Give It A Rest

Just a quick note about your natural nails and services being preformed on them. I know that I'm going into the beauty industry so doing full sets of acrylics, gel nails,gel polish and fills will be a part of my income but I also have a responsibility of looking out for my clients. Going for nails services constantly can cause damage and pain to your natural nail. My suggestion would be to let your nails rest for awhile. Once your false nails are removed let your nails breath,don't even apply polish. I do this for myself and recommend the same to  family in friends. I recently applied acrylics to myself after letting my nails rest for weeks and it made a world of difference.  

You're LOL for the day

Why Cuticle Care Is So Important

In recent months I have seen a lot of  clients with awful cuticles so I wanted to write a blog post for those who aren't well enough informed about why cuticle care is so important. For those of you who aren't familiar with what I'm talking about, the cuticle is the loose flap of skin that surrounds your nail. It's very important to maintain your cuticles not only for aesthetic reasons but also to protect your nail matrix from infection and nail abnormalities. I made a short video on basic cuticle care( My first one! Argh!) so check it out and check out the AMAZING cuticle oil manufactured by Famous Names.

http://youtu.be/a4jB66JAfEM

Inflamed due to improper cuticle care

www.famousnamesproducts.com

 Dadi' Oil is a nail treatment oil designed to deliver flexibility, toughness, and shine to the natural nail, nail enhancement and the skin!  Dadi' Oil penetrates quickly and is completely non-greasy.  We combine three certified organic oils (certified organic is a high level of achievement by farmers who utilize water conservation and renewable techniques;  use no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides). Avocado, Olive and Jojoba oils combine to plasticize, moisturize, and soften.  We add Natural  Vitamin E (not synthetic tocopheryl acetate)  which is a powerful anti-oxident.  Our blend of 21 essential oils produce a smell good enough to eat! 

Straight No Chaser

I love this video of Straight No Chaser preforming The 12 Days of Christmas. Check it out.

http://youtu.be/2Fe11OlMiz8

We Wish You A Merry Christmas.......

I've been taking a bit of a break from the blog for the Holidays but in the mean time........

The Small Town Blues

I'm finding myself becoming pretty frustrated by the fact that I live in a smaller community. Don't get my wrong,Sioux City, IA has a decent population but there isn't an opportunity to take advanced classes on nails and it's driving me nuts! There is so much I have to learn,want to learn, but I don't have the resources. I've been stalking You Tube pretty regularly for nail tutorials but it's not the same thing.  I find my self looking at the work of amazing nail artists and wish desperately that I can do the same thing but I don't know how.I learn best by being taught through a person(face to face or in a class setting) and then doing it myself So here are some examples of the type of work I would like to be able to do......someday.

Giggle For The Day

I find this ironic because I tell everyone I have feet like a hobbit.

Hahahaha

You have to say please first!

Gel II Product Review Part 1

Let me just say that La Palm Products hit the nail on the proverbial head with their Gel II product line. I was sent 5 colors and 1 top coat to test so I picked a willing participant and off we went! Let me give you all the reasons why I love this product.
1.)It only took 10 minutes from start to finish with an LED lamp.There is no need to use a basecoat or a primer OR a bonding agent!
2.)The polish was smooth,easy to control and easy to apply.
3.)The colors were bright,bold and didn't dull once the top coat was placed.
4.)IT ONLY TOOK TEN MINUTES TO APPLY!
5.)There are a wide variety of colors to choose from.
6.)The packaging is sleek and elegant and made me feel like a lady just being seen with it. (Too much?LOL)
7.)It's UV Light AND LED compatible. 

That's all I have for now because I want to observe how long is lasts on my test subjects and I need to test the polishes containing glitter. ( I LOVE GLITTER) Part II of my product review will be coming out in the next couple of weeks so keep an eye out!

I want to extend a big Thank You to La Palm Products for sending out test samples of your wonderful product. I'm looking forward to using it more and more in the future.

If you would like to take a gander at La Palm's Gel II head over to their website : http://www.geltwo.com/index.php

Directions for use: 
1.)Gently buff the nail plate
2.)Wipe nail plate with alcohol. The manufactures say use a 70% isopropyl alcohol solution. I used N.A.S. 99 and it worked well.
3.)Apply a thin coat of  polish (Seeeeee no base coat!)
4.) Cure for 60 seconds under your LED.
5.)Apply a second coat of polish if necessary. Cure again for 60 seconds.
6.)Apply top coat.
7.)Cure for 60 seconds.
8.)Cleanse with alcohol solution. 

Everyone Deserves A Beauty Day

Today some of my fellow students,our school director and myself volunteered to go to the Gospel Mission Women and Children's Shelter for a pamper day!            The ladies were able to get free haircuts,manicures,pedicures,facials,eyebrow shaping and hairstyles and we had a great time. It gave me immense pleasure to give manicures to woman who have never received a manicure in their lives! It doesn't matter who you are or where you're from, everyone deserves to feel pampered and special. Afterward several of the ladies left to go caroling at several of the nursing homes. It warmed my heart to see that even though these woman were not in the best of circumstances, they were still full of Christmas  spirit.

