A beauty therapist went viral for all the wrong reasons after trolls hit out at her 'denim inspired' tips manicure, saying the look made hands appear 'dirty'.
Catherine Snowling, from Norwich, Norfolk, created the unusual look using Shellac polish on skin-tone nail beds and 'denim patch' polish tips.
However, the 27-year-old's bold design backfired when thousands of social media users claimed it looked like dirt had gotten caught under her nails, failing to see the denim design.
While Catherine first created the design back in June last year, the photo went viral after it was shared by denim nail polish manufacturer CND - resulting in a barrage of rude and insulting comments.
Advert
The comments did not just stop at what they thought of Catherine's nails, with many keyboard warriors seeking out her personal Instagram to snipe at the married mum of one.
"I've found that a lot of people hate the look, but I also found that a lot of the people within the industry are being supportive and they like the design, because they understood where I was coming from," Catherine explained.
"But then I've had comments from mechanics saying they'd get this look from greasing their cars.
"My post is even being shared on equestrian Facebook pages, where they're saying they get this look from cleaning out their horses."
Catherine at first was hurt by the comments, but after taking the advice of her husband and family, she stopped paying attention to trolls - and is now able to brush off some of the barbed remarks.
Advert
"I didn't get why they were hating on my work. When people were writing all these comments, it made me feel like I didn't want to post anything anymore," she said.
"Once I saw there were thousands and thousands of comments, I thought 'There's too many to even care about.'
"The more comments I've received, the less personal it feels. Once I started seeing these comments were coming from females, males, people from different industries, I started to realise it was more about the picture, than it was about me.
Advert
"I haven't got the time to read through them and take offence to them as my little boy is my main priority."
Catherine, who has over nine years in the beauty industry, has not been put off trying to recreate the look again in the future.
"I don't think they look that bad," she said. "I'd definitely recreate it and try different colours with it, because why not?
"It's my job and what I love doing, so I'm not going to let these negative comments discourage me from doing that."
Advert
And now, Catherine feels that she can laugh at some of the trolls.
"There were obviously some comments that weren't very nice," she said. "I think I saw one that said, 'I can recreate this look if I scratch my bum.'
"They're trolling me in such childish ways. When I see some of these comments, and I realise that they took the time to come onto my page, I just think 'God, you're quite sad really.'
"I just laugh about it now."
Advert
Speaking about the viral post, CND wrote: "Woke up to see we went viral...and then we saw why. We understand having different tastes, but we genuinely loved the artist's design. We don't need to shy away from expressing differing opinions, but let's not forget to respect others."
If you've been affected by this story, you can seek support from BulliesOut charity here, and donate to support their work to end online bullying.
Topics: Beauty, Nails, Life, Real Life, Style