share it with people because i want everyone to feel confident and know that they're not alone. I'm starting off with two products for the launch which will be face mists and a face and body oil, so keep watching. I promise they're good.

Who and where do you look to for inspiration? Whether it be in the art, fashion, travel, business and/or music worlds…

Travelling is my go to for inspiration. Whenever I'm on holiday or even drive down south it just makes me see and think about everything differently and from a different perspective. Easy and quick inspiration is from art, fashion and music but that doesn't always work, it doesn't fuel my creativity and inspire me to create. Who is my inspiration? I would say my dad and his business. He is such a hard worker that it just makes me want to work hard as well. He has put a lot of time into his craft/work and everything he does, so if i put a lot of time into myself and my work than i can be successful like him.

Lately you’ve been blowing our mind with your beautiful line drawings, and we are now ready for your coffee table book to be published! Have you always been into drawing or is this a recently discovered talent?

Thank you! I'm ready to publish it too and can't wait for it to be in peoples homes, just trying to find the time for that. Ive always been into drawing, im always doodling around if i have a pen in my hand. When i was 17/18 I did a tattoo apprenticeship with my dad and the only way to get better is drawing so thats what i would do is draw everyday all day and my oh my did my hand hurt. But that also taught me that I don't ever want to draw for other people again haha because most of the time i didn’t love what i was drawing. So i gave up for a while but lately i just feel the need to draw so everything i draw now is for myself and I think that's the only way I can continue to love it.

Any secret tips for keeping happy, healthy and balanced in these colder winter months?

Being happy is easy when I’m around my family or just watching my new favourite comedian Nate Bargatze. I was watching him in the car one day and I was laughing so hard I was crying. I looked like a crazy person. Healthy, well I work out at home and try to eat healthy and 90% of the time I do but I’m a chocolate girl so I’ll never give that up. Feeling balanced and centred I feel talking to myself works a treat. It sounds crazy but it works. I ask myself how I'm feeling, what I should do, if I want something, how do i get it. Everything I've asked myself for I usually get or something's happened and it's all worked out.

 

*5 MINS WITH NIKKI *

Starsign.

Virgo

Fav crystal.

I honestly don’t know, I don’t own any.

Right now I can’t live without…

My stylus pen

Best place in the world I’ve explored.

Paris, I just felt at home there.

Most inspiring woman in my life is…

My nan. She's 101 and still going strong her determination to live and have a life is just amazing. This woman does not let her age get in her way and I hope to live as long as she does. What I love the most is that if she's tired or doesn't want to hear you anymore she will either turn her hearing aid down or just get up and go have a nap.

I feel most beautiful when…

I've just had a shower

Magic is…
Finding chocolate bars around the house that i forgot about. Winning.

JOIN IN ON THE CREATIVE WHIRLWIND WITH @NIKKI.CRUZ