The Nail School Chronicle: The End of the Journey

Hello Loves!  I'm back from my little break with SOOOOOOO much stuff to share with you!  Oh my goodness, I'm completely overwhelmed.  I have products coming out of my ears between the wonderful companies I work with and the Nail Tech Event of the Smokies last weekend.  But I figured the best place to start is with the end, right?  The end of my Nail School journey, that is.

I've put a lot of thought into what I want to say in this post.  Honestly, I could write a novel about my experience - the good, the bad and the ugly.  But I'll try to keep it on the shorter side.  Where do I even start?  lol

When I made the decision to go back to school, I knew it would be difficult.  Not only is the school over an hour away (you know, we measure distance in time in the South), but I have two young children who just started daycare and were determined to catch every germ within a 50 mile radius.  But that wasn't the biggest worry for me.  I'm not exactly a stranger to this industry, and some of you speculated that I might get bored.  Even that wasn't my biggest hurdle.  I suffer from GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder).  It is both a blessing and a curse.  While it does cause me to worry about things more than I should, it also causes me to research EVERYTHING to death in order to calm those worries.  My quest for knowledge is unending.  I have to know the science, the history, the ins and outs of everything.  It can make me a difficult student to teach.  I'll completely own that.  lol  But it also gives me a drive that is unrivaled.

My first week of class, my instructor said something profound that really stuck with me.  She said (and I'm paraphrasing here) "When you make the decision to do something that will change your life for the better, the Devil will do everything in his power to try to stop you.  You have to push forward.  Don't let him win."  Believe me, truer words have never been spoken.  During my school journey, my kids stayed sick.  Keith was in that horrible wreck.  And my health took a beating.  It took almost two months longer than scheduled for me to finish school.  But I didn't give up.  I dug my heels in and told the Devil to get lost.  It was hard.  Things piled up on me that made me question my choice to change careers.  I questioned whether I really have what it takes to make it in this industry.  Do I have the talent?  The personality?  The will?  There were many nights that I cried myself to sleep.

So let me say this:

But I have something that a lot of people don't have.  I have YOU!  You stood behind me and cheered me on.  You encouraged me not to give up.  Many of you sent me emails and messages through facebook.  You reminded me why I started this journey, and you gave me the support I needed to get through it.  When we were financially drained, YOU picked us up so I could carry on.  It is because of YOU that I am able to write this post.  It is because of YOU that I was able to leave my mark on the board at GCI as a 2015 Graduate of the Nail Technology Program.  I don't have the words to even begin to express my gratitude.  I'm tearing up just writing this.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you!  Thank you for the support.  Thank you for the encouragement.  Thank you for being dedicated readers of this little blog.  Thank you for believing in me.

I bet you're wondering what I wrote?  "Never let anyone stand in the way of your dreams" of course!

And here is the group photo with my classmates.  There are a few missing from this shot.  :(  Sorry about the quality...I forgot my camera so I had to borrow Mr. Wayne's photos from his phone.  Yeah, I'm failing left and right at this blogging thing.  lol

So how did the last week go?  It was honestly the most difficult week of the entire course.  I wanted to finish before the Nail Tech Event of the Smokies, so I pretty much camped out at the school.  12+ hour days all week, grabbing every client and student I could to finish.  I guess you could say that my final week was the most realistic to a hopping salon setting of them all.  I actually finished last Thursday at 6:45 pm.  I finished the credits before then, but thought I needed to stay until 9:30 for my hours.  I apparently miscalculated a little.  So I spent my last hours applying one last set of nails to my mannequin hand.  These are permanent - glued to the hand to serve as a reminder of my time at GCI.  Of course, I had to include the Calla Lily, which is the school flower.

I was working on this when Ms. Vee came over and told me I could start packing my things because I was finished.  I decided to stay a little longer so I could finish the nails.  As you can see in the photo, I had my instructors and classmates sign the hand when I was done.  Ms. Vee is the night instructor, so I couldn't leave without getting her to sign it.  I didn't even have time to knock the dust off.  lol

True story...I finished my requirements a day before I expected and my classmates had already left for the day.  They were expecting me to finish on Friday and brought snacks to celebrate.  Since I needed them to sign my hand, I went in Friday morning for a little while to do the whole "graduation thing" and say goodbye.  I'm missing a few signatures, but I'll get those when I go back in a week or two to set up my state board exams.  I met some wonderful ladies and gentlemen during my time at GCI, and I'm going to miss them.  I've spent this week at home with my children, but I already miss the school.  Sure, it wasn't always sunshine and roses while I was there, but I made some great connections and met some fabulous people.

