Nail Care

Ready for a long read? Here we go:


I am a nail biter. When those who have known me to have had incredibly short nails my whole life hear that I'm a nail technician, it surprises them. They wonder how bad it is for business to have short nails while I perfect other people's. They wonder how I can teach others how to make their natural nails look beautiful, while hypocritically chew on the ends of my own. Then they see my nails today. They ask me how I overcame the habit of onychophagy, and what I do to keep my nails not only long and strong, but also healthy. With resistance, rewards, and a self-care, you too can not only kick this habit, but also have beautiful nails. These techniques are for anyone, whether you bite or pick your nails, ignore them, or have naturally great-looking nails. The greatest tool you need, is the WANT for healthy nails.


How bad were my nails?
I didn't just bite my nails, I also picked them, as well as my cuticles and the skin around my nails. I tried to quit several times in my life, and when I was 13 and had braces, I couldn't physically bite my nails. I thought I had conquered the habit, but then the picking started. When I was 14 and my braces were removed, I began to bite again. Once I had received qualifications to apply gel nails after high school, I gave them to myself as a resist to stop biting, but that didn't work. I even bit those and they would crack. It was completely subconscious. But other people were right; I couldn't advertise my nail business with the ugly stubs that I had, so I had to change my ways. It didn't happen over night, and took a lot of self-restraint, and I still force myself to resist the urge to pick at my cuticles. 

So what did I do?
I painted my nails every week, or more if the polish chipped, so I couldn't see my natural nails. If I couldn't see the imperfections, then I didn't feel the need to correct them. I carried nail oil with me constantly, and applied it no less than 3 times a day. If my cuticles and skin didn't look dry, then I didn't want to pick them. My best friend would hold my hand if he saw me biting so I couldn't continue. If you look at the above picture, you can see how tiny my nails were. My nail plates themselves are small in size due to genetics, but biting your nails decreases the size of your nails plates, and they might not grow back, so kick this habit while you can. My nail plates and the skin around my cuticles are redder than normal due to trauma, and the tips of my fingers were swollen. Sometimes they would swell to a greater size then my free edge, so although this didn't interfere with the natural growth of my nails, it made applying gels and polish neatly very difficult. My nails and fingers were sore to touch, and I'd become embarrassed and tried to hide them. They also became infected quite easily. Simple tasks like opening cans, using necklace clasps, doing up buttons, and typing on small phones (like texting) became very painful. So I changed my ways. I stuck to the following routine, and my nails changed.

Remove nail polish, push back cuticles, and clean behind your nails

First, remove any nail polish you have, making sure you get right into the corners and the back of your nails. This is very important, or the other products you apply will have very little effect. Then apply nail oil all over your cuticles and rub it in to soften the skin. Then take a cuticle pusher and push your cuticles back. I use a rubber one, and I suggest you use a rubber one as well if you have sensitive nails. If you have a thin layer of skin (called the eponichium), then push it back using a metal cuticle pusher. If you have any bits in the way, you can snip them off using cuticle nippers. I suggest you only do this in extreme cases. Pushing your cuticles back encourages the nail to grow back healthier, longer, and stronger, but clipping your cuticles encourages your nails to grow slower, and if used incorrectly, you could permanently damage your cuticle, preventing healthy nail growth. Once you've pushed back your cuticles, take a bamboo or orange stick and clean under your nails. 

