1st Place!!

I'm very happy to announce that my Grinch nail set has won FIRST PLACE for Best Overall Creativity :D

This week so far! UV Gel & Acrylics.

 Here's what I did in school this week!

We had a representative from professional nail product company Young Nails come to the school and do a demonstration, and I got to be the model!

She gave me a bunch of different Holiday themed nails :)

 Here's a simple holiday mani I did on a class mate.

It's UV gel as a base with Shellac gel polish on top, and on the accent nails I added some encapsulated glitter and hand painted candy cane stripes!

Here is a full set of tips, each nail is a completely different design!  There are various inlays of acrylic including marbles, mylar flakes, glitters and confettis :) 

The shiny stuff on her cuticles is actually just cuticle oil, I always use cuticle oil to help replenish any moisture that might have been lost during the nail service!

Another view!

 This is a sculpted set of stiletto nails.  There were no nail tips used, instead I sculpted the acrylic on a form into the shape that she wanted!  

On the accent nails there are 3D acrylic black roses and hand painted black chevron tips over OPI's "Pink Friday" polish.

Chevron is a style of a French tip, in the shape of a V rather than the classic U shape, and I suggested it to her because I thought it would look very sexy on a stiletto shaped nail!

We also did a variation of "Louboutin" nails, but instead of red bottoms, we went with black bottoms to match the pink & black theme!

I really love these nails!

Learning: Acrylic & Gel Inlays

 Here's a little update on what I've done at school.

The latest things we have learned is called "inlays" or "encapsulating".

This can be done with UV gel or acrylic.

The trick is to work with very thin layers & creating a base, color, an item to be encapsulated, and then a clear layer over the top to seal it in.

You can encapsulate almost anything: glitter, confetti, lace, googly eyes, candy wrappers, feathers, etc.!

Here are some encapsulations or inlays I've done on classmates.

 This encapsulated glitter was done with UV gel and a brush. 

UV gel is a bit different than gel polish, it's VERY sticky and can be a lot messier!

 Here are some acrylic inlays, done on the end of a French tip and some fades as well.

4 different glitters, acrylic polka dots, heart & star confetti and marblized acrylic!

Here's another view of the acrylic.. and some palm trees in the back haha (so difficult to get a good photo of these nails!)

Learning: Glitter Acrylics!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my friends & followers!

I hope you are all having a wonderful day, and watch out for crazy people if you are doing any Black Friday shopping!!

Just thought I would share a pic of what I learned in school yesterday!

 

These are super fun glitter acrylics!

The two on the left are 2 colors faded together, and the others are french with 2 colors faded into the french tip :)

I tried to blur out the creepy fingers to enhance your viewing experience lol.

Enjoy!

Learning: More Acrylic Art!

Some more acrylic nail art that I experimented with yesterday at school!

(Yes, more creepy fingers but it's okay you will get used to them! haha)

 Green & black marble, various rainbows, 3D bow  - the rainbows were so much fun to do!

3D kissy lips & 3D hearts

My work station at school :)

Hope everyone is having a great Saturday!

Learning: 3D Acrylic Art

Yesterday at nail school was a very busy day!

We had an event called "Professional Day" and everyone was allowed to wear fancy clothes, 

and we even decorated the school.

There are also a lot of students at this school studying cosmetology and aesthetician.

Each section of the school had to pretend that they were a real salon, so there was a "manager" and we kept track of how much "money" we made doing services.

 Our "nail salon" won an award for top performance! :)

We also learned a little bit of simple 3D acrylic art.. 

It was a nice change from just doing pink and white acrylic.

Don't mind the weird plastic fingers, it's what they give us to practice on but they are kind of creepy!

 

3D Acrylic cherries, bows, and hearts over colored acrylic tips and painted leopard spots over red acrylic tip.

Here is a small Hello Kitty done on a regular pink & white, using 3D acrylic bow and striper brushes.

 My new friend at nail school loves pansies, and her mother's name is Pansy so I tried to create a 3D acrylic pansy flower.. here is my first attempt!

It was difficult!

Since it was professional day, I made my boyfriend come in to get a manicure so I could make more "money" for the pretend salon hehe :)

Back to School!

Very excited to announce that I have enrolled in nail tech school today!!
I'm really looking forward to improving and advancing my technique, and being able to start a new career in only 10 weeks :)
I start on Monday!

 Here is a nail timeline that I was actually chosen to participate in on Instagram.
I figured I would post it here as well, to show my progress :)
 #1- May 2011, my first real attempt at nail art on my natural nails. 
#2- About 6 or 7 months ago. My natural nails are really weak and

broke so I got acrylics put back on, but decided to give another shot at doing my own nail art. 

#3- One of my biggest challenges still, gradient nails. 

#4- About 3 months ago I learned how to do acrylic layovers & tips.  This is a recent mani that I'm proud of.