2013, welcome...(NYE mani enclosed!)

As I sit here typing at my archaic PC, after a major laptop crisis...which ended up being no crisis at all, I'm pondering over this old year. During 2012 I managed to accomplish several goals I have set myself and also gain from experiences I never thought I'd have.  In terms of the 'nailism', I got my qualifications, insurance, set up a website (which I did not promote, due to my health being fragile) and had the new-found confidence to take my skills and passion to a different level.

Throughout all of this my blog fell to the wayside, because being a mother to small children, an employee, a blogger, a nail art lover, a nail painter to myself, a manicurist to others and a session nail technician became a little overwhelming. The session work came as a pleasant and welcomed surprise, but my love of late nights, early mornings, busy days and a stressful office job meant that something had to give.

This year, I aim to be more organised and actually read the 'to-do' lists that I make at home. Perhaps diarising things may ease the anxiety I've felt on occasion, when I've sat here staring at the 'compose' page.
Don't get me wrong, I still love my blog (hence the little overhaul), I hate that I've neglected it.

I will now post everything I do, my nails and other peoples too. My love for polish and nail art has not changed; I've just been a little pre-occupied.

 What I'm wearing right now...Jacava's 'Blueberry Muffin'*

 Can I just say that I love this shade?? It's a British brand (whoop, whoop!) and it's 4-free, meaning there's no formaldehyde, toluene, camphor or DBP in it to be of detriment to your health.

 I couldn't stop staring at my nails.

 I'm also loving my acrylics...I've missed having nails *sobs*

And to make this manicure more New Year worthy, I threw glitter at it.

 Why the drips? I don't know, I just like drips!

I'll end, saying only that I wish you all the very best this year. Make those dreams work in 2013...

xx
*Sent to me for my coconsideration.

Merry Christmas?

Sooo, how was your Christmas? I hope it was what you wanted it to be.

Mine was good. Lots of presents for the kids, another Helmer for me (yay) and above all, good company and smiling faces.

I wore this mani for the 'big day' after putting on some acrylic extensions (I refused to have nubs for Christmas!)

I thought I'd go with some plaid and some holly too.

I added some glitter to the acrylic by dipping my brush into coloured acrylic first, then into the glitter - this only made it hard for me to form the acrylic balls. I should have formed ball first, applied it to the nail and then added some glitter to it. Oh well, you live and you learn.

Now that I have some nails and another week off work in the office, I may try some more acrylic 3D molding. 

As always, thanks for reading!

Gellux: Oriental Poppy and Gold Rush

I know I've said that I'm usually not partial to gel nail polish, but I cannot deny that it is really practical for me.  I suppose my main concerns were that I wouldn't be able to find a good variation of colours and that doing art would be too difficult.
Welp, I've proved myself wrong.

This is Oriental Poppy, with Cherry Blossom (pink) and Gold Rush.

This took a little longer to create (not much) than a manicure with normal polish might've...but this is because I had to cure every single layer of gel polish that I applied, before going on to the others. Sound excessive? Well, it wasn't, considering it only took 30 or so seconds for each coat to cure under an LED light (it would've taken 2 minutes with a UV light!)
The only thing I had issue with was the black acrylic paint. Initially, the lines were much thicker, but after curing, the top coat over the thick lines bubbled. After each layer of gel is cured under a UV/LED light, there is a sticky layer left. This is not removed if you are going to continue applying more colours or topcoats - this sticky 'dispersion layer' is what bonds one layer of gel to another. I have a feeling that I covered too much of this dispersion layer with my acrylic paint and this caused the topcoat to bubble in these areas. Had I used a black gel polish, I wouldn't have had this problem. I just picked off the bubbled area, buffed the shine off the polish and then repainted the lines. I always find a work around and I enjoy experimenting to make things work for me. 

I'm going to try my best to stick with this manicure over the next few weeks - just to test Gellux's longevity. Hopefully, if Santa is good to me this year, I might be able to increase my Gellux stash!
I should also say that despite there being reviews suggesting that there have been issues with removal, I've not encountered any problems.  On this occasion I've used Salon System Profile's new 'Easy-off' base-coat...we'll see how it goes.
xx

On the grind...

Some of you may already know this, but for those who don't, I've been pretty busy over the last few months.
Thanks to Twitter and my trusty old blog, I've managed to find myself work as a session and free-lance technician. Along with being able to assist David Barton at a show for London Fashion Week, I also work as one of those manicurists that you might find at a blogger press event every so often, lol!
I've also decided to offer my manicurist services as a mobile nail technician - you can find out more at Ldoesnails.com. I'd actually intended to focus on working in this manner, but as fate would have it, I was approached to take part in a photo shoot for a magazine publication and the rest went from there.  Here is a test picture and the other pictures will be published in Black Hair Magazine in January:

I don't know the name of this pretty lady, but her nails are falsies that I pre-designed and applied on the day of the shoot.

More recently, I was on another magazine shoot involving four models... I only remembered to take one picture (slaps forehead):

 This girl was gorgeous - she looked like Pocahontas. Here hair wasn't done yet though, so I only got a picture of her hand.

So, this is why I haven't been as active with blogging, reading other blogs or answering your lovely comments in a timely manner.

Thanks for sticking around, lovelies.
xx

Pink nails, glitter tips.

Hi everyone.

Here's a manicure that I was wearing a few days ago which incorporates two of my most favourite things - the colour pink and glitter!

Yes, I sat down and painstakingly added each individual glitter hexagon piece with love. 

The top picture is far more accurate in terms of colour. Alas, it doesn't have a name and the polish has a particularly strong smell...but it does look very nice. 

The polish and glitter came from this kit by Colour Couture* and retails at £9.99, available from Semichem.co.uk , which I don't think is a bad price for the amount of items you actually get. There are also instructions on the box for how to create a french manicure with the sticky guides that are provided - perfect for someone who is new to nail art or who wouldn't know where to buy. Although I generally don't enjoy these sorts of 'kits', due to my desire for more well-known cosmetics brands, this might make a nice Christmas present nonetheless. If you are having a 'Secret Santa' game in your office at work, the price isn't bad at all.

Thanks for reading!

xx

*Item sent to me for my consideration