File, then buff your nails

It's time to file your nails. If you're like me, then having any free edge is a miracle in itself, so taking length off isn't something you desire. However, filing is still important. I suggest you use either a cushion file or a glass file. With the cushion files, it really doesn't matter what kind you get. Thick, thin, straight, or banana-shaped, it is personal preference. However, for your natural nails, use a 120 or 220 grit file. The higher the grit, the softer it is You could get away with a 100 grit file if you're VERY careful, and don't use an 80 grit on your natural nails; only use it on false nails (plastic, fibreglass, gel, or acrylic). Any glass file is okay to use. Always file from the outside-in to prevent splitting your nail. Splitting your nail could cause trauma to your nail-bed or cuticle, and these could impede future growth. Only use a "saw" motion on false nails. Filing your nails doesn't just remove length, it shapes your nail. If you have anywhere on your free edge that could catch on something and tear, file it away smoothly. After filing, buff your nails using a cushion buffer, or I found a really nice one from Revlon (I got mine at Shoppers, but they should be available in any store that sells nail supplies). It has two sides for filing (although I never use these sides, I always use a cushion or glass file), and 4 different buffing pads. "Even Out", "Smooth", "Buff", and "Shine". Buff your nail plate gently to remove any excess oil, and it helps smooth your nail plate for healthy growth, and maximum polish adhesion. Corrigation is when your nail plate has ridges. This is due to hormones or genetics. You cannot prevent the occurrence of ridges, but you can smooth them out by buffing them away. Once you've filed and buff your nails, give them a quick brush, because they will probably have dust on them, and continue to these next few steps. 

My favourite products

These are the nail treatment products that I use the most. Partly coincidence, partly because I love her products, but they are all Sally Hansen. The one I am holding is my favourite daily treatment product. It's Sally Hansen's "Maximum Growth". You apply this to your bare, clean nails every day for 5 days, then remove the product and start again. You can also use this as a base coat and a top coat. The golden bottle is "Nailgrowth Miracle". This is a strengthener. The purple bottle is "Miracle Nail Thickener". Like its name implies, it's a thickener, and I love this product. It is my favourite thickening agent. The clear bottle beside the purple is "Extended Wear". This is a strong base coat that really helps the coloured polish to stick to the nail, while also protecting your natural nail plate from the colour. This is what all base coats are supposed to do. The second clear bottle is "Instant Fix". This is a top coat, but it is quite thick so it works as a strengthener too, but not instead of. The silver bottle is my favourite nail strengthener. The design of the bottle keeps changing, but the product is the same. It's called "Diamond Strength", and said to contain real diamond filigments. Whether this is true or not, I'm unsure, but it really works well as a strengthener. The red bottle beside that is "Insta-Dry". I love this top coat if I'm in a hurry. It dries to the touch in 30 seconds, and rarely chips. I have shocked many clients with how fast this top coat dries. The same goes for the sister base-coat, "Insta-Grip" (clear bottle, red handle). Again, it dries to the touch in 30 seconds. Finally, the last red bottle is "Insta-Dry Speed Dry Drops". Place 1-2 drops of this over any polish and it dries within 3-5 seconds. It's incredible! But I'd let the original polish air-dry slightly to prevent the colours bleeding together, and this product is NOT a top-coat substitute.

                               

For my basic nail care, I only use the first four products listed above. With my nails clean and clear with my cuticles pushed back, I apply one coat of Maximum Growth to each nail, and allow to dry. Then I take Nailgrowth Miracle and apply one thick coat to each nail, including on the free edge. This is important to keep your nails thicker and stronger. The more coats the better, but make sure you don't make the tips heavy or they could break off. If your nails are long enough, apply this product to the back of your nails as well. 

Once that is dry, I take Miracle Nail Thickener and apply a thick coat to my nail plates, free edge, and behind my nails. Allow to dry. This might take slightly longer due to the thickness of this product. If you apply this product too thin, you might see air bubbles forming. This doesn't do anything to harm your nails, it just looks odd and night interfere with the final look of your nails, even if you cover it with coloured polish. Finally, I apply one coat of Extended Wear and let that dry too. I apply these before every application of coloured polish as a base coat, otherwise, I leave them plain with these 4 products on. I don't dare not apply them, because my nails are naturally thin and brittle, and these products prevent them breaking. 

