Friday, September 6, 2013

The Journey – From Naked Nails to Gel Polish Obsessed

I'm a simple girl.  I would live in boots, blue jeans and fitted t-shirts if I didn’t have to dress up for work.  I wear my hair long so that I don’t have to style it.  I wear minimal makeup (just enough to hide the bags under my eyes from waking up 100 times a night between the two little ones).  I have pierced ears but rarely wear earrings.  I wear only two rings and never change them - wedding set on the left, and a simple tanzanite band on my right.  I wear the same necklace every day - a white gold chain with a diamond and sapphire cross pendant.  You get the picture.  I am certainly NOT fashion forward.  I couldn’t even begin to tell you what is in style right now. 

 

Yes, I know that my nails don’t match my personal style (or lack thereof).  They did a few years ago.  Prior to March 2012, I never wore polish on my hands.  Why?  Because I’m a freaking perfectionist.  If I’m going to do something, it has to be perfect or I won’t do it at all.  Regular nail polish chips within hours on my hands.  And chips are not perfect.  You get the point.  :)  That all changed when I was forced to step outside of my cozy little comfort zone and get all dolled up to be a bridesmaid in my brother’s wedding.  I made a nail appointment and when I told the tech that I didn’t want polish because it always chips, she talked me into trying soak off gel.  2 semi-sheer coats of OPI Gelcolor Bubble Bath later, I fell in love.  Not a single chip for over a week.  That was all it took for me to go back for a second SOG manicure.  This one was a disaster.  I asked for a simple French.  What I got was a hot mess!  The white tips didn’t even begin to line up with my natural smile lines.  But I didn’t have time to make her redo it, and I didn’t have time to soak them off myself.  Want to see it? 



I was stuck with THAT hot mess for a weekend road trip to visit my in-laws.  And I was furious.  It wasn’t perfect.  It looked like a 5 year old did it.  And that shape?!?!  It kicked my OCD into overdrive.  I insisted my husband stop on the way out of town so I could grab a bottle of regular polish to cover it up and a magazine to read on the road.  As soon as I flipped open the cover, there it was.  Like a sign from the Heavens, beckoning to me.  Sensationail DIY Soak Off Gel manicures.  I looked down at my hands, looked back at the ad, and the clouds broke, the sun was shining, birds were chirping, and angels started to sing.  I looked up at my husband and said “To hell with this. I can do it better myself!”  His response? “Oh Lord, here we go again.”  (I’ve gone on a few obsession kicks in our time together…but that’s another story for another time.)

 

Because I’m neurotic, I started researching the heck out of Soak Off Gel.  I learned about other lines, picked up tips for application and removal, and started off on a journey that began with 2 bottles of Sensationail gel polish and quickly escalated to 130+ bottles of gel polish, 60+ pigments, 130+ glitters, 4 lamps, several thousand crystal rhinestones, a book full of stamping plates, over 100 regular polishes to stamp and play with, and various other nail art pieces.  How does a girl justify this madness?  Why, by starting a blog, of course. :)

5 comments:

  1. Your journey sounds a lot like mine, but I decided to do my own SOG's because I hated how they removed the previous mani & trashed my already bad nails. I didn't like paying their price either when I knew I could do it cheaper. I ordered CND Shellac & a UV light from Amazon, but I realized w/i a month or so that Shellac wasn't working for me & I wanted a LED light. I had a 20% off coupon from Ulta & bought the Pro 45 light, their base & top coat, one of their polishes, and a Progel. At 57 I finally have the nails I always wanted.

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  2. I loved ready your story! :-) (And wow, what an awful job the tech did on your nails!) I'm glad you decided to learn about SOG, because I've learned so much about it from you! Thanks for being so willing to share what you've learned, it's greatly appreciated! :-)

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  3. Similar story here. I hated that RNP chipped within a day or two. Why bother... right? I bought a SOG mani as an online 'deal'. It was flawless and I loved it. When it was time to go back, they removed it with a drill and the re-application was like a kindergarten kid had done it. Next I went to a different salon and they left me soaking off for nearly 55 minutes.... even when I complained at 40 minutes. You see, by this time I had started researching so I knew quite a bit even then. ;-) Fortunately I found tPF.... and you know the rest. Over 120 bottles and 70 manis later.... I think I'm in love. :-)

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  4. That is such a cute story Michelle. I'm surprised I hadn't read it earlier. :)

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  5. I began about a month ago and nt stop buying

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