Tragedy in Connecticut

I'm in tears as I sit here trying to make sense of why someone would kill innocent adults and small children. I have two girls in Kindergarten and first grade and now I question the safety of their school. Yes there is an intercom out front but there are many times where I was buzzed into the school without even having to identify myself. Is the glass bullet proof? There are several doors on the outside of the school made primarily of glass so what good does an intercom system do if they numerous glass doors are not bullet proof. 
There are presents under trees in Newtown that will never be opened, parents grieving all because of a senseless act. How many children have to die before something is done to make our schools safer?

Practice,Practice,Practice!

Let's  Talk Nail Art.......

My first attempt at nail art

When I started Cosmetology school I new NOTHING about nails and in fact I owned no nail polish. One day our instructor Sheila taught us how to do  pedicures and manicures and threw a nail art lesson in there. From that moment I was hooked!

Striper!

At first I didn't do so hot but I was determined! I would not be defeated! I ran to my nearest Dollar Tree and purchased cheap stripers and then I grabbed a set of plastic nails from Sally's and hunkered down.(glue tooth picks to the back of the nail for something to hold on to)I practiced for hours almost everyday! I mean HOURS!!!! I couldn't begin to describe how I felt when my work started getting better and better.That led me to start purchasing supplies and scouring the internet for inspiration. A word to the wise....When you start googling the supplies you need,do not simply type "stripers". You are NOT going to like what comes up. Do yourself a solid and throw nail in front of that.But I digress...... A thin striper brush is key to making lovely sweeping lines. If you think your striper brush is too thick, just cut off some bristles at the base.

Dotters <3

Gems

I know it seems frustrating at first but don't give up. The internet is a beautiful place and you can find so many tutorials on Youtube and other sources on how to create art. Once you get the basics down,you can get inspiration from anywhere. I have several designs based of of henna tattoos that turned out gorgeous. If you make a mistake who cares. A glitter striper or a well placed gem fixes almost ANYTHING. To add the gems just put a little glue on your dotter and grab a gem. There are cool little tools you can find to help grab the gems if you don't like the glue and dotter method.If you have any nail art you would like to show off I would love to see it!

We've All Had This Moment

Check Out My NailPro.com 'Q&A'

http://www.nailpro.com/nailed-down-tessa-jorgensen

Tis the Season......

I created these nails using Axxium Structure Gel and Axxium Gel Polish.

Fantabulous volunteers needed!

Awesome news! Several companies that I have contacted have agreed to send their products to me so that I may test them and blog about them! I am so excited and can't wait to have them come in! I will need guinea pigs so if you want to volunteer let me know

Can I Get An Amen?

Lifting! Oh the horror!

One of the biggest issues I have with acrylic application is lifting! It's not nearly what it used to be a year ago when I first started my journey into the wonderful world of nails but I still see one or two nails that develop a little lifting in the corners and it drives me insane. How did this happen? I did everything right! I properly buffed off the shine on the natural nail, made sure the nail plate was free of debris, followed the manufacturer's instruction on the nail preppers of my choice and still.......there it is! That big....ugly....lifted...corner! I do a ton of nails on the lovely ladies I go to school with so I am constantly checking my work, so I know what's going on.

My thought was that maybe I'm not using products that are working for my particular style of application. Does that make sense? Is it even possible? If I'm in the ball park of my problem how in the heck am I going to solve it? There are many products out there to choose from and I haven't a clue on how to pick one to get started with. I am completely dedicated to furthering my knowledge in nail technology but I really don't want to buy nail products one at a time so I put it out there to my readers. What combination of products do you use to help with lifting? Feel free to comment!

Cat Humor

Here We Go

So I have decided to start a blog about nails and um.....I have no idea what I'm doing but let's dive in! My first blog is going to be about glitter nails or more specifically, glitter french tips for acrylics or hard gel nails.

Now there are a wide variety of ways you can use glitter, and everyone has their own preference. Here are a few.

Loose Glitter

One of the messiest ways to do a french glitter tip but one of the most creative. There are a couple of ways to do a loose glitter tip such as putting an adhesive substance (glue,clear polish etc..) on your plastic tip and then simply dipping your tip in the glitter. You may also sprinkle several colors on the tip to create a rainbow effect. I like to use a brush to smash the glitter onto the tip so it will stay better and keep the loose glitter to a minimum. Keep in mind that you need to add your glitter to the tip before you glue the tip to your client's nail.Beware: You will have so much glitter going on it will look like a fairy threw up on your table!

Pre-Glittered Tips

They already have the glitter on them! Just add glue and apply! 

Glitter in Polymer                 

One of my favorite ways to do a glitter french......acrylic. Add the glitter to the polymer or do what I do and buy a whole variety of polymers with the glitter already added to it as well as beautiful pigments. In the picture at the top of my page I created the nail by adding my acrylic, removing the excess acrylic while it was still wet with my pink cutter and then adding the glittery acrylic on top of the plastic tip. 

Finding what works best for you can be a challenge but if you love nails like I do then the challenge is half the fun! Who doesn't like to play? Thanks for reading my post and let me know what you think!