Nail oil and hand lotion

Once your nails are completely dry, apply a decent amount of nail oil around your cuticles and behind your nails, and rub it in. Then take any hand creme, lotion, or body butter and rub that all over your hands and fingers. Give them a good massage; they deserve it! Hydrating your nails and fingers is very important. It prevents your nails from drying out, cracking, or flaking. Hydrated nails grow faster and healthier, as well as stronger. There is no such thing as applying nail oil or lotion too often. That is a myth. Go crazy and apply as much as you can. I started by applying nail oil 3 times a day and making it part of my daily routine (like brushing my teeth). 

Extra care

Another myth is allowing your nails to "breathe". You don't need to leave them bare and without polish or products. Some people claim that wearing polish all the time discolours their nails. The fact is, nails discolour if you fail to apply a base coat when wearing polish (especially dark colours), and also a poor diet. Your diet effects your nail growth, your hair growth, and the health of your skin. Drink lots of water! Hydrating your body is equally, if not more important as hydrating your nails. Also make sure you have a stable about of vitamins in your diet. If in doubt, take daily multi-vitamins. Check to see if they contain Biotin. Biotin helps with nail and hair growth. Lukonychia is when you find tiny white spots on your nail plate. The only way the remove these is by letting them grow out. They appear if you have had trauma to the nail, or have a lack of zinc in your diet. Remember, nails are jewels, not tools! Don't go clawing your way through life if you want long, healthy nails. You can substitute using your nails as tools by using your fingers, or real tools to help you (I don't recommend you use your teeth). 

Anyone can have beautiful nails

You don't need to be a nail biter, or have unfortunate genetics or vitamins missing from your diet in order to follow these steps. You can have long or short nails. If you want shorter nails, then safely file them to the length you desire, and as they continue to grow, continue filing. Your nails develop a nicer shape after several months of filing, buffing, and sticking to these nail care tips. Like I said, it won't happen overnight. You need to persevere and take good care of your nails. You can see how long my nails are, and they don't interfere with my daily life. I can still type (as you can very much tell), text, play piano, and handle small objects or clasps with these nails, and they don't even click against surfaces that much. In fact, I can do more comfortably with longer nails than I did when my nails were short. ANYONE can have beautiful nails, and if I could change the look and health of mine, I'm sure you can too.

If you need anymore help...

If you need any help with growing or maintaining nicer and healthier looking nails, I can help you by giving you personal tips depending on your nail growth and what activities you are involved in daily, or if you live rather close to me, I do offer a manicure, gel nail, or nail art service. If you would like to buy any of the products I mentioned but can't quite get a hold of them yourself, send me an e-mail at scribblingwithpolish@gmail.com and I'll see if I can help you. I am not associated with any companies that sell these products, I just have my select favourites. You don't need to follow these tips 100% in order to get nice looking and healthy nails, but they do help, and are only suggestions and tips that I follow myself. Have fun!

The Royal Wedding Challenge

I was challenged by a friend to come up with a nail art design for the royal wedding of Will and Kate on Friday, but the design wasn't allowed to include the British nor English flags (if you're knowledgable enough, you'll know that those are two different things). Because I didn't want to remove the Mario design from my left hand, I created this design on my right hand, and I'm right handed. This was a challenge in itself, because using my left hand is always a challenge while painting my nails, and also taking a photograph of the design once I was finished. I think I managed to complete this challenge, what do you think?

I need to practice writing and drawing with my left hand. I learned how to drum with it, and left handed people a few decades back had to learn how to use their right hands, maybe I can do the opposite. For this design, I used a chevron french tip, then created a silver and gold crown, going over it with black. Finally, I placed a blue jewel at the base of the crown and outlined it with silver like Kate's engagement ring. It is a slightly complicated design, but still elegant. I rarely use real decals and gems on myself, I save them for my clients, but I thought I'd give it a go this time to give it the full effect.

