Another packed post

So I'll start this one off with another regular nail polish.

This is 2 coats of OPI A-Taupe The Space Needle.  I added OPI DS Desire accents.  It's funny after wearing soak offs for so long I forgot how quickly nail polish chips.

I got some more pearl powder samples from my boyfriend's dad's autobody shop.  I just scrubbed them over black polish. From L-R is Fine Blue, Violet, Red, Sunset Red, Copper, Green and Green-blue.  With all the buzz over the Shellac Additives lately, I knew I had to try these out...

This is 2 coats of Shellac Silver Chrome with Copper pearl powder scrubbed in.  I had a small haul of nail supplies from China and decided to try out a fimo slice.  I cut it as thin as I possibly could, but the raised edge is really friggen annoying.  I bought them to use on other people anyways, so no big deal.

Totally off topic but we went to FanExpo in Toronto last week.  I was really excited to see one of my favorite actors there:

It's Norman Reedus who most people will recognize as Darrell from The Walking Dead.  But to me he's one half of the Murphy brothers from The Boondock Saints :D.

And finally, my nail-biting mother ripped all her acrylic nails off and this time she wanted them shorter, more rounded and more natural looking.

I managed to correct a few things this time around so they came out thinner than last time but I need some work on my shaping skills.  It will be interesting to see what other tips and tricks I can get from the course next month.  I think once I'm certified that I will start out offering Shellac only at first since I'm already a pro at that.  Nail extensions are pretty damn hard, it's definitely an art form.

Later
P

Shifting Gears

I've got a regular nail polish for you today.  I really haven't had much time to do another soak off manicure.

This is 2 coats of LeChat Dare to Wear Hologram Diamond.  I actually bought this colour in soak off gel but it came with a free regular polish.  It's just a medium sized holo glitter but I like it.  This will look great over my soak off gels.

A couple of weeks ago I was bored and swatched my soak off collection...

I have 59 in total!  Can you believe I own that many pinks?  Actually the pinks all came with sets I bought and they are great for my sister and also for everyone else I will soon start polishing because...

I am officially taking a Nail Tech course in September!  I've been doing soak off manicures on the cheap for friends and family only for a little while but I've recently been interested in nail enhancements too and after trying an acrylic set on my Mom I figured that I really should learn proper technique and sanitation so that I don't harm anyone.  The plan is after I'm done the course to start up a little side business as a mobile tech during evenings and weekends.  Maybe I can actually make enough money to pay for my nail habit!  Although I'm a pretty avid bargain hunter, I can safely say that I've easily invested thousands into my nail habit...ugh.  At 59 soak offs that probably average $12 each and over 700 regular polishes that probably average $3 each...yeah do the math.  Not to mention all the accessories - stamping plates, swatch wheels, crystals, stickers etc.  Holy shit am I insane?

So I forgot to post last time that not only did I buy an acrylic starter kit but I also scored some specialty glitter and holographic acrylic powders on Kijiji.

This is both the acrylic kit and Kijiji haul together and I paid $70 for all of it!  I've been a crazy woman on youtube and all over the internet reading up on techniques and creative acrylic uses and can't wait to see what's in store for me at the Nail course!  I'm hoping once I start getting clients and doing nails a lot more I'll be able to post a variety of manicure designs and get back to also posting a lot more often.

Later
P

I'm still here

I was on holidays last week, my sister was here for a visit and I had a really bad nail break - that's my excuse, sorry.

Seriously, check out the shorties...

This was after about a week of healing.  My ring finger nail broke so badly it drew blood.  So I haven't painted my nails much the last couple of weeks since I don't want to get any acetone near them.  Anyways, this is 1 coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Jade Jump with an accent nail of the silver polish from the Borghese set I picked up at Winners...

I picked this up in the clearance section for $10.  Winners has their final clearance on right now.

I also picked up this Nailtini 4-pack for $5 and the Jessica Smoky Feather for $2.

Then I had a little US haul...

Orly Buried Alive for $2.69 at Sallys, Layla Ocean Rush at Ulta and I couldn't resist the price on that Kardashian set at Ulta for $2.49 plus an extra 20% off.

Meijers was clearing out their CND polishes for half price so I grabbed Amethyst Sparkle and Raspberry Sparkle for $5.50 each.  Walgreens had the Sally Hansen Salon in Loves Me Not in the clearance bin for $3 and the Insta-Dri's were BOGO 1/2 so I got In A Flurry and Freeze for $5.50 because I used a couple of coupons on top of that.  This was probably my smallest US haul in 2 years lol.

My sister also brought me some things I ordered online awhile ago which included a pro kit for acrylic nails since I'm the queen of DIY.  I attempted my first set on my mother who is a chronic nail biter:

I still need plenty of practice and I need to go back and fix a few things, but I think I did ok for my first attempt.  I used the reverse method here but I probably won't do that again since it shadowed pretty badly.

And finally, I let my sister paint my gel nails last week and this is about 5 days in.  She did ok but didn't cap my edges very well.  It's 2 coats of OPI Bogota Blackberry with 1 coat of Gelish Good Gossip and then I painted a coat of Layla Ocean Rush on my ring finger.

Phew, I hope this post made up for my absence :)  Hopefully I will be able to find time to polish more often again.

Later
P