Breakage...and mend-age!

Hey friends.

More and more I find it increasingly difficult to blog very regularly, so I thought about using Blogger's ingenius method of blogging on the go. I was looking forward to being able to blog from my car (parked, of course), from my office desk (on my lunchbreak, of course) and whilst out shopping (for nail polish, of course!)
Imagine my sheer frustration when I remembered why I hadn't set this up sooner. It doesn't work.

Now, I don't know if it's me not being able to take simple instruction, but my iPhone will not co-operate. Blogger keeps telling me that my device is not registered and that I need to email them...which I do over and over again, but nothing works.

Can someone tell me what I need to do to make this on-the-go marlarky work? Please?

OKAY, NAILS!

 So, I broke my nail off when the baby decided to take a lie down in the middle of the street. Yes, she fell down from standing up, stationary. I think she's probably having a growth spurt and she's a little off kilter.  I scooped her up with the one hand before she actually touched the pavement and gave her some kisses, but she looked pretty confused when she was verticle again. My nail was left on the ground and I was left with a decision to make; chop them all or fix the one. Guess what I chose?

This is gel overlay with a plastic tip. Honestly, I'd rather not have any tips on, but hey, the nail needs a little help right now!

Take care all ;)

xx

The nail extension

Hi everyone, how are you doing?

I've now finished my Nail Technology course and I'm waiting for my portfolio to be verified. Now that I don't have exams and revision to deal with, I can actually pay a little more attention to my own hands. My index finger nail is a fair bit shorter than my other nails...mainly because I seem to end up filing it down by accident whilst shaping clients nails. Perhaps my own nails need to be cut or perhaps I need to find a better way to hold on to my clients without nubbinating my own finger. Please observe:

 You will also notice that I have two splits on my middle finger and a tear on my thumbnail. I've put gel overlays on each of those nails to grow them out without taking them all the way down.  As I'm always happy to play with acrylic, I decided to give my index nail an acrylic sculpted extension!

 I put on my form and began creating the acrylic extension. There are several steps that need to be taken before we get to this point, but I don't intend to bore you with details.

So far, so good.

 After the sculpt is complete. The product I am using here is not the best. It's one that we all had to train with, but our lecturer suggested that we invest a little more money in better products that offer longevity. I'm already awaiting a few deliveries.

 After filing.

 After using a three-way buffer. You know, I'd never seen anyone buff acrylic nails before and I have to say, it makes a lot of difference! I realise that using a white acrylic would have given me a nice 'forever french' manicure look, but I was not about to sit there overlaying every single nail. My nails are rarely bare so no-one will see it.

Here's the shape of the nail.

I know that a lot of you readers take very good care of your nails and there are some who think nail enhancements are a big no-no. I'll admit to feeling like a bit of a fraud when wearing an overlay or patching up a break, but on this occasion I do not. As far as I am concerned providing it is applied correctly, a nail extension can look beautiful and natural. There is nothing wrong with wearing enhancements if they make you feel good. Yes, so they may cause some weakness to your nails when removed, but if you find a good, reliable nail technician who cares about your needs and listens to you, damage can be limited.

Here's one of my clients with before and after an infill.

Before.

Here she is afterwards. She told me that they could pass for her own nails and I have to agree with her.

How do you feel about nail enhancements? If you wear them, which kind do you wear? Acrylic, gel, overlays, sculpted tips? If you don't like them, why not? I'm interested to know folks!

xx

New nails and glitter

Happy Friday folks.

Yesterday I told you that I'd changed my nail shape. I did it partly because I thought my square shape needed updating and partly because I could never get the square I really wanted.

 My 'square' nails wearing Essie's 'St Lucia Lilac'. I don't file the side walls at all - they just curve inwards and I hate it.  Only when I've been in the shower or washed up without gloves do my nails uncurl and have the shape I like.

 They curved inwards so much that they practically looked almond shaped. I took the plunge and got my file out...

 Observe the MEGA shrinkage on the index finger courtesy of Seche Vite. I love it but hate it so. It doesn't seem to set nicely when it's slathered on. I'm just too heavy handed with my polish :(

They look a lot shorter too!