I hope you can see this picture. My right hand was still wet when I drew this out, so again, it's my amazing left-handed work -snicker-. Step one, I created the chevron tip. It's a nice alternative from your basic french with an ordinary smile-line. Step 2, I drew a heart with silver, then gold, then black, and added a cross through it. This is the top of the crown. You might be able to substitute the cross with a gem. Step 3, I added a small, diagonal line of either side of the heart, then brought it down on the other side to the edge of my nail. Sort of like this ^ on either side. Then I drew two more lines in parallel down the centre of the chevron, almost meeting in the middle. It looks sort of like a secondary heart. In step 4, I added a blue gem in the centre of the crown, and drew a silver circle around it.

For the base coat, I used my regular nail maintenance products, but my true base was Sally Hansen's "Extended Wear". For the silver, gold, and black for the crown, and white for the tip, I used ArtDeco. I also used SilkLine's silver. For the blue gem, I used, Revlon's jewel pack, and finally Sally Hansen's "nailgrowth miracle" for a top coat. I hope I passed this challenge, it was fun coming up with the idea! Thanks for the suggestion!

It's a me; a Mario!... And Yoshi!

So I said to Mark's daughter that I'd do a picture of Yoshi on my nail. As I started planning out my design on paper, I came up with another idea that I LOVE! I think this has been done before with 3D nail art and decals, but I am yet to find a completely free-hand design of Mario world. For very obvious reasons, I'm not going to explain how I created this design, so if you want to do it yourself, you're just going to have to make it up somehow. I'm cruel like that, but it took a lot of work!

Overall, this too me about an hour to do while watching Ice Age on my laptop and eating a peanut butter and jelly cupcake. This is how I multitask. I hope you can see well enough... I'm not the world's best photographer. I do have a friend who is far better than me and would be very willing to come out and take pictures of my designs for me, but I can't really call him up every time I paint my nails (several times a week). Anyway, on my index finger is Mario himself and a mystery block. On my middle finger I have a cloud and regular block, and on my ring finger is a pre-hit mystery block and a bush (I know it's a weird order, but don't question my insanity). Finally, my pinkie nail has a green tube. These are the nails close up, but the design as a whole looks far better from a distance (not THAT far away, silly).

So I need to clean around my cuticles a bit, but I will. The is all done with nail polish, nothing else, and on my index finger, I made the elementary mistake of not letting the paint dry completely before putting a top coat on, so it smudged slightly. I created all of these designs using thin striping brushes. No pens. I, of course, used a thicker brush for the blue background and base brown for the floor, but everything was striped. Even the dots!!! The same goes with the Yoshi design.

For this Mario design, I used used Sally Hansen's "Brisk Blue" in her Insta-Dry collection for the background, and OPI's "Queen of d'Nile" for the ground, with an unnamed dark brown for te shadows of the bricks and Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear "Mellow Yellow" from her Hard as Nails line for the highlights. For the bush and pipe, I used Rio's green, Sally Hansen's "Ghoulish Green" from her Ceramics New Lengths line, and ArtDeco's black. For te cloud I used Art Deco's white, Sally's Brisk Blue, and MigiNailArt's sky blue. For the basic bricks I used the same colours as the floor, minus Mellow Yellow. For the mystery block, I used Del Sol's "Sun Kissed" (so this will change to a red in the sun, but oh well) and the unnamed brown. For Mario, I used Sun Kissed, Queen of d'Nile, unnamed brown, and Rio's red.

The angle is strange in this photo, but oh well. I tried. Yoshi is hard! So for this design I used the same Brisk Blue for the background and the outline with Migi's sky blue. I used Rio's green for the body, and ArtDeco's white. I also experimented with Sally Hansen's "Lavender Cloud". The eyes and nostrils are ArtDeco's black, and the tongue and spines are Rio's red. The boots are Nubar's "Neon Pumpkin" and Sally Hansen's "Mellow Yellow". I hope you enjoy these two designs!

