Back in Mid-March, I decided to splurge a bit for my birthday and bought three sets of Model's Own polish. Not the cheapest purchase ever, given the exchange rate, but seeing as it was quite a few polishes and in colors I did not yet have, I figured it was worth it.
I got an e-mail almost immediately after letting me know one of the polishes wasn't available from the neon collection and they gave me two other options. I picked the cream one instead of the shimmer. Cool, waited about two weeks and finally my order came!
Except it was ONLY the neons, even though the packing slip showed the other two collections, AND the cream name written down. I got the shimmer instead of the cream. I checked my email just to make sure I'd said the right name, which I had. Okay, shoot off another email to see if perhaps they shipped separately or what.
No, apparently they had never been shipped. They sent them out immediately, apologizing and stating that they would be filled according to what was advertised at the time of my order. Cool beans!
I got the pastels and the Beetlejuice collection finally today (over a month from original order date, mind you). Pastels were great - Beetlejuice? Not what I ordered. The set I ordered is what is currently listed on the site now - I remember this specifically because they had Indian Ocean and Copper Pot in the collection, which was DEFINITELY not in what I got. I only got 3 out of 6 right - Aqua Violet, Pinky Brown & the Top Coat.
Another e-mail has been sent as of tonight (when I got home from school and realized that the colors weren't right), so here's hoping the rectify this. I hate to be such a pain about it and they've been pretty good with their customer service so far but...two shipping mistakes in a row kind of make me wonder.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Polish Swatch - Essie Who Is The Boss
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I hadn't had a chance to swatch it yet (I'd gotten my Models Own neon collection in that day as well and we've been playing with other things in school). Since I need a backfill done tomorrow (I get to be the demonstration - yay!) I filed off my Miracle Manicure gel top coat in prep and decided to cover the pink & white with this!
Essie for me has been very hit or miss with its formulas. There creams are gorgeous, but sometimes getting coverage with them can be a real trial & error type of thing. My first ever Essie, Fiji, is such a pretty pink but I can't use it due to it's streaky-tendencies. This one though? Pretty darn flawless on the application front!
I used Orly Bonder for my base coat, then two coats of the polish and topped it off with Seche Vite. My Seche is quite thick right now so I need to get the thinner for it. I tried going back to China Glaze Fast Forward for a while but I'm back to Seche - it sets quicker and I can use it thicker.
Pardon the strange shape of my nails - I was trying out almond shape and I went a little overboard, then needed the length down so I just flattened them. XD
End Rating? ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 out of 5!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Not a way to win business...
Third Saturday in the salon (my full-day) and despite some icky weather I actually got a very pleasant pedicure client today! I was hoping to get a pedi done on myself but alas, it did not happen. XD I'll have to bribe someone to do it Tuesday or Wednesday night. :3
Today was sort of short seeing as we needed to be fairly cleaned up by 2ish, even though we close at 5. Our Tammy Taylor rep was coming in to do a demonstration and I was looking forward to asking her about why our kits were not standard and why there were obvious things missing (in my case, Sanitize spray and A+ Monomer - I got the Odor-less which is about the shittiest thing that has ever shitted).
Now, don't get me wrong - there are a few of the Tammy Taylor products that I do like. Some of the Prizmas are very pretty, I like their Pink & White (the P3 is very pretty), the A+ Monomer is fairly low odor (especially compared to the OPI competition liquid and CND Retention +), Miracle Manicure is a GREAT gel sealer, the soak-off gel system has a nice consistency, and the primer (while stinky as hell) works quite well. BUT, the attitude of the rep makes me want to not continue to use any of their products on a regular basis.
First off, her original meeting with us was supposed to be the weekend of Easter - now I understand that it was a holiday weekend but had she met with us then she would have had the opportunity for three demos with us instead of just two (going by the six-week demo schedule). She didn't even bother to inform us of the fact that she wasn't coming until my teacher questioned it so that was a bit on the unprofessional side. Oh well.