Let's do a short recap of the program, shall we?  The curriculum for nail technology courses in GA is very much focused on the foundation type stuff.  Basic manicure and pedicure procedures.  Acrylic application.  Nail wrap application.  That kind of thing.  We covered a little bit of gel, but not much.  It was centered heavily around the state board practical exam requirements.  Theory covered much more - from business to nail disorders and diseases to nail services.  Walking into GCI, I knew a lot about gel.  Walking out, I know a lot about nails, acrylic, polish, and people.  I would love to say that I walked into the school knowing everything, but I didn't.  I learned a lot and am very thankful for the experience.  I also determined without a doubt that I am meant to teach.  Be it as an instructor or a brand educator, teaching is where I belong.  So while this is the end of my Nail Technology course journey, it is only the beginning of my educational journey.  There are many more chapters left to write!

In closing, I'm sure some of you are wondering if I recommend Georgia Career Institute for the Nail Technology Course.  The answer is YES!  Most definitely YES.  GCI has made a huge impact on my life.  I know very few of you are in the Atlanta GA area, so allow me to say this:  If you are considering joining the Nail Industry, don't let anyone stand in your way.  Find a school.  Make it work.  Follow your dreams.  You won't regret it.  :)

~Michelle

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The Nail School Chronicle: Almost There

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Hello Loves.  I know I haven't posted about nail school in a while, so I figured it's about time for an update.  I apologize for dropping the series without notice.  I've actually been dreading writing this post.  Why?  Because there just isn't anything exciting to write about right now.  I'm at that point where all the days blur together.  Well, the days that I was able to go.  I had to take a few days (ok, it added up to a few weeks) off.  But y'all have been so super supportive and deserve an update.  :) 

So much has happened since my last update.  I have now completed and passed both of my mock state board practical exams.  That is a really cool process.  The school sets everything up just like the actual state board exam.  They run through it as if we are taking the actual test and then provide notes on how we can improve.  After taking both mock exams, I feel 100% ready for the real thing.  All of my anxiety over that portion of the test has been relieved.  I don't know if all schools do mock exams like this, but it is freaking awesome and I am super thankful that GCI does them!  I still have some anxiety over the written portion of the state board exam, but I'm sure I'll be fine.  I'll go over all of my notes a hundred times between now and then.  lol

So, where do I stand right now?  I have less than 50 physical hours to go.  During those hours, I have to complete 14 more pedicures and 31 more manicures.  Whew...that number is daunting.  Not as daunting as the original 60 pedicures and 80 manicures we started out with, but still daunting.  Did I mention that those manicures are basic manicures?  Meaning polish, not gel polish?  Yeah...so I've been working on my polishing skills.  A lot.  I'm getting better, I think.  But I still prefer my gel polish.  Anyway, several of my classmates have started helping me find students for manicure and pedicure services.  I can't even begin to express how thankful I am for their help.  Seriously, my heart is overflowing.

Ok, enough with the rambling.  As I mentioned, I've been working on my polishing skills.  Which means I've also been playing with polish nail art techniques.  I finally managed a decent polish gradient!  Woo Hoo!  Wanna see it?  The first picture is a quickie that I snapped with my cell phone while waiting for the polish to dry.  The gradient isn't as smooth as I would like, but it's not bad.  I didn't realize you need to wet the sponge first, so I had issues with the polish getting tacky and pulling up in spots.  Lesson learned!

The colors are three of the bright stripers from a Color Club Nail Art Striper set that I picked up from Cosmo Prof the other day.  I don't know the names...or if they even have names.  They're in my kit downstairs and I'm too lazy to go get it.  I know...I'm awful.  I topped it with Out The Door Northern Lights top coat.

So, once it was dry I decided to stamp over it to hide the flaws.  I used an image from MoYou London Pro Collection XL 14.  Much better!  I actually love how it turned out with the stamping.  Heck, even though the gradient isn't as smooth as I would like, I'm pleased as pie with it anyway.  I mean, hey....it's polish!  Lacquer.  And I did it!  lol

I know I have so much more to tell you.  More updates, more details, more thoughts on school.  But honestly, I'm exhausted.  I've been dealing with some personal issues lately that set me back a bit.  I had to take a few weeks off from school to deal with some medical issues.  Don't worry, I'm ok.  Just working through it.  So I'm humping it at school this week to get in as many credits as I can.  Then we're off for summer break the following week.  Hopefully I can come back and hit it hard the week after break and finish this thing!  Then I'm off to join the lovely Brenda Anderson from Tuff Enuff Nails in her booth at the Nail Tech Event of the Smokies July 11-13.  I'm so freaking excited about that - and honored that Brenda asked me to join her and do nail art demos.  :)  If any of you will be there, please come by and see me.  I would love to meet you!

