Gelish: Mixed Roses

Xiao Ting, a first time customer of mine contacted me on Saturday night in hope of booking an appointment for Sunday. She was extremely disppointed when I told her that I was fully booked for the late morning/early afternoon. I informed her that I had slots in the evening only to realise that she actually needs to do her nails for a wedding dinner on Sunday night. A while later, the customer who was originally scheduled for the 12pm slot had something urgent to attend to and had to postpone her appointment. I contacted Xiao Ting immediately to tell her about it and she was thrilled!

She came by the next day and was extremely nice. She was delayed for a little while and made the effort to sms me before that informing me that she'll be late. In actual fact, she was only late for 10 minutes but I really appreciated the fact that she bothered to inform me about it. That makes a responsible customer! Xiao Ting had quite a tough time deciding what to do as she loved my roses and flower designs. After much deliberation, here's what we came out with:

Xiao Ting did half moons on every nail except for the thumbs and the ring fingers. Initially, she was concerned about the growth of her nails over time. That was when I suggested doing half moons to prevent the obvious nail growth.

A final look:

Thank you Xiao Ting. It's customers like you that make the entire manicure experience a fruitful and accomplished one. (:

Candyland Collection by Gelish

After much deliberation and thought, I finally went down to purchase my set of the latest Candyland Collection by Gelish. Swatched it immediately after I came home and there are no regrets! The colours are really lovely!

Pardon the horrible quality of the picture. Boyfriend was eager to see the colours as well so I took it with my handphone. Nevertheless, the colours look really really sweet in real life. (:

Magneto by Gelish

"Explore the laws of Attraction with Gelish Magneto, a collection of EFX Magnetic Gel-Polish and Nail Lacquer that instantly transforms your manicure from natural to extraterrestrial. The metallic particle enriched nail colors fuse with the magnet to create nail art that is truly a force to be reckoned with."

(information above was extracted from http://www.nailharmony.com/products/gelish-gel-polish/magneto.html)

Here are the results:

Jeannette's magneto in "Inseparable Forces"

Wan Xin's magneto in "Electric Metal Lover"

Jeannette's magneto in "Inseparable Forces" 

Wan Xin's magneto in "Electric Metal Lover"

I was shocked when Wan Xin mentioned that Magneto is going for an additional of $25 on top of regular gelish in salons.

But at I Nail It, get to enjoy magneto at only $25 !!

(includes nail shaping, cuticle work, base coat, a choice of one magneto polish, top coat and cuticle oil)

Valid till 29th April only!

Contact valerie.gmh@gmail.com to book an appointment now! (:

*If you'd like to see how it's done, you may view the video on my facebook page.*

Gelish: Purple Roses

Hui Han is a perfect role model for new customers. She was on time and knew what she wanted. She liked my swirled roses and opted for them to be done in a purple colour scheme. Hui Han wanted a light and shimmery base and set her eyes on Gelish Vegas Nights.

The roses were done with dark purple and light purple acrylic paint before painting the leaves in light green.

I love the feminity of roses and how they never go out of trend. (:

Gelish: Glitter Tips

Glitter tips seems to be the trend for many! I've had countless requests for glitter tips, so much so that I'm gonna combine some into this post. Probably because Gelish lasts 2-3 weeks, most opt for a design that is wearable and not too loud.

After painting a Gelish colour of their choice, I sponged on Gelish Waterfield on the tips. Some prefer it to stay on the french tip, while some prefer a gradient. Many of my customers were pretty amazed to see that I sponge on the polish instead of painting it on. Well, I've tried both ways and realised that sponging it give a more subtle and softer look with a gradual gradient. Since then, I've always used the sponging method when it comes to glitter tips.

Charmaine's Gitter Tips

Gelish Make A Difference

Jeanette's Glitter Tips

Gelish Hot Rod Red

Lynn's Glitter Tips

Gelish Make A Difference

Samantha's Glitter Tips

Artistic Colour Gloss Fierce

Wan Xin's Glitter Tips

Gelish Night Reflection

Gelish: Slanted French

Lynn came over for a Gelish removal (glitter tips) and opted for a slanted french. She requested for a light and shimmery colour for the base so that the growth will not be too obvious. We settled for Gelish Vegas Nights as the base with Gelish Queen Of Hearts for the slanted french. She initially wanted a french manicure, but decided against it after realising that her nails were too short. I suggested doing a slanted french or a half-moon instead.

I lined the slanted french with my Art Club's silver glitter striper. Lynn suggested adding 3 swarovski crystals in the center of the thumbs and a crystal on alternate fingers.

My first try doing slanted french with Gelish wasn't too bad. (:

Gelish: Bridal Roses

Angelia was pretty sure of the nail art she wanted after looking at my nail art wheel. The original design was done with OPI Passion as the base and OPI Black Onyx as the french tip with the roses lining on the french line. Angelia twisted the colour scheme to the opposite of the original and was done in white instead. It gave off a very different feeling - it very much portrayed a set of bridal nails instead of the original mysterious look. Interesting!

