Creative Nails

Although I love all things girly – make up, clothing, shoes, perfume, jewellery, nail polishes, hair, the list goes on – I have come to the conclusion that I am really quite conservative, and always will be.  (Except maybe the foray into eyelash extensions that I undertook last year – but that's a story for another time.)
 
I know that my conservatism must be quite a disappointment to the two wonderful nail artists who look after my gelled nails, mother and daughter Sue and Erin, although they never say anything.  Sue did, however, try to talk me into having anchors painted on my red nails for the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show in May – but I resisted! 
 
 
These two women are really quite accomplished artists, who do a fantastic job on their own nails (see above) as well as on their clients.  Many of their clients have acrylic nails that provide plenty of real estate to paint creatively on.  I've seen cupcakes and bowties, pandas and butterflies, stripes, spots and multicolours…the list is endless. The team have been looking after my nails for nearly two years now, and although I love the effect and how great my nails always look, their talents are really not fully utilised on me (I think I'm probably the only one who has my nails filed shorter, rather than extensions put on – but that's just me!)
 
 
I usually go for a colour – and it's always a red, coral, dark pink, cerise or variety thereof.  The most adventurous that I get is the fantastic french polish that they have perfected.  Until the beginning of the year Sue always did my nails.  She then went away for a few months, and I was nervous that Erin would not be able to recreate her mother's perfect french effect, but I worried for nothing.  Erin looked after my nails beautifully in her mother's absence, and I now get treated by them interchangebly.
 
The french polish I'm sporting this fortnight is stunning. It's done with Bio Sculpture, and along with 3 coats of clear gel, I have a coat of pale pink applied before the white tip.  It makes my nails look fresh and healthy, and because I spend a lot of time in meetings with people, I always feel confident that my nails look good.  But even better than that is the strength that they have, and the confidence of knowing that I'm not going to break a nail just by rifling around in my handbag for my keys. 
 
I encourage you to check out the great and creative nail pictures on Sue and Erin's Facebook page, S'nailz.
 
They are located at Springwood, Queensland, and are doing 20% off for new clients at the moment.  It only takes an hour of your time, and if you don't like it, you can have the product soaked off again.  I consider it worth an hour of my time every two to three weeks.
 
Also - go and check out the fantastic colours at the Bio Sculpture site   You can have fun for hours if you go to the site and play around with the 'try me on' feature.  Have fun!!

Mother/Daughter Monday: Gel/Shellac Nails

Oh, it's Monday again! Here at The Perfect Lipstick, we aren't massive fans of Mondays but we are massive fans of well kept nails! Mum is big into the gel nails and I've given the Shellac a go on a couple of occasions so we thought for this Mother/Daughter Monday we would share with you what we think!
 
The Product: Gel and Shellac Manicures
 
The Purpose: "A gel manicure is a type of manicure that uses gel to bind the synthetic fingernails to the natural nails. Unlike acrylic nails, the other option for manicures, gel nails are stronger and less likely to chip. Gel can also be applied over natural nails to keep them healthy and long." -
 
The Price: Gel and Shellac manicures seem to range from about $25-$40 and last for up to 2-3 weeks.

Sue says:
 
I have not been able to sport naked nails since I was in my teens.  My nails grow fast, and I prefer to keep them short, but they peel back, layer by layer, even when short.  No matter how I look after them – with rubber gloves and barrier creams – they break and peel and split; therefore I have always protected them with nail polish, even if it was clear.
 
Over the years I have also built up a wonderful collection of nail polishes (amusing my daughters as many of the colours are only slight variations of the same hue), but even with weekly do-it-myself manicures, I often found my hands looking shabby by mid-week as they began to chip.
 
For the past 18 months, though, my hands have been kept looking perfect through fortnightly applications of gel.  My great nail technicion Sue, and her equally talented daughter Erin, (they are more nail artists and I have a whole blog to do on them down the track) have kept my nails strong and attractive with Bio Sculpture, Gelish and Lish gel products, in a range of great colours and french polish. 

I love the confidence that comes with knowing I can thrust my hand into my handbag without breaking a nail, and that my nails are going to look good from morning till night.  I can never go back now, and just love the look and feel of my 'gelled' nails.


Katherine says:

I've always had long, strong nails until the past six months or so where they've started to peel and split like Mum's. One day a few months ago, my friend and I were driving home after a ridiculously long shoot and we were both pretty miserable and she suggested we get a bit of Shellac to cheer us up. I've never really spent much time in nail salons but, that day, we got some much needed pampering and walked out of there new women with shiny, Shellac'd nails.

A few weeks later, I booked in again because the Shellac had run its course. I was going to just get a normal manicure but then I remembered how happy the thick, shiny look of the Shellac and went for a bright coral after a couple of weeks of black.

I love the strong, thick nails and the shiny polish resulting from Shellac and always envy Mum's gel nails, but it's something I will probably save only for special occaisions because of a number of things:

- I really like to change my nail polish colour when I want to. Some times I will leave a colour on for only a few days and get so excited by a new hue that I want to immediately remove the existing colour. This is most difficult when you have Shellac or Gel nails (self removal can prove difficult, plus who do you think inherited Mum's massive collection when she switched to permanent gel nails!?).

- You could buy at least one nail polish (maybe more depending on your price point) for the price of two weeks of Shellac. So many pretty colours!!

- I have very pale, freckly skin and a history of skin cancer on both sides of my family, a major reason why I stay out of the sun and avoid any kind of UV. Despite the very short amount of time with my hands under the UV lamps (three minutes for each coat, so probably about 10 minutes in total), 10 minutes every two weeks for years adds up and it is still UV that I would rather I didn't have anywhere near me (there have been reports of women developing skin cancer from the dryers and although I tend to take those reports with a grain of salt, for me, it's not worth the risk!)

- My nails were strong and pretty amazing with the Shellac, but it didn't help the strength of my nails overall. I'd rather work to strengthen my nails than cover them up.

- I can't speak for the Gel range – Mum seems to have a really good variety of colours to choose from – but the colour range currently available for Shellac is very limited and this can put a dampner on your mani experience.

- Over an hour in the salon every two weeks can put a bit of a dint into the already too-short weekend!

I hope I haven't brought down the fun of getting a Gel or Shellac mani! Mum loves her gel nails and the multi billion dollar industry can't lie. I had a great time being pampered at the salon – everyone needs a bit of that sometimes – but with my budget and the other factors I considered, I think this will only be a special treat for me when the occasion really calls for it.

We'd love to hear your thoughts! Do you go to the salon for some TLC time or is it a regular thing? Are you a Shellac girl or into acryllic?