But for now, I'm going to kiss my 4 year old good night for the last time and head to bed.  He'll be 5 years old tomorrow!  I'll try to get in another post this week, but I might not make it.  Between the birthday party tomorrow and school the rest of the week, time for writing just isn't there.  But don't worry, I'll make up for it over the break.  I promise!!!

~Michelle

*This post uses Amazon Affiliate Links.  Purchases through these links generate commissions that help fund this site.

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The Nail School Chronicle: The Countdown Begins

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Hello Loves.  Its been a few weeks since I wrote a Nail School update.  Honestly, I don't even know what week I'm on now.  Week 21?   Week 22? Yeah, that number doesn't matter anymore.  What matters is the number 4.  Why 4, you ask?  Because that's how many weeks I have left!

I'm sure you're wondering why I skipped a few weeks worth of updates.  Honestly, there hasn't been much to report.  I've been busting my butt to knock out credits and get caught up, so I don't have anything exciting to write about.  Just repetitions, repetitions, repetitions.

So what HAVE I been up to for the past few weeks?  A lot!  I've been focused on cranking out credits left and right, so my work area often looks like this.  I've been working two mannequin hands at a time and making quite a mess.  lol  Pictured below is a set of wraps in progress.  I honestly HATE doing wraps.  They aren't difficult, but they are time consuming and only count for 1 credit for a full set.  Thankfully, I only have two sets left and I'm finished with wrap credits.  I'll be knocking those out ASAP.

Speaking of credits, I managed to make a solid dent in the credits I still need to complete for graduation this past month.  Here's where I stand now.  I'm still very nervous about those mani and pedi credits, but we have two Teacher Appreciations Events for local school teachers this week that will help with the mani credits.  I also added two new sections that I have to complete - Efile (drill) and air brush.  We were shown the Efile demo last week so I can start working on those now, but I still need the airbrush demo before I can start on those.  The real bummer in the chart below is that I'm pretty much finished with sculpt and overlay credits but still need quite a few fill-ins.  Which means I'll be doing more overlays than I actually need to get them finished.  Rats!  I should have started on fill-ins much earlier in the program than I did.  But what is it that they say about hind-sight?  Yeah, its a little late for me, but for the students who are following my adventures, take my advice:  work on those fill-in credits with every sculpt and overlay if you are allowed to do fills on your mannequin hand in your program!

I'm also gearing up for my first mock state board exam today.  We did the prep for it last week and it was really cool the way it was broken down.  Each day we ran through one portion of the practical exam, learning what they are looking for and what mistakes will cost us points.  I feel pretty confident going into my first mock exam.  We have all of our supplies separated into bags by section, so it's a simple as setting up the contents of the bag and performing the service.  The prep and recommended set up really takes a lot of the stress out of it so we can focus on the actual tasks at hand.  I have to get two of these mock exams under my belt before I can graduate.  I was supposed to do the first one last month, but the change in the exam itself by the state board delayed things a bit.  I should have the second a few days before my last day at GCI.  So it's all good.  :)

Moving on...after that disaster french manicure I did for the previous director, I've been working on my freehand french polish application.  I'm getting better.  Still have a lot of room for improvement, but this is a thousand times better than before.  Gah...I hate polish!  Seriously, hate it hate it hate it.  I've been spoiled by my Indies.  I know, ironic.  But gel polish is so much friendlier.  lol  Both of these are over blended tips with acrylic overlays. 

I also finally remembered to take a picture of my most faithful client.  Ms. T comes in for a pedi and full set every few weeks.  She rarely ever gets a fill.  She likes to start fresh.  I love Ms. T to death and she's a very friendly lady.  The down side to that is that she knows and talks to everyone in the school...with her hands.  lol  Needless to stay, trying to sculpt acrylic on moving hands isn't exactly easy.  So the smile lines are a little off on this set.  But, hey, I remembered to take a picture!  Go me!  (Side note:  I didn't shape the thumbs.  I applied the acrylic but the finish filing was done by someone else on those.)

I also had the opportunity to do some pageant nails for my friend's daughter this past Thursday evening.  It was her first pageant and she wore an adorable fuchsia dress with zebra accents.  The color in the photo is way off (cell phone shot), but Couture Mardi Gras was the perfect match for her dress and she was thrilled with the crystal accents on her toes.  Oh, and she got 1st runner up, best smile and most photogenic.  Not bad for her first pageant ever.  :)  I wish I had a photo of her all done up to show you, but considering her age I'll keep it to her fingers and toes.  ;)

Let's jump track for a second.  I am happy to announce that we are finally ok financially.  We settled with the insurance company for Keith's wreck this past week and have the check in hand.  So I'm closing my Go Fund Me account.  Thank you, sincerely, from the bottom of my heart to each and every one of you who contributed through Go Fund Me or my destash.  I would have never been able to make it this far without your support.  It truly means to world to me to know that I have so many awesome readers out there.  Y'all rock!

