Nail Biters

 

Just about everyone has bitten their nails in their life.

Biting fingernails is a habit that often starts in childhood.
Studies show 60% of children and 45% of teenagers bite their nails.
Nail biting becomes less common after age 18, but it can continue into adulthood. Many adults and children are often unaware they are biting their nails because doing so has become a habit. it can be the occasional nibble to a more serious problem.

Regularly biting your nails and cuticles can leave your fingers red and sore. The area of skin around your nails may bleed and become infected.
Bacteria and viruses passed from your fingers to your face and mouth can make you vulnerable to infection.

This is where nail technicians can be your best friends!!!

There are so many options to help strengthen your nails to the point where they will be strong enough to grow naturally.

IBX and gel polish, Hard gel (extension or over lay) and Acrylic (extension or overlay)

(If you want to know more about IBX I have another post about the benefits here...)

What is hard gel?
Hard gel is a higher viscosity gel formula that comes in light proof pots. 

This needs to be cured in UV light.
It can be extended out (extension) or just placed on top of your natural nail. This is called an overlay.

What is acrylic?
Acrylic is a 2 step system with liquid and powder in which a brush is dipped into the liquid and then placed into the powder to form a ball. This sets naturally.
It can also be used for extensions or overlays.

What is best for you can depend on your hobbies and life style. Your nail tech should be able to suggest the correct form of nail service for you once she has found out what these are.

The below success story is solely from gel polish appointments.

  <------This was her first appointment getting gel polish to help grow her bitten nails.
The first step towards stopping the biting habit.

<-------This was 3 weeks from her initial appointment and the results are amazing!
A few millimeters feels like a lot more to a nail biter and it can take a while for them to get used to the extra length, so maintaining them and keeping them short is the best option.



My next success story is based on an acrylic extension.

<------This client is very hard on her nails, she works with horses, is a solo mum and does a lot of gardening.

She has bitten her nails for a very long time and struggles to grow them out due to the skin in front of her nail beds which are slightly pushed up.

This means her nails grow into her skin which is uncomfortable.

<------This is after an acrylic extension with ACG gel polish.

I kept the length below the edge of her fingertip and rounded the edges so she would be less likely to catch them on things.

These are sculpted using forms (which i talk about in THIS blog post)

She has reported that she has had her nails stood on by horses, got caught in buckles, been in a lot of water, had some medicinal chemicals on them and the acrylic is still in perfect form, no lifting and no chipping.

Her nails are a little sore from knocking them around (she admits she is very rough with them), but its possible that the acrylic saved her from getting yet another bruised nail as it took most of the impact.

I have yet to do a hard gel service on a nail biter but it will essentially have the same impact as acrylic except it is slightly softer and more flexible. This would be suited to someone with hands in water all the time or someone that doesn't like the smell of monomer (used in acrylics).

Long story short....if you're ready to grow your nails or want a quick solution for a special occasion, get in contact with a qualified nail technician who can provide a high quality service so your natural nails will be taken care of underneath your enhancements.

B xxx

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IBX Nail Treatment

We look after our hair and our skin but we so often forget about the amazing little gadgets that we abuse to the point they just can't take it anymore.

Its time someone did something about this….enter IBX

Sooooooo…..What is this stuff??

IBX is a system from the brand 'Famous Names' (creators of the amazing cuticle oil Dadi'Oil) and is a 2 step system aiming at restoring damaged nail plates and protecting them from future damage.

Most strengtheners used for nails (particularly in traditional nail polish strengtheners) contain formaldehyde. Not only this but all it does is sit on top of the nail plate. This doesn't really do anything to help promote the growth considering it wears off mostly from the end your needing the strength within the first day!
IBX soaks IN TO the nail plate and is cured inside!!!
And even better NO FORMALDEHYDE!!
Also it is not something you need to have removed, once its in there, its in there and you can start on your way to growing your own nails without the need of enhancements.

IBX Repair

IBX

Now, even though I have called it a 2 step system, the initial application requires 3 steps if you are needing some serious repair, BUT the 3 steps are only needed on the first appointment, how many steps are needed at follow up appointments depend on how damaged your nail plates actually are.