Sophisticated Easter

"Are you trying to use up all of your polish?" Well no, Dad, I'm addicted to painting my nails. I keep coming up with more and more designs that I'm just dying to try on myself. This week, I've been thinking of Easter. But although my previous design was nice (in my opinion) and I liked how busy it looked, it didn't catch the attention of many. So, here is another design a little more sophisticated. It can be used for other times of the year, and not just Easter, but it does seem like a rather Eastery design to me. Actually, I don't think "Eastery" is a word.

Oh yeah, and it's back to webcam pictures. My camera ran out of memory and I'm still waiting to by a card reader so I can move the pictures from my camera to my laptop. So, to get this design, I applied a coat of Sally Hansen's "Nearly Nude 2" after a base coat, then three diagonal lines going up one side of my nail of Art Deco's White, and two more of the other side. Then taking a striping brush, I placed one line beside each white stripe of L'Oreal Paris "Trust Fund Baby". I then placed a yellow line beside each pink one of Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear Hard as Nails "Mellow Yellow". I sealed everything with a top coat.

I have to say, this design is easier to do on someone else than yourself (as I found after applying this design on a sample wheel), but as long as you position your hand right, the design itself is rather simple and feathery. And don't do what I did and get polish on your phone. Hopefully I can show you better pictures later on of this design. I'd love to know which of the three Easter designs you prefer. And as of tomorrow, happy (I suppose) Good Friday!

Easter Chaos

A brand new day, a brand new design! I'm really feeling the Easter vibe now, and decided to go absolutely crazy as far as colours go. This was also a great excuse to use my thin brushes. I bought them almost a year ago, and I've been putting off using them (just because my designs didn't requie them or my polishes had thin brushes already) for quite some time. Time for a change, the brushes come out!

I also need to re-stock on remover. I have just run out of my acetone free stuff, and  tried Safeway's lemon-scented remover. I don't recommend it. It doesn't work too well and dyes your nails yellow. REALLY unattractive! Then I remembered that I have some LCN remover in my salon (not to far of a walk from my bedroom to the basement). I still need to get more, but at least I have that for now. To be honest, I was rather sad taking off the spring grass design, which has to be one of my favourites, but this design is a nice change for this week.

I took this picture the second after I completed this hand, so I didn't have time to clean around my cuticles. I also need to do a bit of shaping... moving on from my train of thought, let's get onto how I created this look. After applying a base coat, I applied a thin coat of Sally Hansen's "Nearly Nude 2". Then taking Magi Nail Art's sky blue, I got my thin brush (yey) and dragged that between my free edge and smile line, as well as up the side of my whole nail, leaving about a mm or 2 gap off the side. I then took Magi Nail Art's light green and applied this first above the blue line on my tip, then up the side of my nail on the opposing side to the blue. Then with Magi Nail Art's peach, I dragged that at the very tip of my free edge, and up the inner side of the blue. Taking Sally Hansen's "Mellow Yellow" from her Xtreme Hard as Nails line, I placed that above the horizontal green line, and on the inner side of the vertical green. For the final stripe, I took Sally Hansen's Insta Dry in "Lively Lilac" and created one line down the centre of the nail, and another horizontally in any free space you can find.

  For the daisies, I got my large dotting tool and place two random dots of Mellow Yellow on each nail, then I circled the dots with Art Deco's White. Finally, I took Rio's Green and created small leaves on the daisies. Once dry, cover the design with a top coat, including the free edge. This design looks rather complicated and it definitely is trying to explain in words how to create it, but if you didn't get too lost, enjoy your nails! I tried to film this design, but I ran out of memory on my camera half way through and failed to realize this. Better luck next time!

Spring-a-ling!