Since I don't have a Go Fund Me to share, I'm going to drop the link to another Go Fund Me account.  I received a request from Chris at Nail Mates asking me to share the following.  Her friend's daughter is battling Cystic Fibrosis and they are in desperate need of help.

"I've known Stephanie, mom, and Hunter for a few years now. Hunter has been fighting this horrendous lung disease her entire life. It is unfair that such a little one would be as familiar with hospital beds as her own. She is a fighter in the true sense, but her little body is giving out.  She is currently in ICU at Children's Hospital, she doesn't have time to wait for a transplant. Her parents want to send Hunter to the Dominic Republic for stem cell treatment immediately. There is much promise with this treatment, but they need to fund it prior to Hunter receiving the treatment. The parents also need help staying down there with her through the series of treatments.

PLEASE go into the link below and help in any way you can. In spite of this horrific affliction this beautiful little soul radiates joy and love even in her darkest moments. Anything you can do would be greatly appreciated and PLEASE pass this link on to your contact list. Thank you for all consideration. C"

I know stem cell research is a touchy subject with many, but I decided to share Chris's plea because this little girl needs help - more help than I ever needed.  Please visit the link below and read Hunter's story.  In addition to funding, good thoughts and prayers are also very much needed for this precious little girl.

Love for Hunter Mann Fighting CF

Finally, how about some shots of my mani for this week?  I'm wearing Cuccio Grape to See You with A Star is Born on my ring finger and some double stamping from Cici&Sisi 05 on my middle nail.  I've been dying to wear Grape to See You and A Star is Born since I swatched them a few weeks back, and I'm in love with how this mani turned out.  And yes, I'm sporting nubs.  School has been so freaking hard on my nails lately.  :(

Since my hands rarely sport the same polish, I just had to try for a double hand shot of this one. Would you believe my 2 year old helped take this photo?  He actually takes a lot of my pictures thanks to a tripod and a shutter release button.  He loves to push that button.  lol

That's all for today.  I'm going to try to squeeze in an extra post this week since I'm a tad behind on my reviews.  So check back throughout the week for my full review of the Revel Nail Dip Powders, Swatches of the new Pink Gellac colors, and a Messy Mansion stamping plate review.  :)

~Michelle

*This post uses Amazon Affiliate Links.  Purchases through these links generate commissions that help fund this site.  All other links are courtesy links and do not benefit ManicTalons.com.

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The Nail School Chronicle: Weeks 18 and 19

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Hello Loves!  I apologize for the sudden absence last week, but I'm back with a two week update and a full blog schedule coming your way!  Now, let me see if I can remember everything that happened over the past two weeks.

Week 18 was the week before Easter.  Not much to write about from that week.  There was supposed to be a nail art contest on April 1st.  Note that date...April 1st...April Fools.  Yeah, Ms. Rhonda thought it would be cute to tell us to expect an Easter and April Fools themed nail art contest only to "fool" us with a pop quiz instead.  That was a sucker punch if I've ever seen one.  lol  Not going to lie...I was kind of relieved.  I've been burning the candle at both ends for so long now that I'm seriously lacking in the creativity department.

So, what else happened that week?  Well, Ms. Donna stopped by and asked me to do a polish change for her - a french polish change.  Oh, I should probably tell you that Ms. Donna is the Director of GCI.  Yeah, no pressure, right?  I'm not going to lie...if she had asked for a gel polish french I could have done some really impressive nails.  But polish?!?!?!  Do y'all have any idea how bad I suck with polish??????  You know that stuff actually dries on it's own, right?!?!?!?!?!  Yeah, so I kinda bombed on that one.  It was fun chatting with her and she's really nice, but this might be the worst french I've done in years.  *sigh*  Sorry for the blurry picture.  She's a busy lady and I was trying to snap a picture while someone else was pulling her away to handle something.

The rest of Week 18 ended in a major migraine and me missing two days of class.  Dang it, I have way too many health issues that are impacted by stress.  I always tell my mother that if she and my Daddy were dogs, they wouldn't have been allowed to breed.  Poor Mama.  I guess if you're not a dog person, that comment might not make a lot of sense...

Moving on to Easter, William's birthday, and food poisoning.  I admit, I'm a short cut mother.  My little one turned 2 last week, and we decided to combine his birthday celebration with Easter dinner.  We don't do large birthday parties for the kids - just small gatherings with family that usually include dinner and cake.  Since we were already planning to have Easter dinner with my family, we threw in a cake and called it a day.  He's two...it's not like he cared.  lol  It was a nice day.  Great to spend time with my family...until I ended up sick about an hour after dinner.  Food poisoning.  Three days worth of horrible food poisoning.  Sheesh.  I can't catch a freaking break.  I'm pretty sure it was the result of my lunch from that day and not my mother's wonderful cooking.  Thankfully Monday was a school holiday, so I only ended up missing two more days of class.  But, that put me even farther behind...which brings me to Week 19.