The procedure itself is painless and in my opinion works best when another service is applied on top to give extra protection to your nail plate while it is being repaired.
IBX has been shown to repair severe nail damage, it toughens the upper layers of the nail plate 'fusing' them together allowing the nail to grow out naturally strong. With multiple treatments IBX fills up deep grooves resulting in a smoother nail plate.
A major problem a lot of people have is delamintaion, or most commonly called peeling. This is where the nail plate layers separate, flake off, get filed off or picked off making the nail plate weak, brittle and unable to grow out the free edge. IBX can fix that too!!

The top five things Famous Names would have you know about IBX are:
    •    IBX is a Natural Nail Strengthening System made to Protect nails under ALL Gel Polishes and to Grow natural nails
    •    IBX is applied to the surface of the nail but cured to the inside of the nail to create strength within
    •    IBX creates a protective shield for the nail
    •    IBX can repair severe natural nail damage
    •    IBX is an ongoing treatment to keep nails in a healthy state.

How much?
I charge $5.00 per layer with any service.
So, if you come in for a gel polish service and you are wanting to add this to your manicure, the first application would be an added $15.00, follow up appointments would range from an added $5-$10 and depend on your nails, which would be discussed with you at each appointment.

As it states above, this is not a permanent solution. you do need to continue your IBX treatments to get the full effects. But if we do it for our face and hair, then we can do it for our nails too.

B xxx

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information and images from http://ibxnails.com/benefits-ibx-system

Baby Boomer Acrylic Nails

Again I'm am super grateful for having people willing to take time out of their day to let me practice on them. I wish I was faster but I really am learning from the beginning again.
People tend to be more lenient on people who are in training, so I feel pressure to live up to expectations just because I am already qualified. But the truth is I am in the same boat right now as everyone else who has still yet to finish their course.

Baby Boomer Nails........soooooo not as easy as it looks.......

Why is it called 'baby boomer' anyway?
I googled the question to see if i could find the answer....could i find on straight away? NO
It seems no-one really knows why they are called this. So I used my detective skills and came to my own conclusion!
The baby boomer era is known from approximately 1946-1964, why? because in 1945 when the world war ended there was an influx of babies born about 9 months later.....we can guess why
and the number of babies born each year averaged about 4million until 1964 when the births tapered off.
In this time of the baby boom, the most popular nail colours were bright red, frosted pinks and whites. So for reasons that seem obvious to me this is why the frosted ombre pink and white nail trend was named because of the era the polish colours were most popular.
Little history there for ya....

I am slowly getting the hang of sculpting instead of using tips, right now I wish I could just scrunch them up and throw them away, they are so infuriating when you are getting used to how they are ment to fit to the finger....but I was getting some of them 1st try.

And my other major issue is powder to liquid ratio. I know half the time my beads are too wet but they look fine before I place them down.
At least this time I didn't have a light making it impossible to judge the curing time of the acrylic.

As you can see from the image above the ombre was not executed as perfect as I had hoped.
It was a little patchy, blending acrylic is waaaaaay harder than I remember.
This is a technique I will be probably having to practice on myself many times to get better at it.

And here I was thinking I wouldn't have to practice acrylics on myself....Wishful thinking.

Because I wasn't completely happy with the final result I put her favourite gel polish ontop...

 Getting back into this acrylic business is a lot harder than I'd thought, but the only way to get better is to keep practicing, so that's what I am going to do.

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Monaco Workshops Aug/Sep 2015

I highly recommend that you attend workshops like this one if you get the opportunity.
Whether you're a trained tech, training presently, wanting to train as a tech or even a hair dresser or make-up artist wanting to branch out and offer your clients more, you will leave with so much passion and drive to produce some really fantastic work.
I love how much fun I had and knowledge I gained from attending these workshops.
Like seriously.....not just getting to play with brand new product but getting to connect with like minded people and network.

The group of women that attended the workshops are awesome and everyone had input and questions that helped everyone learn just a little bit more and Penny was more than happy to answer any questions we had even if they seemed silly to the ones asking.
It was awesome to see so much enthusiasm and inspiration pouring out of one person, making every part of the Monaco Nail Academy workshops enjoyable.

