Monday, January 26, 2015

The Nail School Chronicle: Week 8

The Nail School Chronicle

Hello Loves!  Ready for another Nail School Chronicle update?  This past week was a short one thanks to MLK Day, but I have so much to share!  It turned out to be a very exciting week.  :)

Where do I even start?  Goodness.  Ok, so I had another test last week.  Aced it.  Perfect score.  It was the second hardest chapter in freshman theory.  Yeah, I know I should just let it go, but this makes me even more annoyed by the 95 on the easy chapter.  Grrr.

Oh yeah, and I'm officially a Senior now.  What does that mean?  I'm being booted out of the classroom and onto the floor where I'll work on clients.  I'm not going to lie, I'm both excited and scared to death.  I don't feel ready.  Don't get me wrong, I know the basic material backward and forward and I have no doubts about my abilities on mani/pedi or gel polish.  I'm even ok with acrylic at this point.  So why does it scare me?  Because I know I can handle my own nails but I'm not confident I can do as well on someone else's.  Oh well.  I guess we'll see how it goes.  I still have a lot more training to go and will have hands on training with my instructor as I tackle (lol) real clients.  :)

Speaking of acrylic, I have another update to show you.  Remember the post from Week 1 where I showed you my first blended tip with acrylic overlay?  This picture?

Well, here we are 8 weeks later and I have a comparison picture to show you.  I'd say I've improved.  Its hard to tell in this picture, but the tips are light blue acrylic.  I lost a little of the definition on the 3d flower when I top coated, so that needs a little work.  But what do you think?
Blended Tip with Acrylic Overlay - Week 8 in Nail School

Here they are side by side.  I would actually wear the newest set!  lol
Acrylic Overlay Progression - Week 1 and Week 8

Ok, so becoming a senior was only the beginning of my excitement for the week.  If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you might know what's coming next.  See, what happened was...

I was sitting there in class minding my own business when Mr. Wayne came around with a new student.  Usually he walks in and introduces the new student to the instructor.  This time, he walked in the door and said "And this is Michelle."  I looked up to find myself face to face with Nicole from Nail Polish Wars.  I instantly knew her.  Unlike me, Nicole isn't afraid to share a selfie now and then.  My jaw hit the table and I kind of sat there speechless.  I think she said something like "Manic Talons!  Nail Polish Wars!"  Of course I knew who she was and I certainly knew her blog, but my mouth wouldn't move.  I mean, total fan girl moment.  I'm not usually one to be star struck, but I was caught off guard.  Nail Polish Wars is one of the first nail blogs I started reading long before I started Manic Talons.  If you're not familiar with her blog, click that link above and check it out.  Her work is fantastic.  I knew she was local, but I never expected to run into her at Georgia Career Institute of all places!  What happened next was a mix of squeals, hugs and selfies.  lol  I'm super psyched that she's joining us.  I mean, I love my fellow classmates, but having someone in class who "gets" me as a blogger is going to be awesome.  Plus, she's super funny.  Oh, and this is why I don't do selfies.  I always end up looking a hot mess.  Would you believe I actually ran my hands through my hair before the picture?  I promise I didn't just climb out of bed and go straight to class.  lol
Michelle from Manic Talons and Nicole from Nail Polish Wars

After she left, I marched over to Mr. Wayne's office and told him he is not allowed to do that to me.  He can't just walk in with a well known blogger like that with no warning!  He laughed and said "I didn't know!" so I had to school him.  Don't get me wrong, my little blog here has been successful but I'm always surprised to meet people who "know" me.  Still, I'm a small fish compared to Nicole.  Girl has mad skills and more than double the number of readers I have here.  I told Wayne I'll never win another mock nail art competition now that she's here.  lol  I know my art isn't too shabby, but she does all of her art with nail polish.  Nail polish!  I use gel polish and acrylic paints.  Those are soooo much easier to work with.  I'm always amazed by artists who use polish.

