Cherry Pie Short Nail Extensions

I used another one of my ASP colour gels on a customer today; Cherry Pie. She liked having shortish nails but they were all a little uneven in length so we evened them up with some short extensions. The colour was far pinker than was shown on the sticker, but we agreed that it was still a fab colour and would look amazing with the tan that she was going to have on holiday next week.

Bubble Gum Pink Gel Nail Extensions

I had an impromptu booking yesterday afternoon by someone looking for pink gel extensions. I was really excited as it was the perfect opportunity to use my new gel colours that I bought from Sally's recently. I have been struggling to get OPI anywhere locally and it's been really annoying me, so I really needed to get an alternative without compromising on quality.

Whilst at Sally's I found ASP colour gel in Tutti Frutti (amongst a couple of other pink shades) and decided to give it a go. It was really nice to work with considering it is about half the price of OPI however it was a little runnier than I am used to so you have to apply thinner layers which is quite annoying. I finished off with a layer of clear top coat and I think that the result was lovely. I certainly won't be giving up my OPI all together as its quality can't be beaten, but if you can't justify the £25 a pot price tag (and that's before you have bought the base and top coat) then I would certainly recommend the cheaper ASP range.

 

Excellent Gel Nail Application Video

I have been trying to find a really good video on You Tube to help me with my gel application technique, as all who have trained in this method will know that it's like passing your driving test - you learn the basics in your training and then you perfect your technique by practising. I had found it difficult to find a clip that really helped me, but this evening I came across a lady called Laura Bliss from the London College of Beauty Therapy. To view the video click here.


I hope that this also helps other new Nail Technicians like me.


L xxx

Noooooooooooooo I Feel Naked

I started to remove the gel extensions tonight and got distracted by watching TOWIE. For some stupid reason I got the clippers out to cut down the tips making it easier to file, but forgot that my natural nails are actually quite long now. Basically I now have stubby left hand nails and am going to have to add extensions all over again.


Having never cared about nails in the past, I was quite surprised at how gutted I feel, but I realised that I am more attached to my talons as I had originally thought. Seeing this, my hubby decided to cheer me up by taking me up on my nag to take more of an interest in my interests. I watch him play MW3 on the PS3, so he decided to help me with my infills on my right hand as I was too forlorn (I have honestly never used that word in my life) to do anything other than drink red wine. I have to explain that Mr W has never picked up a nail file in his life and doesn't look like the person who ever would, but honestly he was really good at it. I have a bit of a bleedy patch where he filed my cuticle and I was too polite to stop him, but then he saw the look on my face and I then felt that it was OK to then shout a few expletives. I will finish off the left hand tomorrow as I now have three days off work - yay!!!


L xxx

Valentines Nails

I was planning to file off my gel extensions this weekend as they are getting a little bit long and I have a lots of new OPI polish that I'm dying to show off, but I had always wondered whether nail polish would work over gel. I decided to give it a try and knew that I had nothing to lose, because if it didn't work then I would just remove them anyway.


As it was Valentines weekend (Mr Wonderlust is working on Valentines Day) I decided to use the red hot OPI The Thrill of Brazil. I had already filed off my left thumb extension as it had a snag in it and didn't look great hence why my thumb nail doesn't feature much in this post. I'm pleased to report that the polish went on really nicely and dried brilliantly. I was half expecting it to turn into a horrible, gloopy, melted mess as I had no idea if the ingredients of the polish would react with the ingredients in the gel. I am definitely going to do this again to refresh tired french extensions.

L xxx

OPI Axxium Gel Nail Extensions

I decided that it was time to get some more practice in with gel nail extensions as I have to get the knack of working with the OPI Axxium sculpture gel. My natural nails have been growing really well, but I have felt that they are dry and bendy, so I wanted to give them a little added length and strength to help them along.


 Ever since I started training, I found that I was a bit heavy handed with the sculpture gel and brush and as a result, it ended up a bit uneven. One of the main services that I will be offering as a nail technician will be extensions, so I am determined to get perfect as soon as I can. 


I started to practice on tips attached to my freaky fake hand and eventually I felt confident enough to have a go on my myself, and here is the result of my first solo attempt (without the supervision of my tutor Emma from Taunton Nail Training).

Shame about the flash on this one, but you get the idea.

I actually feel happier with the right hand which I was surprised with as I am very much a right hander, but maybe the extra concentration paid off after all.

The pictures above were taken 5 days after I carried out the treatment, and they are still staying strong, however I have learnt the following:

• I need to working on practicing my filing and shaping of the extension as some are more oval than others.
• I need to make sure that all nails are the same length as a couple are a little longer than others.
• Until I build up my experience I need to level the finish a little better and they aren't as even as I would like them to be, although they certainly aren't bad for a first attempt.
• I have to practice the 'rock on' tip gluing method a bit more as the ring finger on my left hand has an air bubble, which shows under the gel and could compromise the finish and staying power of that nail.

As always, let me know if you have any improvement suggestions as I want to get really good at this, and constructive feedback is vital.


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