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