Hungry hungry hippo!

Right, just a super quick update. 4.9kg down in 4 weeks. awesome eh? Another four weeks and I will post a photo.

And it begins....

I thought I'd share a new project with you all.
It's not nails, make up or jewellery either!

Lets have a confession first: I weigh 136.1kg (I'll let you non-metric people work that out for yourselves).
Yesterday I signed up at my local Jenny Craig clinic. The plan is to lose 36.1kg and re-assess the situation after that. I am 6 foot tall, so I'm not looking at being skinny, in fact I don't WANT to be skinny.
So yea, once a week I'm going to post some stuff, I'm not going to turn this into a flappy weight loss blog - maybe I might inspire you to get a bit of fat off, maybe I might just give you a giggle!

Right now I am eating the most AMAZING vegetarian spag bol. I HATE spag bol but omg. I will have no problem with this. What I did have a problem with today was the gigantic lunch I had to eat. On the menu it stated I had to have a bean and cheese burrito (from J.C), 2 cups of salad vegetables, 1 serve of fat (I had 1TBS of light ranch dressing) and 2 slices of whole wheat bread. O.M.G I couldn't eat it all!! In fact at dinner time right now I am still so stuffed from lunch that I'm struggling to eat my spaghetti haha.
I'm due for another serve of dairy and fat as well, so I'm going to have a NON skinny latte when I go out for coffee later :P

Review Time!

Time for a review! Something I've used in the past (probably 20 years ago or so) and HATED. I thought it was about time I tried something new out!

 

Introducing:

Maybelline Express Remover

I was a little bit hesitant about buying it in the beginning because for a start it was $10NZD! That's EXPENSIVE. I can buy 500mL of normal remover for $4.99. 

Way back in the dinosaur ages you could buy a pot half the size of this (and an unknown brand) which only really took off the cheapest of polishes and smelled super bad. This stuff doesn't really smell much better - it claims to be acetone free as well. It does make me wonder sometimes by the smell of these products if they are in fact acetone free. It seemed to dry my cuticles more than a non acetone polish. 

But anyway, I got it. Lets have a look at the back of the pot.

Dip, twist and remove. Simple as that eh? Lets have a look and see how it did taking off my heavy-glitter polish I had on, shall we?

Left ALL the glitter on, took all the polish off. 

Now, we all know that glitter is a complete bastard to get off yea? Well this made it even harder to get off. I ended up having to scrape it off with a bamboo pusher after soaking it with acetone afterwards. What on earth? My poor cuticle :( However, it's REALLY good and fast at removing plan ol' glitter free stuff. 

I've decided that I will use it for plain colours and for swatching when the polish isn't dry. It's fine for removing glitter that way - HOWEVER - Be warned, it leaves the glitter on the sponge and covers your fingers in it. I spent ages picking it off of my fingers last night after removing a simple, large glittered polish after swatching. Mental. 

Would I buy it again? Probably not. I would recommend it to people that don't wear glitters.

Trippin' on Acid!

It's polish review time!
I know it's been a while, but things happen right?
Anyway, today we are having a look at a new Nail Juice polish - Acid!
When the creator of Nail Juice previewed this polish, I was in two minds about how teal and peach would look together. Would it work? Would it look terrible? I had to find out!
It arrived today and within 10 minutes of grabbing it from the letter box, it was on. Impatient much?
Anyway, lets start with some bottle shots:

Steph has added a fabulous back sticker for the bottle. Doesn't it look really professional?

And the front - I love the font!

Look how much glitter there is in this polish! It's gorgeous!

And here it is on me. Now, I'm sorry about the blur - my big camera is charging and I HAD to get this up on the blog asap!

 So yea. You can go to her Etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/NailJuicePolish
Buy all the pretties!

Gel vs Acrylic! Alex's Guide to Choosing The Right Extensions for YOU!

Okay, so by request I'm doing a blog post about the differences between the different types of nail extensions! I'll try not to waffle too much (can't guarantee that will happen!). 

So you've not had nail extensions before, but you think you might like to try them out! Your nails are short or peeling, weak bla bla bla and just won't grow like you want them to? Extensions are a great way to help!

