A nail technician created a bespoke set for a dead client and applied them before her funeral. <br /><br />Kelly Campbell, 47, had been doing her elderly client Carole Jacobs' nails since 2001, and immediately knew she wanted to paint a set for her "final journey". <br /><br />She co-ordinated the press-on with the outfit Carole, 72, was buried in - a chrome silver and pink nails to go with her white blouse and blue skirt. <br /><br />Kelly did the manicure to her natural nails in the funeral home while Carole lay in the casket. <br /><br />The nail artist even added gems to the manicure - after Carole told her she loved them, but didn't feel they were very practical. <br /><br />Kelly - who now teaches nail artistry at college level - from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, said: “Carole was like a godmother to me - so when her cousin told me she needed someone to help with her funeral outfit, I was like 'I got her'. <br /><br />“When I did her nails for the very last time, I gave her chrome and rhinestones. <br /><br />"She never liked them too much because they used to pop off while she was doing stuff. But these ones wouldn’t be going anywhere - and I wanted to match her outfit. <br /><br />“She had these rhinestone heels and silver accessories, too. She looked so beautiful.”<br /><br />Kelly had been doing Carole's nails since she was 24, when she ran her own salon - Kelly’s Exotic Nails. <br /><br />The first appointment she attended, she didn’t have a specific nail look in mind - but she told Kelly she wanted to “look good”. <br /><br />She was impressed by the set Kelly did for her - long chrome acrylics - and decided to re-book her. <br /><br />“This lady came into my salon,” Kelly said. <br /><br />“And she was just so jazzy and sassy - it was always such a joy to see her for her appointments. <br /><br />“The first time she came, she just said ‘I want you to make me look good.’ And I was like, ‘yes ma’am'.<br /><br />“She told me afterwards she wanted to book me again, and she just kept on and on.”<br /><br />Carole soon trusted Kelly to do her nails every time she needed them - and when Kelly moved 800 miles away to Atlanta in 2002, she asked her brother, Corey Smith, 50, to do them in the meantime. <br /><br />She said: “I closed my shop in 2002 and moved to Atlanta, so my brother Corey started doing her nails instead. <br /><br />“When I moved back a year later, she instantly sent for me, and I started doing her nails regularly again. <br /><br />“She followed me everywhere - everywhere I went, she came with me and wanted me to do her nails.<br /><br />“She was very special to me.”<br /><br />For the first 10 to 15 years, Carole booked appointments once every two weeks - and Kelly saw her style evolve as she became a more experienced nail technician. <br /><br />While she started off wanting decorated acrylics in silvers, golds and chromes, Kelly eventually encouraged her to go natural - and began painting her nails with pink gels instead. <br /><br />But as Carole got older, her appointments slowed down and in the last year, she only booked in with Kelly when she had an event to go to.
