Monday, March 9, 2015

The Nail School Chronicle: Week 14

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Hello Loves!  I'm happy to report that Week 14 of Nail School at GCI was 10,000 times better than week 13.  It wasn't perfect, but it turned into a fun week. It was my first full week on my new schedule, and it worked out great.  I've been able to spend more time with my boys, which is a HUGE bonus.  I'll go through the usual updates, but stay tuned at the end of this post for info on a new (to me) product I'm trying out called Hair Candy - as well as an unedited picture of my naked and much abused nails.

So, what happened this week?  Let's see...I had my test on Anatomy.  I admit, I wasn't prepared.  I knew as soon as I finished that I missed a few questions.  I still scored a 90, so I'm not complaining.  We moved on to the chapter on chemistry while I was out last week, so I've been trying to catch up on that.  We have the test Tuesday.  I have to say, this is the most interesting chapter so far.  Sadly, I'm not ready for this test either.  But I've read the chapter and am half way through the study guide.  I really hate that I wasn't there for the first lecture last week.

Moving on, the week was pretty much more of the same.  Repetitions, repetitions, repetitions.  Want to see one of my creations from the week?  I decided to play with my glitters.  This is ArstyFartsy Crafts light green holographic ultrafine glitter mixed with clear acrylic.  They're sculpted.  I then finished them off with a little acrylic paint and Revel Solid (for the gold).  I swear the pinkie isn't as ducky as it looks in the picture.  No matter what I did, that stupid fake hand would not bend so that the pinkie looked right in the shot.  lol  Looking at it now, I should have used a pink instead of clear for the base of the french, but oh well.  They aren't perfect anyway.  I had to stop in the middle of working on them several times to work on clients.
St. Patrick's Day Glitter Acrylic Nails Design
St. Patrick's Day Glitter Acrylic Nails Design

Speaking of clients, I had the absolute best client experience so far this week.  A long time client of the school came in.  Her name is Christina and she's 90 years old.  She requested a gel polish mani.  When I asked about colors, she responded "Do you have any crystals?  Am I too old to wear crystals?"  I had to laugh.  You're never too old for crystals!  And thankfully I had my collection in my case.  So I whipped them out and we hit google for some examples of how they can be used.  She saw this beautiful floral design by EliSing and had to have it.  Y'all, she was hilarious!  She asked me if I could erase her wrinkles from the photo.  lol  Heck, I didn't retouch this photo at all.  I hope my hands look this great at 90!  Excuse the excess oil in the photos.  It looks like there is polish on her skin, but I promise it's just oil.  Oh, and the color is OPI GelColor Kyoto Pearl.  The art is acrylic paint.  The crystals are Swarovski ss7 Crystal AB. 
Floral Nail Art Inspired by EliSing

That wraps up my week.  This upcoming week should be exciting.  We have another nail art competition this week - St. Patrick's Day themed.  I have no clue what I'm going to do yet.  We're also working with OPI Clarite in preparation for the mock state board next week.  Can I just go ahead and say that I hate Clarite?  For those who aren't familiar, it's an odorless acrylic system by OPI and it takes forever to set without the resin.  We have the resin for state board but don't use it in class.  I ordered some for class and hopefully it will be here this week.  Without it, Clarite has a rubbery residue even when it dries, so it's a beast to work with.  I'm praying the resin makes a huge difference.

Hair Candy vitamins for hair, skin and nails

Now for the beginning of a 2 month review.  I've decided to go back to my natural nails.  Sadly, they are quite destroyed right now thanks to my experimenting on them with acrylic and hard gel.  I'm starting to get a little length back, but they need some serious TLC.  I was recently contacted by a company called Hair Candy and offered a two month supply of their hair, skin and nails supplement.  I decided to give it a try.  Hair Candy is a vitamin supplement with Biotin that should give my nails and skin a much needed boost.  It should help my hair too, but I honestly don't need much help with my hair.  Each bottle contains a one month supply.  Hair Candy is more than just a biotin supplement.  The following is taken directly from the Hair Candy website:
  • Vitamin A – this vitamin helps your skin, eyes, and mucous membranes stay moist!
  • Vitamin C – this vitamin is loaded with benefits! It naturally boosts the immune system, acts as a natural antihistamine, and helps with cardiovascular health! Vitamin C is has such an important role in Hair Candy because it acts as an antioxidant that helps free the body from nasty things called free radicals, which in turn allows the skin and nails to be rejuvenated.
  • Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, and B6 – all these B’s help keep your metabolism buzzing properly! They were important ingredients to us because they help with metabolic rejuvenation and they help provide you with natural energy!
  • Vitamin B9 – a must have ingredient! This vitamin helps prevent problems during pregnancy and for those of you who are not having kids, it helps prevent some cancers and heart disease!
  • Vitamin B12 – with many benefits, one of the most important things B12 has to offer is the help it provides with memory loss. Not only does it help keep you mentally sharp, a B12 insufficiency has been connected to male infertility.
  • Vitamin D – this vitamin was picked to be in Hair Candy because its amazing ability to rejuvenate the skin!
  • Biotin – the absolute most important ingredient in Hair Candy! Biotin has what your body needs to treat dry scalp, brittle nails, and lack of hair growth!

Really, I don't see where I can go wrong with this one.  So here we go...now, it's no secret that I edit my swatch photos.  I have mentioned it before - I remove imperfections in my cuticles that would distract from the polish.  I do NOT edit the polish itself.  What isn't known is that I often have to do A LOT of editing.  Since this is a before shot, I'm going to show you a completely unedited photo of my nails and skin as they are right now.  I'm not going to lie - it makes me very nervous to share this photo.  It's like my dirty little secret.  I would actually rather show you a no makeup selfie than show you unedited hands.  But in order to do an honest review, I guess it needs to be seen.  I have been super hard on my hands through school and winter hasn't helped.  I have only cropped and watermarked this photo.  I also did not use oil before taking the picture.  This is immediately after soaking off acrylic.  As you can see, my skin is in bad shape and my nails are quite rough from overfiling (an amateur mistake...totally my fault when removing my hard gel extensions from a few weeks ago). 
Hair Candy Review - Before Photo

I'll update here as I continue to use Hair Candy and let my natural nails grow out. Of course, I'll post a separate full review when I finish the two month supply.  :)

~Michelle

*The sample of Hair Candy vitamins was supplied by Hair Candy for my honest review.  This post uses Amazon Affiliate links.  Purchases through those links generate commissions that help fund this site.  All other links are courtesy links and do not benefit ManicTalons.com.  
 

4 comments:

  1. Nice to read how different beauty schools are! I am at the beginning of my Nail School but the teacher told me clearly that we never going to paint nails on fake hands, we have to have real clients.
    The story with the 90 old lady is fantastic and her hands are amazing, indeed!

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    Replies
    1. Our State Board Practical exam is done on the fake hand too. Clients are great, but I can't imagine learning acrylic without the hand. My first acrylic was crazy bad. lol

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  2. Your bad nails look better than mine on a good day. I wish i lived closer to you, I'd love to be one of your clients

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  3. How have I not been keeping up with your school updates! I definitely have to back and read them all when I have time. :) And I love your client story, she sounds like she was a hoot!

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