Today though, she was originally supposed to meet with us at 2:30. This is a bit inconvenient as we had quite a few of the massage clients that were wanting pedicures (and one who wanted acrylics) that we had to either refer to the cosmo students or turn down due to timing. Our teacher warned us that the rep was very long-winded so we had to be cleaned up by 2 or we'd be rushed to be out of there by 5.
She apparently tried to stop by at noon, while we were at lunch (much needed seeing as I hadn't eaten breakfast and was fading fast!) seeing as there was supposed to be a weather system moving in that would make her drive home a bit more tedious. Understandable, but we are not at your whim, lady!
ANYWAY, the demonstration started and my first impression? "I'm better than all of you our products are amazing but I'm not actually going to sell you on them I'm going to assume you believe this and take my word as gospel."
Yeah, I know we are provided your products in school to use and therefore we have to use them unless we wish to shell out our own money for product (I use OPI competition on my own nails, though), but you're not selling me on KEEPING using your product once I graduate.
She also had several moments of utter condescending and I seriously just had to smile and nod. When I brought up the contents of my kit, she almost made it seem like it was our teacher's fault (which it totally isn't) and simply told us to call Tammy Taylor CS about it - if I was a sales rep I'd be the one making the call myself to make sure it was taken care of properly.
I mean, in the end I got some good sculpture techniques and ball-consistency techniques out of it - but it's something I'll be applying to OTHER products. :/
Coming up next week: backfills! I get to be demo'ed on since the teacher is taking pitty on my poor smile-lines (plus I have the quickest growth).
Today was sort of short seeing as we needed to be fairly cleaned up by 2ish, even though we close at 5. Our Tammy Taylor rep was coming in to do a demonstration and I was looking forward to asking her about why our kits were not standard and why there were obvious things missing (in my case, Sanitize spray and A+ Monomer - I got the Odor-less which is about the shittiest thing that has ever shitted).
Now, don't get me wrong - there are a few of the Tammy Taylor products that I do like. Some of the Prizmas are very pretty, I like their Pink & White (the P3 is very pretty), the A+ Monomer is fairly low odor (especially compared to the OPI competition liquid and CND Retention +), Miracle Manicure is a GREAT gel sealer, the soak-off gel system has a nice consistency, and the primer (while stinky as hell) works quite well. BUT, the attitude of the rep makes me want to not continue to use any of their products on a regular basis.
First off, her original meeting with us was supposed to be the weekend of Easter - now I understand that it was a holiday weekend but had she met with us then she would have had the opportunity for three demos with us instead of just two (going by the six-week demo schedule). She didn't even bother to inform us of the fact that she wasn't coming until my teacher questioned it so that was a bit on the unprofessional side. Oh well.
Today though, she was originally supposed to meet with us at 2:30. This is a bit inconvenient as we had quite a few of the massage clients that were wanting pedicures (and one who wanted acrylics) that we had to either refer to the cosmo students or turn down due to timing. Our teacher warned us that the rep was very long-winded so we had to be cleaned up by 2 or we'd be rushed to be out of there by 5.
She apparently tried to stop by at noon, while we were at lunch (much needed seeing as I hadn't eaten breakfast and was fading fast!) seeing as there was supposed to be a weather system moving in that would make her drive home a bit more tedious. Understandable, but we are not at your whim, lady!
ANYWAY, the demonstration started and my first impression? "I'm better than all of you our products are amazing but I'm not actually going to sell you on them I'm going to assume you believe this and take my word as gospel."
Yeah, I know we are provided your products in school to use and therefore we have to use them unless we wish to shell out our own money for product (I use OPI competition on my own nails, though), but you're not selling me on KEEPING using your product once I graduate.
She also had several moments of utter condescending and I seriously just had to smile and nod. When I brought up the contents of my kit, she almost made it seem like it was our teacher's fault (which it totally isn't) and simply told us to call Tammy Taylor CS about it - if I was a sales rep I'd be the one making the call myself to make sure it was taken care of properly.