With the diamond ring and Angelia's slim fingers, she is definitely ready to be a model for a bridal shoot. =p

I used Gelish Waterfield for the base with Gelish Sheek White for the french tips. Somehow, I find it easier to work on french manicures with Gelish. Gelish is a lot more forgiving as compared to normal polishes. The french tip was lined with solid silver acrylic paint before swirling bouquets of roses of each individual nail.

Angelia also requested for Swarovski crystals on both her thumbs (beside the roses). Looking at the pictures, I feel that the crystals were too big and I should have used something smaller. It's no wonder they say that every set of manicure you do is a new lesson learnt. (:

Here's a final look. Definitely a wearable set of nail art while bringing out Angelia's sleek fingers.

As these were her nails for Chinese New Year, she was so sweet to send me a picture compilation that she did. It'll be great to work with such wonderful customers all the time. However, the reality is such that we don't meet such understanding customers who are always willing to go the extra mile. In fact, some of them are always late for appointments, don't bother to inform when they're not coming for their appointment, and the list goes on. That's what happens in the service industry I guess. Makes me quite skeptical about taking in new customers sometimes.

Here's Angelia's gelish manicure after 2 weeks! Still looks as good as new except for the signicant nail growth. I was really happy that the nail art stayed on as good as new. Previously, I used to have challenges with making the nail art stay on Gelish, especially when the nail art is done with acrylic paint. But this set of Gelish manicure has proven that nail art is able to stay for 2 whole weeks! Wendy's Gelish manicure stayed on well too! Read more here

A close-up. So to all customers who have spoken to me about their worries about nail art's ability to stay on Gelish, I hope this is able to reassure you that you can integrate pretty nails into your daily life. Angelia and Wendy are perfect examples who have held on to their nail art for 2 whole weeks and have been using their fingers for "tough work" too such as housework, regular work etc. If they can, you can do it too. (:

Gelish: Roses & Polka

Wendy used to order OPI Polishes from me when I was holding sprees for them in the past. Ever since I introduced Gelish into my service menu, she expressed interest in it and finally got a chance to try it for Chinese New Year.

We used Gelish Make A Difference from the limited Breast Cancer Awareness Edition for the base. Art was done with acrylic paint.

Her accent nail on her thumb was a design she picked from one of my nail art wheels. I had previously done this on my mum's toes, but with a different colour scheme. I suggested leaving that design as an accent nail and not on every finger as it'd definitely look too much. We settled for polka dots and rose bouquets on alternate fingers.

Definitely a wearable nail art! Very sweet looking. In actual fact, I told her she could leave it on till Valentine's Day. =p

Wendy contacted me again recently to book an appointment for her gelish removal and another set of Gelish + nail art for Valentine's Day. Since she has had her Gelish manicure for about 2+ weeks now, we had a short chat about the durability and wearability of her Gelish mani and she gave it 10/10!

This is a picture she sent me after having it on for 2+ weeks.



As you can see, apart from her nail growth, the design is still perfectly in place. The thing I love about Gelish is that the shine stays even after weeks of polishing. According to Wendy, she was pretty rough with her nails and yet it managed to stay so well, apart from a little chip at the side of her thumb.

I was extremely satisfied with the fact that the design managed to stay. When I first began experimenting with Gelish, the art would fade after a couple of days, especially when I used acrylic paint. But customers of late has been telling me that their art manage to stay through the weeks of Gelish! This gives me extreme satisfaction. (:

On a side note, I am considering implementing a deposit system for new customers. Am very tired of having customers giving me last minute notice and worse of all, just not coming without informing. What do you think?

Gelish: Polka Dot Lace

My colleague's daughter, Lee Yee came over with a friend to get her nails done for CNY. I was so happy when I saw the length of her nails and I said to her, "These are nails every manicurist love painting!" She asked, "Why?" And I replied, "Cause they are long and easy to paint!" Nevertheless, that doesn't mean I turn away those with short nails okay. (:

She opted for Gelish Queen of Hearts and initially wanted to draw flowers on them. However, after seeing her friend's pedi, she decided to do the same design with a different colour scheme!

The thumbs and the ring fingers were the accent nails while the rest just had polka dots on them. I suggested doing that as having the focus design on every nail would make it too overwhelming.

She was really nice to send me pictures of her nails when she reached home~ (:

This set costs $32 inclusive of Gelish, Nail art and extra Gelish top coat.

Gelish: Queen of Hearts

Got a couple of new Gelish colours the other day from PNC, and one of them was Queen of Hearts. It is a gorgeous red with shimmer, a very royal colour! Reminds me very much of Queen Elizabeth or Princess Diana when I saw the colour. Since Mum was flying off to NZ for my cousin's wedding, and she wanted something that would last on her short nails, I suggested doing Gelish. Mum has always been in love with red, and she carries off red very well! Queen of hearts was a perfect colour for her, especially in this season of CNY as well.