Lets start at the beginning, shall we? 

Your nails are crap. My nails are crap too. They're battered, peeling, soft and the cuticles... I have NO words for the state of my cuticles. I pick and I bite and I generally can't help myself (this is with naked nails, I leave them alone when I have extensions on).

See? Shit eh. They're stained too from me being a lazy bastard and not having base coat on. 

Anyway. I HATE my nails when I don't have extensions on. I've tried every different extension under the sun available to the professional and every day market with some success. Not a lot, mind you. My personal favorite extension is acrylic, I'm biased probably. It's what I know. I find that for me they're a LOT more forgiving than some of the other extensions out there, but I will give you a fair look at what is out there and some options available to you for both home product and professional. 

Here's a quick list of what I'm going to talk about:

• Acrylic Extensions (Professional and Home)
• UV Gel Extensions (Professional and Home)
• Prescription Nail Extensions

Okay, lets start.

Acrylic Nails

These nails are created using a polymer and monomer to sculpt a false nail on top of your own natural nail plate either using a plastic tip, paper form or an overlay on what you already have. 

Acrylic nails can be really good and they can be REALLY BAD. There are two schools of thought as to why they can be bad - one being my previous post about bad places to get them done and the other being bad product. I'll touch briefly on brands of product - you'd be here all week if I explained them all in full - I am however totally open to any questions you have via comment or email! 

There are well over 100 different brands of Acrylic product. My favorite being Ezflow. Now, I'm not saying it's the best - it's what I'm currently trained in. I haven't tried them all - some companies will only let you purchase their product if you've trained exclusively with them. In theory ALL acrylic products apply the same, but some have little added bits and pieces and techniques and stuff. I'm not going into all that. 

Whenever you get your nails done by a reputable tech or salon, they'll be using one of the top products available. Creative, Ezflow etc etc. Their products are good. They have lovely little things added into them to help your nails grow too! They're MMA free (click the MMA to read more about what that is over at Hooked on Nails) as well! Being MMA free is really important. Again, go read that link. 

IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT YOU ONLY HAVE A QUALIFIED (or trainee under supervision) NAIL TECH APPLY YOUR EXTENSIONS!!!!!!!!!!! 

Wanna know why? Google what happens when you fail at doing nail extensions with acrylic at home. Make sure you haven't had lunch. You're gonna see all sorts of gross pictures of nails being ripped off and bleeding and all sorts. Same goes for UV Gel extension *shudder*.

 Now, where was I? Oh yes. Acrylic nails. Okay, so you have the type that you get done at the salon and the type you get at the pharmacy, K-Mart or other department stores. Oh how I wish they would bloody well STOP selling these kids! Holy shit. Can you imagine the messes and disasters I've seen over the years where girls go in, get these kits, get the crap all over the show, rip nails off, make themselves bleed and cry and OMG they're going out that night and want me to fix everything? I just want to scream and yell at them all and tell them to go away. I wouldn't do that of course - I'm a professional. No, I'll sit here and bitch about it in my blog instead! <3

Don't do your own nails with this rubbish product. Please? Even if you're training to be a tech or you are a professional (I know you wouldn't be so silly, but still). 

So yea, okay, types of acrylic extension. Here's some pictures that I've borrowed from some other lovely people. 

 From left to right - Sculptured extensions using a form, Tipped extensions, Overlay.

You can also have dipped acrylics or molded ones, but those aren't really done in NZ, so I've not covered them. Dipped works in a similar way to silk wraps and molded are where you paint the acrylic onto the inside of a full cover tip and press over the natural nail.

UV Gel Nails

Okay, we're going to cover a couple of different types of Gel Nails in this topic. UV, Non-UV and Gel Polish (both UV and Non-UV). Bear with me on this, it's going to be waffly. 

UV Gel 

Now, you'll read a lot of conflicting information out there on what Gel Nails actually are. TRUE Gel Nails are NOT a few layers of gel polish painted on and then cured under a UV or LED lamp, they're a Gel-gel which is sculpted on and then cured under a UV or LED lamp. 