I mean, in the end I got some good sculpture techniques and ball-consistency techniques out of it - but it's something I'll be applying to OTHER products. :/
Coming up next week: backfills! I get to be demo'ed on since the teacher is taking pitty on my poor smile-lines (plus I have the quickest growth).
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Perhaps I should work on this anxiety thing....
I'm a perfectionist.
Tonight, I did my first full set of pink & whites on myself. I tried a technique where you start with the pink and shape the smile line that way - great for extreme smile lines, which are definitely my style. I played with it a bit on a nail prior and found I actually liked it so thought, hey, I can do this.
My teacher encouraged me to start on my dominant hand. I really wish I hadn't.
Some of them turned out great! Others, not so much. I have such an urge to soak them off already but the state of my nails underneath is just... it's not a good idea. I need to suck it up and fix them tomorrow in class. I'm more than likely going to have to put a layer of clear to build up some bulk on them since there was a lot of filing to be done to get them even.
I know I shouldn't feel bad, because to be completely honest for my first full set of P&W and for the fact that I did them on myself, they're fairly awesome, but... I'm too much of a perfectionist when it comes to things like this and I can't help but see every little flaw. I need to just remind myself that it was a learning experience and I can always throw polish on them to hide the smile-line flaws until I do a backfill next week to fix them (weekly fills will be necessary given my current nail growth holy crap).
I'm still so happy we have such a fantastic teacher. She's really been great, even if she tries to challenge me more given my background with working with this kind of thing on my own before. She's like me, though, and so she understood my frustration tonight and helped me out quite a bit.
The sad thing is though, I know that if I get a client tomorrow that wants p&w, I'd be able to handle it no problem. Somehow it's so much EASIER on someone else than it is me. Probably because my hands were trying to give out after so long of being in strange positions to file, fill, etc.
I need to just sit back, take a deep breath and not dwell on it. I'm only in the third week of class and I will have plenty of time to perfect it.
And perfect it I will, dammit!
Tonight, I did my first full set of pink & whites on myself. I tried a technique where you start with the pink and shape the smile line that way - great for extreme smile lines, which are definitely my style. I played with it a bit on a nail prior and found I actually liked it so thought, hey, I can do this.
My teacher encouraged me to start on my dominant hand. I really wish I hadn't.
Some of them turned out great! Others, not so much. I have such an urge to soak them off already but the state of my nails underneath is just... it's not a good idea. I need to suck it up and fix them tomorrow in class. I'm more than likely going to have to put a layer of clear to build up some bulk on them since there was a lot of filing to be done to get them even.
I know I shouldn't feel bad, because to be completely honest for my first full set of P&W and for the fact that I did them on myself, they're fairly awesome, but... I'm too much of a perfectionist when it comes to things like this and I can't help but see every little flaw. I need to just remind myself that it was a learning experience and I can always throw polish on them to hide the smile-line flaws until I do a backfill next week to fix them (weekly fills will be necessary given my current nail growth holy crap).
I'm still so happy we have such a fantastic teacher. She's really been great, even if she tries to challenge me more given my background with working with this kind of thing on my own before. She's like me, though, and so she understood my frustration tonight and helped me out quite a bit.
The sad thing is though, I know that if I get a client tomorrow that wants p&w, I'd be able to handle it no problem. Somehow it's so much EASIER on someone else than it is me. Probably because my hands were trying to give out after so long of being in strange positions to file, fill, etc.
I need to just sit back, take a deep breath and not dwell on it. I'm only in the third week of class and I will have plenty of time to perfect it.
And perfect it I will, dammit!
CosmoProf!!!!
Last night we got our student ID cards, so what did I do today? I REGISTERED AT COSMOPROF! To be honest, SalonCentric kind of has a better selection (and they carry Tammy Taylor, which I can get cheaper on their site, but either way...) BUT CosmoProf has a better selection of OPI axxium and stuff like that. I didn't splurge on axxium yet (I'm actually waiting for Premier Orlando because I know I can get it dirt cheap comparatively there) but I DID pick up the Creative Retention + Trial pink and white set to try out tonight in school. My teacher is a die-hard Creative fan and while I picked OPI clear, warm pink and white the other day, I DO want to try Creative's line.