For now, I like them. Knowing me, I'll slope back to the square nails again at some point though.

Growth and glitter SPAM

Well, would you look at that. A whole week without posting...

In an attempt to clear the backlog of pictures that I have stockpiled over the last few weeks, I'm just going to spam you tonight.

Here's an update of my nail growth:

 Yes, I went back to using this serum again (click here to see my review of this product). After originally complaining that I didn't get talons within a two week period, I did continue to use this serum...and I found that I'd been a little hasty in my critique. Okay, so it didn't do much to make my cuticles feel moisturised, but I did notice faster growth. I don't how it works, but I do believe that it actually does.  I've had a few occasions  recently when I've looked at my hands and been pleasantly surprised.

 Notice anything strange? I have three nail extensions on. I cut my thumb nail right down to practice my tip application and acrylic overlay technique. I did this with my left hand (obviously) and I don't think I did too badly.  The pinkie fingernail has an acrylic extension and the ring finger has a gel extension on it - both of those were applied by a classmate of mine. 

And now, a little glitter spam...

 Studio M's 'Purple Medallion'. I know it's a little random, but I LOVE this polish!

 Can you see the change in nail length?

Okay, that's all for now. Have a happy start to your week and I'll be back soon.

xx

My bare nails

After filing my nails to nothing for the sake of my manicure and pedicure course a few weeks back, I'm pleased to see that they've grown out a little.

I cracked the ring fingernail somehow. It's still attached and doesn't bend...I don't know what is going on there!

This is the cuticle oil I've been using recently. It's almond oil and I absolutely love the smell of it. I use it any time I remember. Don't be fooled by the name 'Maximum Growth'; I do not believe that this grows your nails per see, but it complements healthy nail practises such as moisturising.

I start the nail technology course this weekend, so goodness only knows what my nails will be looking like in the next few weeks!


xx
 

Green nubbins

Hey all, ready for Monday?

As my nails get ever shorter, I'm going to have to come up with manicures that work on nubbins.

 Not really much to say about this one.  I'll go into the colours in another post - I got all three polishes in a 'lovey package' from Anastacia

 My free edge may 'look' longer here, but I have literally about 2mm on my index finger. Had I painted my free edge only, I wouldn't have had much of a green tip!

Here's an example of the depth of my nail beds, but on my right hand before polishing.

Have a wonderful week friends.

xx

Sinful staining and Bubble White

Hey all.

This post is to reveal how absolutely terrible my nails were looking a few weeks ago after day 14 of the 31 day manicure challenge .  They are currently stained beyond recognition because of the very evil 'Innocent' by Sinful Colors.

Please look at the horrors that lurk beneath the lacquer:

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Oh my goodness. The sheer horror. And this was after only a few hours of wear AND I wore a base coat.  My thumb and index finger were patched in places, hence the way they look.

Two of my lovely Tweeties (whom I can't link to now because Blogger is telling me that I don't follow any bloggers, yet I follow at least 100 if not more) Marina and MariJo, suggested ways to get rid of the traces of eviiiil.
One of these ways was this:

Bubble White, effervescent powder that bubbles and removes stains when added to warm water and used to soak stained nails. It cost £1.99 from Sally's and was enough for one use.  This stuff smells like menthol and claims to cleanse your nails of stains in 5 minutes; I soaked my nails for 15.

This is what they looked like before:

Grotty.
After:

I THINK I can see a subtle difference on my pinkie. They still look awful naked now though.

Since these pictures, I've buffed them very lightly (I never buff my nails!) and there has been a slight improvement. I still can't pull off a french manicure for now.

Have YOU found any fool proof ways of ridding yourself of stains? Any tips to give me or any other readers?

Thanks for visiting :)

xx

31 Day Manicure Challenge Day 14 - 'Flowers'...and tears!

Good evening readers.

Today I am posting up a picture of my 'Flower' or floral nails. Whilst I love the end result, I was far from dissatisfied with what I saw when I removed the polish (you'll see what I mean in a minute).

First, here is the eye candy:

This is Sinful Colors 'Innocent'. Hmmm.