Week 19 kicked off half way over, but it started with a progress report.  Progress reports are issued monthly and tell us where we are and where we should be.  No biggie.  I knew I was about 80 hours behind.  But, y'all, where in the heck did the time go?  I'm 5 weeks away from my scheduled graduation date!  Sweet mother of manicures, there's no freaking way I can make up 80 hours in five weeks.  It's just not possible when Monday is the only day I can stay over due to Keith's schedule.  Crap!  It looks like I won't be graduating on schedule.  So I have a new goal - May 29th.  Two weeks late, but still not too bad.  Though 7 weeks still isn't a lot of time to get everything done.

But that's only part of my panic.  Making up the hours is going to be tight, but the credits are the biggest issue.  I think I mentioned it in the past, but GA has higher requirements than most states for Nail Technology training.  We have to get 620 hours (clock hours), but we also have to get a slew of credits.  The credits are stressing me beyond belief right now.  I've missed so much time throughout my journey and I've managed to keep from getting too awful far behind by making up hours along the way, but credits are a different story.  Some credits require live clients instead of the mannequin hand, and we don't take clients on Mondays - my only makeup day.  So, how dire is the situation?

Eh, it's not too bad...as long as you don't count those mani and pedi credits.  Yeah, my gut takes a dive every time I look at those numbers.  The acrylic sets don't bother me since I can knock those out on the hand.  Same with the fill-ins and wraps.  Advanced will happen between now and then (gel polish is considered advanced...as is nail art).  It's those mani and pedi credits!  Let's do the math...there are 28 client days between now and my new graduation goal.  I need 67 manicure credits and 41 pedicure credits.  Each mani counts for 1 credit.  Each pedi counts for 1 credit.  I'll need to average 2.5 pedicures and 1.5 manicures each day in order to make my credits by my goal.  Plus have time to finish up the rest of the credits too.  And clients are assigned by rotation through the seniors, so I might get two clients a day on average...yeah, I need a freaking miracle.  :(

And to add to my stress, we have completely reached the end of our budget.  I'm staying the course, but we're robbing Peter to pay Paul and Peter is starting to catch on.  Dang it, I WILL finish this.  I'm just not sure how I'll pull it off without having my car repossessed and an eviction notice from the mortgage company.  We should be hearing from Keith's attorney today about the settlement from his accident.  If you're the praying type, please pray that the insurance company came back with an offer we can work with.  I don't think we can make it another 30 days and it will take at least that if we have to counter. It's killing me to be this close to finished and so close to not making it at the same time.  I'm sorry to problem dump on everyone, but it's really stressing me out and taking a major toll on my health.  I know I haven't posted the link in a few weeks, but my GoFundMe is still active.  I was hoping the settlement stuff would work out in time so that I wouldn't have to share the link anymore, but yeah...let's just say things haven't gone according to plan so far.

So let's move on to happier topics, shall we?  How about "What's on Michelle's Nails Today" for $500?  I'm super loving my current mani.  Want to see it?

Ok, so I'm testing out RevelNail's New Acrylic Dip System (press sample).  It's similar to SNS nails and they launched with 65 color choices.  Pretty cool.  This is the first time I've used a dip system on my own nails, but I'm really liking it so far.  The pink is called "Michelle" and the mint green is "Clara".  I'll have a full review for you in a few weeks.  The kitties and paws are from the new Messy Mansion Kitty Plate (MM50) (press sample).  I freaking love this plate!  I completely spaced and forgot to snap a photo of the plate, so here's the preview image from Messy Mansion's site.  So many adorable kittens to choose from!  If you love cats, you NEED this plate.  Heck, even if you're a dog person like me, you still NEED this plate!  lol

Image Credit: www.messymansion.com.au

The kitties from MM50 also gave me the perfect mani for my adorable little kitty charms I picked up on Ebay.  Here's a cell phone shot that I snagged earlier today.  It shows the kitty charm a little better, I think.  Quality and color are off, though.

That's all for today.  Check back later in the week for some major swatch love!  I swatched just under 20 gel polishes this past weekend!

~Michelle

*The Acrylic Dip System featured in this post was provided by Revel Nail for my honest review.  A full review will be published at a later date.  Messy Mansion MM50 was provided by Messy Mansion for my honest review.  All product links within this post are courtesy links and do not benefit ManicTalons.com. 