Seriously, there is a shitload of science behind Gel nails - from what they're made of, to how they differ from other types of nails to molecular structure and alllllll that awesome stuff. If you really want to read about that, please click here and it will take you to an awesome article (it's a few pages long) and them. I'd love to sit here all day with my books out and the internet going hard whilst I pen up something really simple and easy for you to read, but it's not simple and easy if you want it explained properly. Go read that article. 

One of the annoying things about Gel overlays or extensions is that they don't soak off. They need to be buffed off. This in itself has some advantages - no lifting! Lifting is the bane of my existence - something I suffer from myself. I have terribly oily nail plates and everything lifts. Not gel however! It does mean that your nails will probably always have a teeny bit of gel left on them when you have a re balance - that's okay tho! It all bonds together under the UV/LED lamp and you're away laughing. It's just irritating when the gel slips and you end up with it on your skin. You can file it down, but expect a few cuts from the file. 

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Don't get a kit from the internet and try it online if you've not learned how to do it. You're gonna end up in a godawful mess that you're going to really injure yourself with!

UV Gel Polish

How far we've come in the world of nails huh? First Shellac, then the market exploded with this wonderful, soak-off, UV curing, long lasting polish! exciting! I hate the stuff. Why? Because it lifts straight off my nails and I end up with bubbling and all sorts of other nasty stuff. LOTS of people love it however. Don't take my failing as law and don't get it done - it's really handy if you're not a 'I change my nail polish more than once a week' type person. It wipes off with it's own special removed - no soaking required! You can buy it online and grab a little cheapie UV lamp and you're away laughing. Just watch if you're painting over the top with other kinds of polish - it doesn't like it and WILL bubble (especially Shellac). 

Now, you can put gel polish over a plastic nail tip if you want to. It won't last however - because the polish is made to wipe off with the special remover you buy, you can imagine it's not really that tough. Tips have to be filed down, which ads extra damage to your nail plate and extra layers of polish need to be put on to build up enough strength to support the tip - Party Nails is what they're called. Temporary etc. Good for if you're going out for a night and want your nails to be long and pretty etc.

Non- UV Gel Polish

Okay, don't believe the packaging - it's NOT gel. No no no. It's got extra plasticizers in it to make it stronger (Creative's Vinylux is a good example) that make it last longer. It's more flexible so it's not supposed to chip or crack or wear off. Don't be fooled! It ain't gel. 

Non-UV Gel 

Again, it ain't gel. It's a sticky, icky terrible messy product that takes forever to dry and will peel off your nails. Again, don't waste your money on it.

Here's some pictures of some different kinds of application of UV Gel.

 from left to right, overlay, tips and sculpted.

Prescription Nails

Now, this is where we start getting all kinds of funky.

Remember the shitty pharmacy and dollar store stick ons? They've evolved! 

Taken straight from www.illusionsbeauty.com.au (because I don't have the flyer handy):

Prescription Nails is a non-damaging nail enhancement method that replaces acrylics and gels. Prescription Nails is a technological breakthrough in the nail care industry. They are called "Prescription" Nails because each set is carefully prescribed - the curvature and arch of each nail is precisely measured and recorded on a client's personal prescription card. The nails are custom fitted to the client's nail shape and size - producing nail enhancements that have a very natural look and feel.

• No fill-ins needed
• No painful removal
• Non-damaging sanding & buffing
• No damaging electric drills used
• Each set lasts for up to 2 weeks
• Thin, durable, natural look and feel
• Great for nail biters and those concerned about protecting the natural nail bed
• Clear, full-cover nails, custom-designed for application on top of the natural nail bed
• Perfect for clients who want long, beautiful nails without the damage associated with traditional acrylic, gel, or wrap enhancement methods

Are you fed up with salons that employ nail techs that never listen to your requests and continue to give poor customer service? Are you fed up with having your nail beds and cuticles painfully burned with the improper use of the electric drill? Are you fed up with painful prying enhancement removal that takes off layers of the natural nail plate and permanently damages the nail matrix? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions then you can avoid these problems by changing to Prescription Nails enhancements.
These wonderful enhancements are clear, full-cover nail extensions that are custom-designed for application on top of the entire natural nail bed. They are durable and last up to two weeks. They are easily soaked off in about 15 minutes in acetone when professionally removed at the salon. You can have a new full set of nails every two weeks without suffering painful prying or drilling.
Prescription Nails also help grow your natural nails. They provide a protective cover over the entire nail bed - preventing breakage as the natural nails grow. When you get your soak-off removal every two weeks, your nails are examined to make sure that your nail beds are staying healthy.
The length of your natural nails doesn't matter. You might be a nail biter with no length at all. You might have short or medium length natural nails. Prescription Nails are clear, you can see the length of the natural nail through the tips, so the natural nails are usually shortened for best results.