Moving on, I did something this week that I haven't done in over a year.  I sat down and did a mani on myself from start to finish without stopping to take photos of each step.  Crazy, right?  I actually wasn't planning to blog about this one at all, but I love how it turned out so much that I'm throwing it in here today.
Metallic Flowers over Flakies Nail Art

So, what's going on in this one?  The base is Couture Little Black Dress.  I know I haven't blogged about Couture in a while.  Rest assured, I still love my Coutures.  I just have so much other stuff going on and Couture hasn't released new colors in a while.  Plus you can see my swatches of their entire line in the colors section of their website.  How much do I love my Coutures?  Well, this mani killed my second bottle of Little Black Dress.  I have a ton of other blacks to choose from, but LBD is still my favorite.  :)

The next layer is KBShimmer Rainbow Shield.  Rainbow Shield is on the of the LE Flakies that KBShimmer released on Etsy a few months back.  As soon as I saw them, I knew I had to have them and ordered them immediately.  The collection consists of 6 flakies and it looks like they are still available.  They never made it to the KBShimmer website due to limited quantities, but you can buy them here while they last.  Trust me, they are all amazing.  I'll do swatches as soon as I make it through all the other stuff on my calendar.

Here's a swatch of Rainbow Shield over Couture Little Black Dress.  I can't help but love it!
KBShimmer Rainbow Shield over Black

Funny thing about this mani.  I decided to sponge on the flakies for better coverage without the added bulk.  It was genius and I love the result.  Except for one little thing...I wasn't smart enough to put down a layer of glue around my nails before I started sponging.  Whoops.  Turns out flakies stick like super glue and will not come off of your skin.  I waited 24 hours and scrubbed with polish remover, a nail brush, sugar scrub, and washed my hair before taking these photos.  I still have flakies stuck to my cuticles.  I've decided to just give up on removing them.  Anyway, for a final touch, I added some freehand flowers and swooshes with Bundle Monster Photo Op from the Metallic Red Carpet Collection.  Here's a better shot of the final mani.  See all the light reflections around my nails?  Those are the flakies that wouldn't let go. lol
Metallic Flowers over Flakies Nail Art

That wraps up this week's edition of The Nail School Chronicle.  Be sure to check back later in the week for more swatches and reviews.  I'm not sure what I'm going to show you yet, but I'm certain it will be fun.  :)

Oh yeah, I still haven't had a chance to update my Swatch Galleries.  I did update the Nail Art Gallery though.  Check it out to see all of my nail art creations in one place.  :)  I'll try my best to get to the Swatch Galleries this week!

~Michelle

11 comments:

  1. That is so cool that you met NPW! Small world for sure! And you both look great in the photo so I don't know what you're talking about! :)

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    1. That flippy thing my hair is doing right up front! I call it the curse of long bangs. They either stay tucked behind my ears or do something stupid like in that pic. lol

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  2. girl, your acrylics have improved so much! They look great :)

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  3. You look so great, and excited to meet Nicole (I would be too!!). Also: working on real people would scare the piss outta me. LOL!

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  4. That was awesome. I wish I lived over that way. I've actually been thinking of trying a school in my area, but IDK yet.

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  5. What an awsome week! Your acrylics look great, you aced your test and you met NPW! Your cuticles cleary felt left out and wanted to shine in the spotlight ;) gorgeous mani as always

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  6. Your mani is beautiful! Hahah, the flakies are giving up, are they? Sounds like things are all of a sudden moving faster at school than you thought, or were mentally prepared for. You will do great - it's just all new, and new things like that are scary! Soon, working with people and their nails will be old hat. And, wow, what a surprise!!! I can only imagine how stunned you were! I would have embarrassed myself squee-ing all over the place!

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  7. edit: *the flakies aren't giving up*

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  8. Rad! This how is was when I found out you were you while talking with you on FB chat. haha.

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  9. It's so exciting to see how well your acrylics are coming on! Super cool being in nail school with another top blogger. The two of you will be taking over the world soon.

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