Tips - Animals and Nature

The last two sets of beauty school tips:

Animals:

You get the flash and no-flash shots, cos I couldn't decide which looked better.  First is pink zebra stripe, suggested by a classmate (but I couldn't do just black n white!), then ladybug print cos my baby is obsessed with them, then a bumblebee, dalmatian, and spiderweb.

Nature:
                                                                                                                                                                     
The first is a sunburst, the second is a flower design after a temporary tattoo I had once, third and fourth are roses, fifth is a sunflower, sixth is the sun on an ocean, seventh is lightening, eighth is a crescent moon and stars.  Still working on the photography thing...
Aren't you glad I did these in sets instead of individuals!?

Tips - Objects

These posted by request:

The first was the German flag (the woman in charge of my school is German), the second obviously is the US flag, the third kinda looks like an eye but was just a dot for no reason, the fourth was a holiday bow, the fifth is hard to see but it's an apple or cherry (really don't remember) the sixth is a UFO in honor of my mom, who's obsessed with X Files, and the seventh is a Valentine's inspired heart.

Tips - Designs

More tips from beauty school:

Random splashes of colors, and I don't remember the polishes.

Tips - Decals

For your viewing pleasure, since I'm not going to redo my Starry Skies manicure until Monday, I bring you a collection of tips that I did in beauty school.  Admittedly, this set of tips were when I was feeling lazy, tired, cranky, or uninspired...
But anyway:

Again, I don't remember most of these polishes, but the first (top left) one I polished red, then when it was still tacky dipped it in gold glitter shreds, the second I applied tiny gems in a spiral, the third I applied little heart confetti as a french tip, the fourth has the same tiny gems as the second, the fifth is MaryKay 24K (which I can't find anymore) with decals, the sixth is another spiral with hexagon confetti, the seventh (bottom left) has the heart confetti, the eighth has flower/star confetti, the ninth was dipped in a fine glitter for a french tip, the tenth and eleventh have the hexagon confetti, the twelfth has the flower/star confetti.

Creepy Sock Nails

In beauty school, I don't recall exactly the sequence of events, but for some reason I took off my shoes.  On that particular day, I happened to be wearing mitten socks.  A friend saw them and found them to be creepy, although she had no problem with toe socks.  Apparently I was inspired by them, and she was kind enough to let me paint her nails.

The manicure:

The inspiring sock:

This was ages ago, so don't remember what polishes I used.

Starry Skies

Last night when I decided to do nail art and blog about it, I was planning on starting with a spring theme, something with sunshine and palm trees. Then I went to therapy, and (apart from lacking a yellow polish) just wasn't feeling too sunny. I painted my nails black because I was cranky (typically I choose bright colors) and then added silver details to reduce the presence of depression on my hands. That, and my partner was on his way (and made me feel better with a caramel apple and chocolate covered strawberry).





I know they're hard to see... I'll practice my photography skills. Base is Maalouf Provocative on all nails. Ring finger moon, index, thumb, index, middle, pinkie star are Maalouf Glamorous Life.

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning...

I went to beauty school. I hated it (hello, Drama!), thought it a bit chintzy (teachers younger than me, who had never even worked in a salon?!) but made myself graduate and get licensed anyway (uh, I had to pay the student loan regardless).
Towards the end of beauty school, I took comfort hiding in the nail room, painting nail art on tips glued to orange sticks.
At my first post-beauty school job, we didn't offer nail services, so I read a lot of magazines in my down time. My current salon has a mid-range manicure area, with a healthy selection of polish and a sweet manicurist who is so kind to share with me when she's off. I don't offer services to clients, but one day a week I have a class and then therapy... So after I take a little time to myself and do my nails. After testing a handful of the colors, I decided to get more creative, for the first time on myself. (Nail art on an orange stick is MUCH easier!)
Comments, questions, suggestions welcome. Enjoy!