It's mid April, and looking out my window, I see snow. I don't just mean tiny flurries, but a thick, white blanket covering absolutely everything. I'm not sure how deep it is, but it looks like a second Christmas. It's dark, I'm cold, and it doesn't feel like spring to me. A few weeks ago, I decided my home needed a fair amount of bright colours and flowers, so I went into town after church and gathered bright flowers to play with. Back at home, I did a few flower arrangements and placed them around the house, and my mood definitely improved! A few days ago, I wanted to expand this spring feeling to my nails. Easter is a week away, so this design came to mind just in time!

This happens to be my mother's favourite design, and I quite like it too. Because it's just on the tips on my nails, they can grow out and I don't have to keep filling in the design. I quite like how you can see my natural white tips beneath the design, but that's just me. This picture was taken today, and I created this design a few days ago, so you can already see the clear coats growing out from my cuticles. I agree with my mum, I love this design too, and it's looks pretty complex, but it's dead easy. A couple of friends also liked this design, so I copied it onto their nails too. It didn't take me too long, but I really think this design works best for long nails (even though my two friends had shorter nails, they could still carry this design off well).

To start, I applied a base coat, then picked up Rio's "thin brush and pen in green. With the brush, I put a few strokes on the tip of my nails in varying lengths. I did this because even after mowing your lawn, and especially in wild grass, the blades are all different lengths. Then getting a thin brush, I lightly went onto of those green strokes with Migi Nail Art's metallic light green. This next step you can do with any colour, but I chose yellow. I dipped the thicker end of my dotting tool into Sally Hansen's "Mellow Yellow" from her Xtreme wear Hard as Nails line. These flowers have 5 petals each. In the middle of each, I placed a spot of Rio's metallic pink/purple. Fo this you can use your dotting tool, pen, or what I did was I used the tip of the thin brush. Once that's dried, apply a top coat (don't forget the free edge) and you're done!

Apologies on my photography and silly laptop. Just to add a little more sense of the whole Easter feel (by the way, happy Palm Sunday), I added a bunny to my thumb. I did take another picture of it, but for some reason, I can't get it onto my laptop. This bunny is more complicated than the grass and flowers, but if you're up for a challenge, you can add this optional bunny. To start, I drew a while triangle with Art Deco's white, making sure the triangle was round and the pointed end facing down. This is the rabbit's head. I then dragged one stripe up towards my cuticle for an ear, then another one half the length. I then brought this line back down to give the illusion of a floppy ear. Under the rabbit's "head", I added two lage circles. Make sure they are beside each other, but not touching each other nor the head. These will be paws. Taking the same pink colour that I used for the centre of the flowers, I added a large circle in the centre of the triangle for a nose, then followed the two white lines of the ears. To make the floppy ear more realistic, only follow this line half way up. Taking the black in Art Deco, place two tiny dots for eyes above the nose, create a W shape below the nose for a mouth, then and 3 tiny lines on either side of the nose for whiskers. Finally, place 3 vertical lines on the base of the paws. Seal your bunny with a top coat once it dries.

Lost yet? This is a picture of my bunny, but the quality of this picture sucks.. a lot! It looks like the nose is off centre and the eyes are wonky. In the original design, this is not the case. Hopefully you can see that in one of the others pictures. Enough defending myself... if you took the challenge for this bunny, well done! I hope to post a video tutorial of this some time, so if my explanation was too complicated for you, be patient and wait for my video. If you're brave, you could simply wing it! Good luck!

The start of something new!

Stating the blunt obvious, I decided to start a blog about my nail art. 


I'm a fully qualified nail technician (as of May 2010) specializing in artificial gel nail application and nail art. A couple of my friends joke that I introduce my nail obsession the same way every time, but I'm proud that I have qualifications before graduating from university. Like most university students, I don't have a huge amount of moolah to spend on my nails so I have to make do with what I have, which are my own two hands and my collection of polishes and "things". Nail art is quite a feminine interest, and I tend to put people off when I refer to these "things" as weapons. I have what I need (for the most part), and almost all extra cash I find behind the sofa goes towards more nail polishes. 