I also managed to snag two OPI colors I hadn't seen previously: DS Radiance & DS Reserve. Radiance is a silver metallic while Reserve is a pretty pink one. Both don't streak bad at all, which can sometimes be an issue with metallics. :) It's so much nicer to buy OPI now that I'm not paying $8 a pop for it, lol.
I'll update with how I like the Creative tomorrow sometime. :) Going to use it to put a full set of pink & whites on tonight. :)
I also managed to snag two OPI colors I hadn't seen previously: DS Radiance & DS Reserve. Radiance is a silver metallic while Reserve is a pretty pink one. Both don't streak bad at all, which can sometimes be an issue with metallics. :) It's so much nicer to buy OPI now that I'm not paying $8 a pop for it, lol.
I'll update with how I like the Creative tomorrow sometime. :) Going to use it to put a full set of pink & whites on tonight. :)
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Nail School Recap - Week 2!
Starting a little late here, as I've been in school for two weeks now. Oh well.
School started off with a bang - first night we were doing manicures on each other. Then pedicures, then wraps & shellac, and now we're already working with acrylics. The teacher is very into pushing us right into things and challenging us. She's great and is super talented. :)
Our schedule is fairly straight forward - Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday nights we're in the salon or in theory and working on practicing things, be it on forms or each other and taking clients sporadically. Saturdays are our BIG client days and we're in the salon from open to close. Most of our clients come in for manis, pedis and shellac, but we do get quite a few acrylic/gel clients as well.
The first Saturday I did an acrylic soak off, pedi and then a shellac manicure. The morning had been slow so she was my only client, but it was still about a 3 hour process given everything that needed to be done. She was great and it was really nice. I had another client later in the week who was a shellac soak off and regular polish and oh man it was a wonder I was able to save her nails at all. People who overbuff nails make me a very sad person indeed. ;o;
This past Saturday I didn't have a client at all, even though we were fairly busy. This was due to the fact that I was being a dummy for one of the other students to try out acrylics on (and subsequently a good two hours of filing to get them to a manageable thickness - thank god I'd gotten my drill by then!). The receptionist asked us if we could do a full set of gels on a client who was getting her hair colored - the teacher and I were the only ones who could do gel so we said yes, but to have her hair colored first so I could practice with our product first.
I have only ever tried two forms of gels - the IBD hard gel system and then the Nail Bliss soak-off. Both are fairly straight forward and I knew the basics of how to work with it. BUT, every system works differently so I wanted to play before putting the Tammy Taylor gels on her.
So far, I've been fairly hit and miss with the Tammy Taylor products. I love the Prisma Colors and the regular white & clear pink acrylics, but the P3 pink is way too sticky no matter what. I really like the xtreme adhesion monomer but the no odor one that came in our kit is SHIT. Polish & top coat are fairly meh but the miracle manicure is awesome (gel top coat). Her gels? NIIIICE. Easy to work with and didn't bubble easy. Also fairly easy to clean up!
Sadly...client left without getting her gels done, which sucked because no gel set for me or tip, but I did get credit for a service for the fact that I was playing with it for a good long while and did several tips as well as a layer of the pink glitter gel over my own acrylics as a sealant.
I did get to play with the prisma colors as well and sat in the back of the salon sculpting. I haven't done 3D nail art in a while but seeing as I want to compete at the Premier Show in Orlando in June, I need to practice. In the end I managed a cute bow and a niiiice rose before we were out of time. I need to dig up my sculpting brushes to use though - the Tammy Taylor small acrylic brush was far too big for my nails with 3D art.
Next week we'll be doing a lot of theory, but we're also talking about taking a field trip to one of the nail supply stores that is only ever open during the week. XD Exciting!