 To do this, I used the 'Innocent' as a base and sponged on Barry M's Matte White. After two layers of Sally Hansen's Diamonds, I used image plate S5 to stamp on the cherry blossoms. I then went in with my tiniest art brush and painted in the petals and centre with acrylic paint, before adding a few black dots for effect. My back was aching after that!

Just look at the absolute horrors I saw when I removed it...

'Innocent' is not so innocent after all. The staining is horrific. I was bawling about it all over Twitter today and after soaking my nails in lemon juice and using two stain removal tablets (effervescent ones) I still had no joy. I think I'm going to have to take some drastic methods here...baking soda here I come. By the way, thanks for the tweets of advice my dears :)

Aside from the 'stainage' I hope you liked it!

xx

Miracle Growth experiment....2 WEEK UPDATE!!

I had to try and squeeze this in because I should have really given you an update yesterday.

Remember I decided to buy Sally Hansen's nailgrowth Miracle Serum? I was trying to get a 59% boost in my nail length in a two week period (as promised by the product) and also some nice cuticles too. After rubbing a drop of serum into my nails and cuticles twice a day for two weeks here are my results.

*Drum roll please*

Errrrrr. I see progress, as you would in any two week period, but 59%? No, I don't think so.  The middle and ring fingers look a good deal longer, but I don't think it's anything spectacular. What do you think?

I gained around 2mm on the index fingernail - blah.

I'm not sure if this does what it promises to do. The formula of the serum is not moisturising all - it's water based and after application, it didn't alleviate any dryness. As much as I think it didn't work for me, I really don't want to write it off just yet. I'm going to use the bottle for another two weeks just so that I can say I gave it a good try.

I'm so sorry I couldn't come back to you with a 'Miracle Growth Stimulator' that is like gold dust in a bottle. Alas, t'was not meant to be.

Have you had any luck with particular products?

xx

Miracle Growth experiment....

Friends, I've trimmed my nails because I was getting tired of having to patch up tears with every change of polish.  I've bashed and bent my nails so much of late, even after a trim a few weeks back; I'm looking at damage on practically every nail :(

So, in a bid to grow my nails out again, I've been looking for a growth accelerator.  I bought this...

Hmm. '59% Longer nails!' in two weeks apparently.  Let's not worry about the 9%  - 50% is good enough for me.


My nails tend to grow about 2.5-3mm every two weeks. I know this because I used to get my acrylics filled in twice a month and usually had this amount of growth. So if I use this, by two weeks I should have between 3.75-4.5mm of growth? Really?!! This may not seem like a lot, but it makes a big difference if you have a painful break that you want to get rid of!

Moisturising and massaging can stimulate nail growth and so can drumming your fingers every so often
but I want to see if any of these growth solutions give you visibly faster growth. So, for the next two weeks I will apply one drop of this clear, non-greasy serum which has the consistency of a gel, to each cuticle. The package doesn't specify how many times a day it should be used, so I'll do it before bed and one other time during the day. After massaging the serum in, I'll moisturise my nails in the normal way (with any old cream I can lay my hands on).
In two weeks time, I'll make a post about my progress...

Here are the starting pictures:

 16/10/2011

19mm

I've measured from cuticle to tip because it wouldn't be so accurate measuring the free edge.

Wish me luck eh? I hope that it DOES work - this bottle cost about £10!!

xx

Water decals

Hey friends. Guess who found their USB cable?

This is what I'm wearing today - full cover water decals. I absolutely LOVE these!

I'm selling a few of these in my shop

All I did was use one layer of basecoat, choose the correct sized decal for a nail, cut it out and put it in a bowl of water. After a few minutes, I was able to slide the design off the cardboard and put it on my nail. I then filed of the excess and put on two layers of topcoat afterwards. If your nails are longer than mine, they would still fit you - I had over 5mm excess design left after application. They were very easy to apply and slid of the cardboard with ease when they were wet. The decals were also pretty sturdy, not like some that just disintegrate when polish touches them. I've now been wearing these for a full day...so far, no chips.

Ah, I've also re-shaped my nails. The are more square now. The oval shape was getting on my nerves.
Below is a picture of what they looked like before the squaring and decal-ing!

Happy Monday folks!

xx