Lobster Rocks

I'm loving OPI 'I Mainely Eat Lobster' and I really like coral shades, especially in the summer when I have a tan. This is slightly more on the red than the orange side, and it has a nice bit of shimmer too which would look fab when the sun is shining. Unfortunately is raining non stop and it's cold here at the moment (good old English weather) but I can't wait to try it out on my holiday to Florida this year.

L xxx

OPI Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window

I had a rare 5 minutes this evening and decided to have a little look around some other nail blogs and a particular post caught my eye. OPI have a polish called Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window and I had never looked at it properly because the name was so gross, but I saw it on Addicted to Polish and I think that I'm converted. I decided that it could be a great alternative neutral shade, but OPI - the name is an epic fail.

Credit to Addicted to Polish for the image.

Louboutin Manicure

In my last post I hinted that I have just purchased some new OPI nail polish and had plans for The Thrill of Brazil and Lady in Black, well here it is...the Louboutin.

As you can imagine it was really easy to do, just OPI Lady in Black on the front of the nail and OPI Thrill of Brazil on the underside. Two coast were applied to each side to increase the depth of colour, and I found that  the black on the front showed through on the underside, so a third coat may be require to deepen the red underneath but this depends on the quality of the polish that you choose to use.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to do it on my own nails as I'm a recovering biteaholic, but I'm getting there. I can't remember where I first saw this idea (probably on another blog) but I did a bit of research into getting the right red and I think that the result looks great. Let me know what you think!

L xxx

Oh My OPI

I'm so excited, have just been to the wholesalers and bought 4 new OPI nail polishes:  I Vant To Be Alone Star, I Eat Mainely Lobster, The Thrill of Brazil and Lady in Black. I have waited all week to get these and I have some fun plans this evening for the last two, and I will hopefully upload the results by tomorrow.


I also had a delivery of OPI Swiss Blue Antibacterial Hand Soap and OPI Swiss Hand Guard Antiseptic Handwash Gel, which I will use tomorrow when I do my friend's french gel overlays. I have tried other brands, but I find that they dry the skin out and smell like vodka and these are not only moisturising, but they smell nice too.


L xxx

Totally Inspired

My recent discovery of matte top coat has inspired me to try the finish on other nail lacquers that I have. Some worked and some not so well... but I love the OPI French Quarter For Your Thoughts. I cannot get over how smooth my nails feel, but I did prep them well - I used OPI From Start to Finish as a basecoat.

I welcome any feedback as I'm thinking of offering matte nails when I get the manicures up and running. Do you like matte nails? Which colours do you think work?

L xxx

Oooh, Silky Matte Nails

YSL 'duo terriblement noir'

Before I learnt to appreciate nail fashion, I never really got matte nail finishes. I was never interested in trying it out as I thought that it made the nails look chalky, gritty and cheap. Then over Christmas I was shopping at the Yves Saint Laurent counter at John Lewis in Exeter and I saw a POS board for this stunning 'duo terriblement noir' set.

This black on black matte/glossy french manicure looked really high fashion, and I thought, if YSL are doing it then it can't be that bad, so I decided to give matte varnish the benefit of the doubt.

As it has been a long January, I decided not to go straight out and buy the YSL version, just in case I didn't like it afterall, so on my lunch break last week I went into Boots and opted for the cheaper Rimmel Pro Matte Top Coat for around £5. I also cheated on my beloved OPI (again because January has been a long old month) and picked up Rimmel Lasting Finish Nail Polish in Black Cab. The results I have to say, were brilliant, and soooooo smooth. There is no denying that there is nothing like a bit of luxury, and ultimately you get what you pay for, but not only am I now converted to the matte finish, but am convinced that if you are running low on cash, then you can still cheat the nail couture look at a fraction of the cost!

I will upload my pictures of the Rimmel finish soon, so watch this space!

L xxx

Introduction

My Nail Wonderlust...


Welcome to my blog...I'm a self confessed nail fanatic and newly qualified gel nail technician using the fabulous OPI Axxium products.


I love to write, have so many creative nail ideas, and love to test and experiment, so I thought that it was definately time to start a blog to share my passion with other nail beauty lovers. 

My wedding day nails 2011

I wasn't always interested in nails; in fact if you had told me this time last year that I would have been a qualified nail technician then I probably would have looked at you blankly. The reason for this is that I have been a nail biter ever since I was 4 years old, and in the past I had suffered from an Essential Benign Tremor (EBT) which at times of stress, was severe to say the least. I have had a handful (excuse the pun) of gel/acrylic nail sets in the past, but these have been for special occasions, and due to my nail biting, have been picked and bitten off within 10 days. This remained the case until the night before my wedding...


I had an inkling that my husband had booked me a nail treat prior to the wedding as it was on my to do list, but our best man said that everywhere within a 10 mile radius was completely booked out for the 3 days before the wedding. Lo and behold, after returning from the venue to do a last minute check, a nail technician was waiting for me and my bridal party in my kitchen. She said that my husband to be had said that he had paid for us all to have whatever we wanted, which I was mighty impressed with, as this lady used possibly the most expensive system and I knew that she didn't come cheap!


I opted for the safe french finish, with extensions as my nails were quite short at that time. I wanted a classic look, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. They not only looked great, but no electric files were used (I had been scarred by a previous traumatising incident in a Chinese nail bar in a Florida Mall 12 years prior) and they lasted a really long time. By the time they were removed, my nails have actually picked up a good amount of growth. I decided to have some coral coloured gels added next which would then look great for my honeymoon in New York, and these lasted equally as well. They allowed me to grow my natural nails longer, however a week after the overlays were removed the temptation was too much - I has a split in one nail and that was that - within 24 hours all of my hard work had been bitten off again.


I was fascinated at the process of application and removal, and had a great respect at how skillful this lady was, however I never thought that it was something that I could be good at because of my EBT which used to be so severe that I couldn't write, type or hold a drink. The other salons that I had been to had left me feeling disappointed and cheated out of between £35 and £55 and as a result I had no real interest in nails. 


After finding out that gel nails didn't have to be a farce, could last beyond a week and could actually be good for natural nails, I started to think about it as a possibility.


One of my traits is that I really love a challenge, and there have been many skills that I never thought that I would be able to do, and I have just gone for it (e.g. cross stitch, knitting, driving a JCB).  


One day I saw an advert for one-to-one gel nail training with a local training provider. As with my other challenges I decided to take a more positive approach and I enrolled. It wasn't cheap and the OPI products are excellent quality, so they are expensive, but it made me even more determined to be a success. I also started to think about the long term possibilities that it could bring me and my family. I currently work full time, and have 3 gorgeous young children; I dream of the day that I can afford to spend more time with them, whilst also feeling like a professional success. Overall I would love to run my own successful full time nail business. 


Last Monday I passed the practical and the theory exam and so here I am - a qualified OPI gel nail technician. Here is my very first overlay that I created alone. Now it's not perfect, but I have to say, I'm pretty damn proud.

So this is only the start of my journey, and I am very interested to hear feedback (both positive and negative) on my ideas, reviews and treatments. After a trial period of gel nail treatments on friends, I do intend to run this as a business, so please contact me if you are interested.


L xxx