Prescription Nails are lightweight so they are comfortable to wear. Many women have told me that their friends thought that the Prescription Nails were natural nails. If you want a healthier enhancement method that produces beautiful nails that look and feel just like your own then you need Prescription Nails.

Good sell eh? 

I'm currently using Prescription nails to grow out a few splits on my nail plates due to me being not so careful with my acrylics. They're honestly brilliant. I cut them really short so they're the same length as my natural nail and you wouldn't even know I have them on. They're resilient - EXCEPT don't use acetone on them and limit the amount of non acetone remover you use. They are plastic, they will melt eventually. They're soaked off with acetone and reapplied every few weeks. Brilliant? Yes. Only shit thing is, you can't really use glitter polishes with them because it's impossible to get the stuff off without acetone! hah.  

This is what they look like when you've just put them on. They're completely clear. They cover your entire nail plate to make them look natural and because there's literally HUNDREDS of different fits, you'll be able to have perfect nails with them. Don't be fooled however, they are still only plastic and they can be damaged. They also melt fast if you get them too close to hot things - I found that out the hard way.

Anyway, hopefully this little post has been able to help you out a little bit with what sort of nails you want to get. If I've not covered something you want to know about, as always, I'm happy to answer questions.

xox

Mall nail salons and why you need to steer clear!

Hi everyone! It's been a while but something has really got up my nose that I need to share and help you with. 

As per the title of the blog post - Mall nail salons. Now, because of not wanting to get my pants sued off, I'm not going to name them - you'll probably know who I'm talking about anyway (NZ girls). 

It's come to my attention in the last 10 years out of my 15 year nail tech career, that more and more of these cheap and nasty salons are popping up in one brand of mall here in New Zealand. As I said before, I can't name them, but you know what I'm going on about. In that time, I've seen and turned away more and more clients who have been to these salons that I can count. I've helped poor girls get these atrocious nails off and help to fit them with perfect nails than turn girls away, but it's really disturbing me. The ones I turn away are the ones that go get cheap nails ($40 a set!) and come to me for a re-balance instead of paying my fee of $60-$85. I know when they're doing that, they tell me on the phone! Can't believe it!

Anyway, so these poor girls that come to get them taken off. Our conversations on the phone generally go like this:

[Me answering the phone]

Them: Help! I've been to *************** and they've really hurt my nails and I need to take them off because they're so sore!

or:

Them: I went to ****************** for a backfill, but they started to pick my nails off and I told them to stop and I left. They made me pay first and wouldn't give me my money back! 

Scary huh? Picking nails off? WTF? 

If you haven't been to one of these salons, I'm going to tell you exactly what happens. 

You rock in, you don't need an appointment. 

You pay your money to whomever gets up from their current client to serve you.

You take a seat and get ushered over to a 'tech' when they're ready for you.

You sit down, they don't usually say hello to you and you hold your hands out to them.

(The next bit is from salon stalking and my clients telling me what's happened)

NO santitizing. None. 

DIRTY FILES OMG. Do they even know how many nasty bacteria can be transferred from a dirty file? Obviously not or they don't care. EW.

They get their box of white tips out without asking what you actually want and proceed to fit you for your nails.

THEN (dun dun dun!) out comes the drill. It's not an 'electric file', it's a bloody drill. Do you know what a Dremel is? It's a drill that's used for crafting with metal/wood/glass and ITS THE SAME THING in a different box.

No pre-tailoring. They just glue them on.

Then you get a 'tech' change. 

The next person sits down, puts a mask on and grabs whatever brush is hanging from his or her light. It's a size 8 brush which only needs one ball of acrylic to make the nail. Now, there's nothing wrong with the size of the brush at all - for all I know you use one (if you're a tech). That's totally cool. 

