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

Follow me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/BethelColemanNailArtist
Follow me on Instagram: @bc_nailartist

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.

Follow me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/BethelColemanNailArtist
Follow me on Instagram: bc_nailartist

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?

Follow me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/BethelColemanNailArtist
Follow me on Instagram: @bc_nailartist