Application was very good on this one. Extremely smooth and easy to apply. Cured well too. I see this as a popular colour for CNY. (:

Gelish: Party Like A Rockstar

Happy new year everyone! It's not a good new year for me at all. Am done with a bad flu and cough, been feeling so dizzy the minute I'm out of bed that I had to lie in bed almost the entire day. What a way to start the new year. =(

Nevertheless, I'm feeling slightly better now so I'd better post before it gets worse again. Shirley came over for a Gelish mani yesterday. Felt really apologetic towards her. We had to push our appointment time and time again because both our schedules couldn't meet. She's a really nice customer who tried so hard to fit both our timings together. (: Had a great chat with her during our mani session and found out that she's not the sort of lady who'd go for typical roses and flowers. She wanted something different.

After flipping through my nail mags, this is the design she picked.

Shirley wanted something rock. Here's my take on it. (:

As I felt that I didn't do a great job with the art, I charged her much lesser than how I'd charge when I perfect this set of art (esp the star on the thumb).

Gelish: Christmas Snowflakes

Corinne, a really sweet customer of mine came over to get her nails done for Christmas! She bought pies for my family and I and even prepared a Christmas present for me. Such thoughtful customers never fail to make my day. (:

The very first time I met her, she was so fascinated by the snowflake design! I told her that it was a Christmas design that I did last year for my mum and she said that she would wait for Christmas this year to get it done.

Finally... the wait is over!

I used Gelish: After Dark for the base and sponged on white for a snowy effect. The snowflakes were drawn with white acrylic paint.

Corinne was in love with the snowflakes and requested for them on her toes as well! The base I used was OPI: Royal Navy topped with ChinaGlaze: Fairy Dust. Honestly, there is no difference whether or not you do Gelish on your toes since regular polish lasts relative long for a pedicure. Hence, I suggested doing a regular pedi for her toes.

It always feels nice to do Christmas designs in this season of giving. But I'm sure my snowflakes can be further improved. (:

Gelish: Black Shadow

Flora requested to do her nails to suit her dress for her niece's upcoming wedding dinner. Her dress was black with white designs. I suggested doing something simple and classy to avoid clashing with the design of her dress. As she is a working mother who is required to do housework daily, I suggested trying out Gelish since it's known to not chip and peel. Flora was really sweet! She said, "I trust you. You do whatever you think is nice."

I had to do 3 coats of Gelish's Black Shadow as I painted each coat very thin to ensure its smooth finish. I sponged on Gelish's Waterfield on the tips before topping it with Swarovski Crystals in ss8. Lastly, I massaged on cuticle oil for her to nourish her cuticles.

I personally like this look. A pity I didn't manage to take a very good picture of it.

Gelish: Sweet Polka on Make A Difference

I promised to blog last night, but was seriously too tired, plus I'm coming down with a flu. Struggling to update now and having to blow my nose from time to time. But with no further ado, here it is. (:

Mum did a gelish switch from Gelish Light Elegant to Gelish Make A Difference (from the Breast Cancer Awareness Limited Edition). A pity I forgot to take a picture of her previous Gelish before removing it. Mum was extremely satisfied with this set of nails! For the first time, she finally got her nails painted. In the past, it would chip off after 2-3 days. Hence, she didn't see a point in painting her nails. She is partly why I invested in Gelish as well, so that she no longer have to worry about non-lasting manicures. (:

 A final look! Advised mum to apply more hand cream and cuticle oil daily to nourish her cuticles and the skin around it. (:

About Gelish!

For those who have been following me on Twitter, you should know that I made my first Gelish purchase at PNC yesterday! I hesitated for a long time as it's a rather big investment. But upon reading about the lasting benefits of Gelish, I couldn't resist the temptation!

Gelish comes in an array of colours, which applies like polish, works like gel. They are cured in a LED lamp in 30 seconds or in two minutes in UV lamps, just like gels. Gelish stays on nails for three weeks with no chipping or peeling, and soak off completely in only 15 minutes.

Gelish application includes Hand & Nail Harmony PH bond, Gelish Foundation Gel, Gelish Soak Off Gel Polish of choice, Gelish Top It Off Gel Sealer followed by nourishing cuticle oil.

With Gelish, you no longer have to worry about ruining your manicures. Give it a try today! (:

(The above information was extracted from http://www.nailharmony.com/products/gelish-gel-polish/gelish-gel-polish.html)

Gelish - First Try!

After much consideration, I finally made my way to PNC today to get Gelish! Bought the lamp, bond, foundation, top-it-off, cleanser, acetone and colours to start it off! Came home and tried it on my mum and both of us were so excited!! She told me to purchase more colours and she will sponsor me. hahaha. shall be getting more colours soon. excited!! =DD