They don't prime (a bit more about this later) and they get you to hold a hand up in front of a little fan to help the stuff dry. Now, the polymer and monomer I use sets in 30 seconds and you can file it after 1 minute. There's no need to have a fan to help it dry unless you're using really shitty cheap product.

Next you get another 'tech' change. 

The new one sits down, mask and all and gets that nasty drill out.

She proceeds to 'file' your new nail with a rough sanding band. No smoothing, no buffing, just a rough one. 

After this is done, you get a UV gel top coat and you get sent to the back of the salon where they have a big UV lamp set up. You sit there for 5 minutes and then you leave. They don't even say goodbye.

This process has probably taken about 30 minutes all up.

Now, you might think this sounds alright? Let me enlighten you about what you've just experienced.

1) The Drill. 

As I briefly stated, the drill is NOT an electric nail file. Electric nail files are those cheap and cheerful little things you buy at the $2 store that are supposed to shape your nails. The Drill is in face a craft tool. If you happen to use one of these in your salon, then I'm going to assume that you do it under 'best practice' conditions. 

You a) DON'T use the drill on the natural nail and you b) DON'T use the drill on fresh applications of acrylic. You c) ONLY use the drill when re-balancing a french application which needs the white doing. That's all the drill is supposed to be used for. 

Using the drill on a natural nail plate will upset the matrix (where the nail grows from under the cuticle), causing ridges to grow. It will also take off WAAAAAYYYYY too many layers of the nail plate, leaving the client with uneven nail plates. 

What's the correct way to do all this before you apply tips? You get a super soft buffer and you lightly brush the nail plate with it - so as not to take ANY layers off - only to remove the shine. Yep, that's all. No filing, just a soft soft buffer. Funny eh?

Lastly on the topic of the drill, NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER use it on a fresh application of acrylic. Did you know it takes 24hrs for the molecules to settle after they polymer and monomer have been applied? Yep. A good tech will only need to file the side walls of the nail and give the new nail a quick soft file and buff and send her client on her way. That's all. Disturbing the molecules while they bond is really bad. It causes lifting and all sorts of other crap. Noticed your nails get really hot while they do it? It's because the drill is making the molecules bounce around more than they should and they heat up too quickly causing  your natural nail to scream. I bet it would if you could hear it ;) 

2) No Primer.

Hmm.. Some techs use primerless product though! Yes, you're right. I use a primerless product, but you know what? I ALWAYS prime. It really helps that acrylic to stick good and strong. Mall salon 'tech' doesn't prime because, wait for it, it will allow her to PICK YOUR EXTENSIONS OFF better when you come back for a 're-balance'. Any place that wants to do that, you want to be running away screaming from. I just don't understand how people still go there! ARGH.

What does picking the nails off do to your nail plate? Do I even need to answer that? It RUINS your natural nail. The amount of girls I've seen that have had some or all of their natural nail pulled off in this process really upsets me. It can take up to 8 months for your nail to grow from matrix to free edge. EIGHT months. If the matrix is damaged bad enough, your nail won't grow. Simple as that. Do you really want to risk it??

I could sit here and go on and on about this and show you all sorts of horrible pictures and bag the company and all that, but I'm not like that and as I said earlier, I really don't want to have my pants sued off me. I just want to make you aware that you get what you pay for (in mall salons). Please don't go there. Please tell all your friends and family not to go there. 

I actually can't believe that they haven't been closed down because of using WORST practice. It's really quite frightening. 

If you have questions, please post a comment :) I'm here to help! 

xox

One of these things is not like the other..

So I love Hello Kitty. There's no shame in that at all. What is shameful are the top offs. This post will be short and sweet as I'm posting from my phone, but I had to do it right now!

I went to my local $2 shop last week and discovered ’hello kitty’ polish they had. I bought one. What a mistake!

Firstly, its pretty!
That's about it. It goes on terribly and smells like gone-off chocolate.
But look how it came off! I pour my cotton next to me on the table, husband freaked out and thought I'd been bleeding! EW. Its going in the bin.