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The Nail School Chronicle: Week 17 (Bonus Purjoi Announcement)

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Hello Loves!  Week 17 of nail school is now behind me.  Whew...I'm on the downhill slide now.  I'm still behind in hours, but I'm staying late every Monday to make them up and hopefully I can still make my May 15 graduation date.  I can't believe how close it is getting!

So, what happened in school this week?  I've got nothing.  Ok, that's not true.  It was a fun and busy week, but I didn't get any photos to share.  We did start the chapter on artificial enhancements this week.  Crazy right?  I've been working with acrylic since the first week of class, so the chapter seems a little late to me.  It's all part of GCI's rolling curriculum.  Since you can technically enter the program any Monday, the chapters might not always occur in the most logical order.  Either way, it's a fun chapter and we're starting the gel portion next week.  Needless to say, I'm looking forward to that one.

Ok, since I don't really have anything groundbreaking for the school update, how about we make this post a little fun?  I've been itching to sit down and do a mani on myself without having to stop and take a million pictures along the way, so I did just that this past weekend.  No swatches to go with it, but I promise I'll get to those soon.  I originally planned to do an Easter mani, but it just didn't end up that way.  lol  Want to see it?

For starters, I broke my middle nail again so I'm back to shorties.  Even worse, I have a low split on that nail that is below my smile line, so I had to do an acrylic overlay to hold it until it grows out a bit.  So excuse the fat nail.  I couldn't slim down the sides as much as I wanted since the acrylic needs to be a tad thicker to support the break.  Gah!  But at least I got a repair credit for it.  lol  I hate the condition of my nails right now.  I keep telling myself it will all be worth it once I graduate, but I really miss my long, beautiful, natural nails.  Since I've sworn off using my own hand for practice, I can see strong new growth on each nail...but it will be a while before they are back to their previous glory.  :(

Anyway, the base for this one is a fun marble with Purjoi One Step Gel in Calm Waters and Sweet as Pie.  Calm Waters is a beautiful medium blue and Sweet as Pie is a slightly bright lime green.  As I mentioned earlier, I'll swatch them for you soon.  Purjoi One Step Gels are super easy to marble since they are thicker.  I applied and cured a coat of Purjoi French White as my base for the marble.  The I applied one coat of Calm Waters.  I added a few blobs of Sweet as Pie to the wet layer of Calm Waters and swirled them together with a dotting tool.  Once they were sufficiently swirled, I cured them.  I then stamped with an image from MoYou London Pro 13 (XL) and Mundo de Unas Black.  It definitely isn't Easter-y, but I love how it turned out!

Speaking of Purjoi, I'm hosting a PurJoi giveaway on Instagram!  Swing by my IG account and look for the following photo to learn how you could win 2 Purjoi colors of your choice!

Finally, I have an update on my progress with the Hair Candy vitamins I received to review.  You may remember I shared a completely unedited (other than crop and watermark) photo of my nails in my Week 14 update.  Not only are my nails wrecked from experimenting on my own hand, but the skin around my nails was in super sad shape.  I've been taking the vitamins for 3 weeks now and I have a progress photo to show you.  Like before, this is completely unedited other than cropping and rotating.  You'll notice my poor broken middle nail that is being supported by a clear acrylic overlay.  All of my other nails are naked.  I don't really see a difference in my nails yet (totally expected since you can't really heal damage to dead cells), but my skin is definitely improving!  It's still rough, but no where near as bad as it was.

Here's a side-by-side comparison with the first week and now.  The improvement is undeniable!  As with the before shot, I did not apply lotion or oil before taking this photo.  I washed my hands and allowed them to dry.  That's all. 

I have 5 more weeks to go on my trial, but I'm excited by the results so far.  I haven't changed anything else in my routine other than adding the vitamins.  Given, the main ingredient in Hair Candy is Biotin, which is known for helping hair, skin and nails.  But Hair Candy also has a nice mix of other vitamins too and I wasn't taking a multivitamin before starting this one.  I can definitely tell a difference in my energy levels too.  I'll keep you posted as I continue my trial.  :)

That's all for this week.  Don't forget to swing by my IG account and enter my Purjoi giveaway!

~Michelle

*This post uses Purjoi and Amazon Affiliate links.  Purchases through these links generate commissions that help fund this site.  The Hair Candy sample reviewed in this post was provided by Hair Candy for my honest review.  
 

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The Nail School Chronicle: Week 16

Hello Loves!  Another Monday is upon us, and you know what that means - another nail school update!  Goodness...I'm not even sure where to start.  We had another nail art contest...plus the usual repetition stuff...and oh yeah...Bob.