Here's a link to find what they have to offer presently.....
http://monaco.ac.nz/courses
Soon Taranaki will have its own educator, which will be amazing! We are quite sheltered here so not having to travel to do workshops etc would be so handy for us naki folks.
The new educator is none other than Brittany Bourgoise, owner of Flamingo Boutique and the area leader for Monaco.

Now.....I'm going to have a rave for a second so bare with me.....

I LOVE Artisitic products. I have used a few brands, and the consistency of quality is by far the best I've seen. Not only that but the support network Monaco have set up is incredible. Penny and her team are single handily changing the way this industries views its peers. Meaning everyone who attends these workshops, goes away having made new friends.
I fully respect Penny and her values and love how she welcomes everyone with open arms.

So here's an insight into what went on.....

(view from the deck at our venue)

The workshops took place at a beautiful secluded spot just outside of New Plymouth,
One Burgess Hill, a little hard to find but stunning none the less.

DAY 1.
Nail Art 1.0 & Nail Art 2.0
So many demos with little tricks and tips on the best way to achieve certain nail designs.
Also getting play with things we have never played with before, like pigments, nail art pens and acrylic paint made specifically for nail design.
Not only that, but Penny gave us a little chemistry lesson (which I love knowing about, helps you understand why certain things need to be done and whats happening when things go wrong) and an acrylic/hard gel problem solving session to help us in any areas we might be struggling.

(Penny giving a demonstration)

DAY 2.
Artistic Colour Gloss Certification & Pigments
Went back to basics on this one and went over how to prep nails properly, the reasons behind certain issues we may face and how to fix them and the correct removal technique.
I feel more confident in giving you the best dam gel polish service you can have now!
And with pigments (which I might add, I found to be the hardest to use.....most likely my brush is not the right type of brush to apply with...I will fix this when I have purchased the more important items I still need....well want lol).....well the possibilities are so vast.....you'll just have to take the class.
And as a added bonus i had a quick lesson on what IBX does and how it works and how to use it. I see this in my kit in the near future!

Here are my practice tips I finished while doing the class.....

(matte with gloss french, leopard print, daisies, teddy bear)

(quilting pattern, marbling, union jack, teddy bear)

(galaxy, pigment fade with scribe...semi fail, squares and flowers, paint/blood drips)

(glitter pigment fade, full pigment, dispertion/snake skin)

Not all of them were amazing lol, still a fair bit of trial and error when it come to new techniques but that's what the workshops were all about.
I have come home passionate and rearing to go!

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Starting from scratch...

Oh man....where do I start?

I feel like it was the first time I have ever done acrylics!

Fumbling around, trying to find what I need, zoning out trying to remember things I learnt years ago.

It's definitely not like riding a bike!!!

I am just super lucky to have such awesome friends who are willing to sit there and let me do my thing, trudging through any issues I face lol

One major issue I had was my lamp I needed to use. I'm sure it was screwing with the curing time.
I really need a good lamp above my work space and I'm looking foward to being able to discuss whats best with Penny Lazic at the Monaco workshops that are taking place next week here in New Plymouth.

One major decision I have made is to mainly use nail forms, which are very fiddly when you are not used to them. 

This is used instead of tips. It has a sticky back which is attached to the finger tip and then the acrylic is extended on top and out to the desired length. When the acrylic is hard it is removed and the acrylic can be filed.
I'm hoping with enough practice it will become second nature.

The one thing I am super happy about is the acrylic flowers and petals. Something I have always really enjoyed/am confident about doing.
They just add that feminine touch I had envisioned from the start.

Even though it took me a long time to complete these nails, I'm am responsibly happy with the end result.
Can only get better from here right?

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What's to come...

WELCOME TO MY BLOG!

I'm Bethel, and I have been a qualified nail technician since July 2010.
I've used numerous nail product brands including EzFlow, Young Nails, Tammy Taylor, Konad, China Glaze, Artistic Nail Design and a few others.

I'll hope to have swatches, simple design techniques and product reviews for you in the near future!!

Not all designs make it to my blog - follow me on Facebook to see all of them!