Time for a confession: I've been a nail biter my whole life. It sounds more serious when I label it by its technical term, onychophagia. A lot of children have this habit, and it took me a little longer to grow out of it. I tried Sally Hansen's "Nail Biter" product, I tried only biting one nail, I even tried taping my fingers. Eventually the biting turned to picking, and my cuticles suffered considerably. Once I received my aesthetics qualifications I knew I needed to do something about this, because I couldn't sit in my salon beautifying my client's nails when my own were very scruffy. I had made promises to my best friend numerous times, and this was my transition from biting to picking. It still wasn't good enough as it's the same problem, but using what little nails I had left rather than my teeth. My best friend would grab my hand and hold it every time he caught me attacking my cuticles, but he isn't there to hold my hand 24/7... more like 24/5.

Not very attractive...


I've never been able to come up with decent things to give up for lent. For several years running, I'd give up "giving things up". This year, I decided to give up picking my cuticles (and nails). I was told that this is a silly thing to give up for lent, and I do agree, but in my defence I accidentally (long story) gave up pepsi on the side-lines. I painted my nails almost daily so I couldn't see any imperfections to pick, and as the polish began to chips, I'd replace it with a new coat. I was determined to end this habit once and for all! To help with my cuticles, I began applying nail oil and hand lotion to my nails, fingers, and hands about 3 times a day. I carried nail oil around with me constantly, applying it whenever I saw my cuticles drying out. I also began drinking a lot more water (as I couldn't have pepsi anymore), and because I an anemic (lack of red blood cells = lack of iron and oxygen in my blood resulting in me passing out a lot) I began taking multi-vitamins daily, making sure they contain biotin. Combining all of these together, my nails have improved a lot!


A little while later, I've ended up with nails SLIGHTLY longer than my usual:

Okay, a lot longer. Nail biting habit kicked? I like to think so! Because I am still in awe that these are my natural nails, I don't want to file them down yet. I'll enjoy them while they last. I shape them (at least I did after this picture was taken), but I really don't want to take too much length off. I'm still giddy that my nails and cuticles look at least half decent. Because my nails are thin and brittle, I layer on strengthener and thickener to the front, free edge, and back of my nails. I'm still routinely applying nail oil and lotion to them, and although I no longer keep them constantly covered with polish, I still paint the tips every week or so. Ever since I was a little girl, I haven't painted a single colour on my nails. I always have some odd design on them. 


For fun I design tattoos for friends, so why not place my ideas on a small canvass like a nail? Everything I do is free-hand. I don't own any Konad stamps because I like to think I don't need them, but I've seen that some of the designs look better when they aren't done free hand. I do, however, have a small collection of decal and gems. I tend to only use these on my clients, rather than myself. I also experiment with water marbling, which I love! It took quite a bit of practice before I managed to come up with designs worth looking at, and I have since then visited high schools to do a couple of demonstrations. I hope to set up a youtube account for nail art tutorials, but my internet is very finicky, and my camera sucks. I take pictures of all my nail designs, but I'm having to use my Mac webcam because of my hand-held camera issues. Hopefully I can get this fixed so I can show you good quality photos of my designs, as well as set up that youtube account. 

To start you off on something a little more interesting than myself and my history, here is a recent snapshot of my nails (they no longer have this design or I would have taken better pictures). This is a purple gradient effect. I used Claire's "Rome" pink as a lighter colour, then an unnamed purple polish I have (absolutely no label), then Sally Hansen's Insta-Dry "Grape Going!", and finally Sally Hansen's Insta-Dry "Uptempo Plum". I applied these polishes (in this order) onto a cosmetic foundation sponge, then dabbed them only the tips of my nails creating a gradient effect. I then, of course, used a base and top coat. I actually think I used 4 different ones to thicken my nails. I'll explain about them when I post a nail treatment post. Good luck with this design if you try it, and I really hope you like this blog, new though it is, and sucky though my camera decides to be.