Who is Bob?  Well, you see...what happened was...we came in Monday morning to find a new addition to the nail area.  Someone had placed a very sad looking tree beside the classroom door.  When I say sad, I mean just lost your puppy sad.  I didn't think to get a full picture of it (or any picture, really...but I borrowed one from Nicole).  Anyway, this is a very sad tree with a serious gangster lean.  You pretty much have two choices - turn it so that it leans out into the walkway or turn it so that it rests against the wall.  Either way, we kept running into this danged tree as we tried to enter the classroom.  So they moved it.  Where did it end up?  Right beside the nail station where I usually sit.  After continuing to run into the freaking thing, I decided it needed a name.  Bob.  Yes, Bob.  Why did I name it Bob?  Because every time I left my station for any reason, I found myself having to bob and weave to keep from ending up with a tree in my face and Weave would be a really strange name for a tree. :)  You might think I would learn after running into it the first time, but no.

So Tuesday rolls around, and I'm still running into that stupid tree.  The entire building was decorated for St. Patrick's Day, so I decided Bob needed a little sprucing up too.  With a little help from Nicole, Bob got a face lift...err...Bob got a face.  lol  Meet Bob.  Would you believe I still ran into him even with the silly hat?

Ok, moving on.  I figured it's time for another then and now comparison on my acrylic work.  I still hate acrylic, but I've been working on my sculpts using the reverse method.  My instructor can usually look at a practice hand and immediately tell if we used tips or sculpted over forms.  I took this hand to her and she asked if I used tips.  Whoo Hoo!  I take that as a HUGE compliment and an indication that my shaping on my sculpts has greatly improved.  So, here they are - basic pink and white sculpted acrylic using the reverse method (reverse is where you shape the pink first, file the smile line, then sculpt the free edge in white over the form...standard method sculpts the tip first and then adds the pink).  Given, they could use a little more buffing or a gel sealer, but I'm pretty pleased with them.  Finally, a set of nails I would actually pay for! 

And just for a fun comparison, here's the first set of sculpted pink and whites I did 15 weeks ago.  I'd say I've improved 1000 times over, wouldn't you?  lol

Moving on...the nail art contest this week was St. Patrick's Day themed.  There were some really fun ideas in the competition.  Want to see them?  I can't remember who did what except for two of them.  Sorry about that.  If any of my classmates are reading, please let me know which hand is yours in the comments and I'll edit the post to give credit!  I also didn't have much time to snap pictures and a few of them ended up a little blurry.

Now for the ones I know:  This one is mine (though I'm sure you could have guessed).  I don't know why, but I tend to use these nail art contests to try new things.  Crazy, right?  I mean, it would make more sense to stick with what I know and have mastered, but I've pretty much accepted that I'll always lose to Nicole anyway.  Might as well try something new.  lol  For this one, I used tips and and my ArtsyFartsy Crafts glitters for an overlay.  The middle finger has a few gold crystals, but the ring finger is my true pride and joy.  That's an inlaid clover that I sculpted out of colored acrylic.  I added a few crystals for accents, then encased the entire thing in clear acrylic so the surface of the nail is super smooth.  In hindsight, I should have added some accents to the clover with acrylic paint before encasing it with clear.  Live and learn.  This is the first time I've attempted an inlay, and I'm pleased with how it turned out.  I was even more pleased when I saw the director of the school pick up my hand and run her fingers over the nails during the judging (judging was by instructors, staff, and students from other departments).  Oh, and I won 2nd place.

Here's an angle that shows the clover a little better.

Finally, here's Nicole's mani.  She broke out her water marbling skills and those are always a crowd  favorite.  :)  To be honest, I'm super ok with losing to Nicole.  She does great nail art with polish...and we all know I'd stop her butt in a gel polish competition.  Yep, I know "thems fightin' words."  I'm not scared.  lol 

We'll see what happens for our next competition.  It's an April Fools/Easter themed competition and it is bound to have some crazy aspects.  Ms. Rhonda has already hinted that she has a few tricks up her sleeve.

That's all for the school update.  How about a little blog update?  I know I promised last week that I would show you the BMC Sedona thermal collection.  Yeah, it didn't happen.  Y'all, I'm freaking exhausted.  I had the swatches done, but I didn't get them edited in time to post on Friday.  People often ask me how I do it - full time student, mother and blogger.  The answer is simple...sometimes I don't.  I usually swatch on the weekends - some Saturdays I don't even leave the house.  Then I edit and write late at night throughout the week.  I don't sleep much, and it catches up with me sometimes.  Anyway, I did get those edited for this week.  Since I'm dying to show you the Hawaiian Escape collection too, I decided to do a double feature.  So check in Wednesday to see both the Hawaiian Escape AND Sedona Collections from Bundle Monster.  And yes, the photos are already edited and I'm starting the writing part tonight so it really will go live on Wednesday morning.  ;) Here's a little teaser.