School started off with a bang - first night we were doing manicures on each other. Then pedicures, then wraps & shellac, and now we're already working with acrylics. The teacher is very into pushing us right into things and challenging us. She's great and is super talented. :)
Our schedule is fairly straight forward - Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday nights we're in the salon or in theory and working on practicing things, be it on forms or each other and taking clients sporadically. Saturdays are our BIG client days and we're in the salon from open to close. Most of our clients come in for manis, pedis and shellac, but we do get quite a few acrylic/gel clients as well.
The first Saturday I did an acrylic soak off, pedi and then a shellac manicure. The morning had been slow so she was my only client, but it was still about a 3 hour process given everything that needed to be done. She was great and it was really nice. I had another client later in the week who was a shellac soak off and regular polish and oh man it was a wonder I was able to save her nails at all. People who overbuff nails make me a very sad person indeed. ;o;
This past Saturday I didn't have a client at all, even though we were fairly busy. This was due to the fact that I was being a dummy for one of the other students to try out acrylics on (and subsequently a good two hours of filing to get them to a manageable thickness - thank god I'd gotten my drill by then!). The receptionist asked us if we could do a full set of gels on a client who was getting her hair colored - the teacher and I were the only ones who could do gel so we said yes, but to have her hair colored first so I could practice with our product first.
I have only ever tried two forms of gels - the IBD hard gel system and then the Nail Bliss soak-off. Both are fairly straight forward and I knew the basics of how to work with it. BUT, every system works differently so I wanted to play before putting the Tammy Taylor gels on her.
So far, I've been fairly hit and miss with the Tammy Taylor products. I love the Prisma Colors and the regular white & clear pink acrylics, but the P3 pink is way too sticky no matter what. I really like the xtreme adhesion monomer but the no odor one that came in our kit is SHIT. Polish & top coat are fairly meh but the miracle manicure is awesome (gel top coat). Her gels? NIIIICE. Easy to work with and didn't bubble easy. Also fairly easy to clean up!
Sadly...client left without getting her gels done, which sucked because no gel set for me or tip, but I did get credit for a service for the fact that I was playing with it for a good long while and did several tips as well as a layer of the pink glitter gel over my own acrylics as a sealant.
I did get to play with the prisma colors as well and sat in the back of the salon sculpting. I haven't done 3D nail art in a while but seeing as I want to compete at the Premier Show in Orlando in June, I need to practice. In the end I managed a cute bow and a niiiice rose before we were out of time. I need to dig up my sculpting brushes to use though - the Tammy Taylor small acrylic brush was far too big for my nails with 3D art.
Next week we'll be doing a lot of theory, but we're also talking about taking a field trip to one of the nail supply stores that is only ever open during the week. XD Exciting!
Hello!
I'm Andii! I'm 27 and currently a nail student at Sunstate Academy in Clearwater, FL. I've been using tumblr for a while now to blog my nail art, but seeing as most people prefer tumblr to be 'photo only' (which I totally understand and agree with), I've decided to create a separate blog with the same name to TALK about my nail school experience as well as my life as a nail tech once I graduate. :)
Quick intro: I'm a new mommy and I've been interested in nail art & nail enhancements since I was 16 years old. After years of playing with stuff on my own, I decided to go ahead and pursue a career in nails. Unfortunately (though fortunately) right when I decided to go to school was when I found out I was pregnant. So I put it off a year and here I am!
If you'd like to check out some of my nail art, head on over to Andii's Candiis tumblr! Please follow if you like and would like to see more.
Quick intro: I'm a new mommy and I've been interested in nail art & nail enhancements since I was 16 years old. After years of playing with stuff on my own, I decided to go ahead and pursue a career in nails. Unfortunately (though fortunately) right when I decided to go to school was when I found out I was pregnant. So I put it off a year and here I am!
If you'd like to check out some of my nail art, head on over to Andii's Candiis tumblr! Please follow if you like and would like to see more.
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