~Michelle

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The Nail School Chronicle: Week 15

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Hello Loves!  I finally made it through a full week of class!  Whoo Hoo!  No sick kids this week.  No migraines.  No issues at all.  And it was a great week!

As I mentioned last week, I watched my first Mock State Board Practical this past week.  It was crazy.  I was only watching but it still made me nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.  No doubt I'll be a basket of nerves for my first.  That was supposed to be today, but it got pushed back.  See, the GA State Board of Cosmetology is changing our Practical Exam.  As of right now, we have to perform a basic manicure, apply a silk wrap, blended tip, sculpted acrylic nail, and then polish.  As of June 1st, we no longer have to do the silk wrap and the polish portion is moving to the front instead of the end.  Yes! (insert fist pump here)  Don't get me wrong...I can apply a pretty nice silk wrap.  I just really hate doing them.  Plus that makes one less thing I have to worry about for the exam.  Anyway, since the exam is changing right before I'll have to take it, the mock exam has to change too.  So I'm observing again today and will do my first trial run in a week or so.

I also have a correction from last week.  I thought we had a nail art contest this past week.  We would have...if St. Patrick's Day had been last week.  I had my dates all messed up!  So that will be this Tuesday.  :)

So, what did I do this week?  Well, I was wearing my glittery St. Patrick's Day mani (a week early) and it really grabbed my clients.  I ended up doing two super fun manicures this week as a result!  Want to see them?

The first is a simple mani with a freehand flower and some crystals.  She came in looking for a glittery accent nail, but I wasn't sure if I was allowed to use loose glitter on clients and our gel polish selection is seriously lacking in the glitter department.  So I offered her a few crystals from my personal stash instead.  She was pleased.  I can't remember the name of the polishes (sorry, I'll try to do better next time), but they are both OPI GelColor.

This next client came in looking for a blue toned red.  As soon as we sat down, she noticed my nails and switched to green.  By this one, I had learned that I can use my glitters, so she decided to rock some glittery moons.  It's hard to tell with the lighting, but the moons are v-shaped.  She has gorgeous hands!  The base for this one is OPI GelColor Green On the Runway from the Coca Cola Collection.  The gold is ArstyFartsy Crafts Dark Gold Holographic Ultrafine glitter.

Speaking of glitter, I couldn't resist playing with glitter again this week.  Sculpting with glitter is a little different that sculpting with pure powders, so I want to be sure I can do it well before the nail art contest.  Of course, I had to stop in the middle of these a few times, so the shape is a bit off.  My forms kept popping open too.  Needless to say, I ordered new forms and will be using those going forward.  Keith calls these "Bass Boat Nails" because they remind him of the sparkle on a bass boat.  Once I finished, I didn't have enough time left to start a new hand, so I decided to play around with sculpted flowers again.  I love how this one turned out!  I was too lazy to break out my colored powders, so I sculpted it in white and then painted it with acrylic paint.  Next time I'll use the colored powder since I couldn't really top coat over it to seal in the paint without losing definition.

Finally, since I was a week early with my St. Patrick's Day nail art and had to do some swatching this weekend, I ended up with a simple green combination for this week.  The base is Couture Gel Polish in High Roller.  I then added Couture Sugar Daddy to the ring finger and topped the rest with KBShimmer Pinfire.  Pinfire is one of the limited edition flakies.  I'm not sure if it is still avaliable or not, but if you run across it you should grab it!  The photo doesn't really capture Pinfire.  It is such a freaking gorgeous flaky in person with a green to blue to indigo shift.  I had planned to add some stamping, but I liked it so much the way it is I decided to leave it.

By the way, I noticed the other day that Couture has listed all of their colors on Amazon!

Finally, an update on my Manic Talons Manicurist Dream Drive.  Yeah...it's kind of stalled.  I'm still a long way from my goal, and to be honest we're struggling hard.  Keith has been released by his doctor so he can pick up some extra hours at work now, but we're behind and praying we can get caught back up.  Not going to lie...it will take a miracle.  At this point, we're hoping we can float some of our payments until we are able to settle with the insurance company from his accident.  It's a crap shoot, really.  But I'm staying optimistic and staying the course.  Thank you to everyone who has helped us get this far!  I'm going to ride it as far as it will go and hopefully we can stretch things far enough for me to finish.  Of course, every little bit helps.

 

That's all for today!  Check back later this week to see the Luxio Spring/Summer collection and the Bundle Monster Thermal Sedona Collection.  Yes, Sedona includes Purple Rain that many of you have asked about.  :)

 ~Michelle  

*This post uses Amazon Affiliate Links.  Purchases through these links generate commissions that help fund this site.  All other links are courtesy links that do not benefit ManicTalons.com.

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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.

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. 

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.

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). 

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.  
 

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