Catch up: Nail Course Part II

If you missed my first installment on my nail training you can check it out HERE...

This Monday we focused on the infills and removal of our tips, acrylics and fibreglass from the previous week, followed by UV gel training which I thoroughly enjoyed and loved the results of! On Tuesday we worked on our nail art boards, we have to provide a display of 60 different nails as part of our nail art case study. We also re-capped on everything we'd learned and went over the requirements for our studying, homework and case studies. Although that was my last day at the academy until final assessment day and exams, I still have plenty to keep me busy over the next few weeks and have my tutors number and the school's contacts if I need help along the way.

This is my lil spot for the last day :) loved these work stations and the chairs were the BEST I have ever used, I must ask them where they are from, need one in my life! We were the first to ever be trained in this lovely newly kitted out and dedicated nail room.

This is a pic the school took of me for their facebook hahaha! Busy bee :) with my instagram account open for inspiration, so hard to remember your fave designs!

This was my fellow student practising her tips and gel nail art, again the pic was taken by the school. I in fact invested in one of the nail trainer hands you can see Grace using and here it is delivered this week!...

 Soooo... over the next few weeks I will be doing plenty of practice of all disciplines, completing case studies on some real people in all disciplines and studying for my exams. I also have to complete my nail art board which I have been working on over the weekend. Will be welcome distractions from my pining for my other half while he is in China LOL!

Will keep you up to date on my learnings and case studies as well as bringing you challenge mani's on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I also have the new Pocket Money Polishes' to show you this coming week and it's not long now until my first blogiversary! Giveaway details on the horizon!!!... Exciting times!

MissLanage x

Crumpet's 33DC: Tape Manicure...(day late, oops!)

Hello, hello, thank god it's the weekend! Had a busy and stressful week preparing for my man going abroad and leaving my current job; starting a new one on Monday.... And been studying and organising case studies of course! Will update you on all that tomorrow... So I'm a day late in my challenge but it's all good, I'm really pleased with this one!

I started with a base of two coats of white. I then took a random striping tape and placed two pieces on each nail. I picked out two Barry M Gellys, a teal and the deep blue which is just a gorgeous combo. I used just one coat of each of those on each of the sections alternating two teal and two blue. I peeled off the strips while still on the wet side of tacky and that's that. I would normally topcoat but I'll be doing my nails again soon so there's no need ;)

Just love the combination of these colours, so calming... reminds me of Alicante :)

The Edge - Mont Blanc, Barry M - Guava, Blue Grape, Striping Tape.

The nails also beautifully match my watch, a purchase made at Heathrow on the way out to Spain ;)

Have some lovely, lovely polsihes to show you from the awesome Pocket Money Polishes to show you in the next few days... Keep your eyes peeled!

MissLanage x

Crumpet's 33DC: Most Used Polish

The second manicure is on time, yay! Today is most used polish; I've been mega busy again so apologies because I didn't read it carefully, it should really have centred on just one polish not three lol! But in fairness they are all equally most used ;) and all three are from the lovely Barry M. I went for something simple and decorated with nail stickers... I did two coats of the bright pink and three of the light pink and blue. I finished off with a topcoat and once dry popped on a couple of these pretty dragonflies and a flower. Another quick manicure and was pretty happy with the less is more look.

Barry M - Shocking Pink, Blue Moon, Strawberry Icecream, The Edge - 5* Topcoat, Allura Nail Stickers (Poundland).

Check out what everyone else taking part in the challenge has been up to below...

MissLanage x

Crumpet's 33 DC: Dots

I'm taking part in The Crumpet's 33 Day Challenge, happening between now and early December we will be doing three posts a week :) Love these challenges and this is a little more life-friendly than the 31 Day Challenge of January which was a new challenge every day!

Here's what you can look forward to...

This should have been posted on Monday (apologies) but I was busy, busy with my nail course stuff on Monday and Tuesday... I will update you on that on Sunday... Sooo dots, I chose this lovely Avon polish after using it on my course, it's sat unused on my shelf for... 6 months?! Lol! Really liked it's vibrant colour and it went on so well so chose to use it again for this with a bit of stamping. Looking forward to trying the others from this collection that have also sat on the shelf! Did two coats of the purple, stamped with the gold and topcoated. Simples, I love stamping! Loved this mani too, even on my nubbys :)

Avon - Grape Goddess, Barry M - Gold Foil, The Edge - 5* Topcoat, Cheeky Plate 7 (Vibrant Collection).

MissLanage x

Catch up: Nail Tech Course... and Stuff!

Okay... what have I been up to this week since I haven't been blogging?!?

On Monday and Tuesday I attended Isis Beauty Academy for the start of my VTCT Nail Technology course. They have just moved to a new and improved premices and I was the very first student through the new doors! Awesome karma... and lovely people! The first day was focused on Health & Saftey etc and the Manicure, and I was lucky enough to be one to one with the course trainer which was FAB. The second day was demo and practice of tips, acrylic and fibreglass/silk nails. I must say I am not a huge fan of the acrylic at all, but fibreglass over tips or just the natural nail is stunning and so much kinder to nails! This time we had another student join the party which was great fun for practice purposes  (she already has a manicure qualification, hence not being on the first day's training) and I must say my first sets were pretty damn good, I was most pleased. Unfortunately I didn't get pics which was stupid! Haha!

Above is the structure of the course and my studying materials; Days 3 and 4 are coming up this Monday and Tuesday, sooo looking forward to these two days learning all about gels and of course the nail art, which is familiar territory for me. I will then have all the case studies, homework, assessments and exams to complete over the coming two or three months before I will be fully qualified! Exciting stuff! Below is my uniform, sporting my cute lil badges heehee :)

Here are a couple of pictures of the training room I was in, we will be in the dedicated nail room this coming week so will be sure to get some more snaps! The light and atmosphere in this place is just lovely, such a nice environment to be trained or have a treatment in!

The rest of the week I was working or poorly... and it was my dad's birthday, I had to collect, return and re-collect my car from the workshop and also took my other half in to have the pin removed from his broken hand so I've been pretty busy! I did manage to take delivery of and play with my awesome nail technician case from Roo Beauty though :) Just the right size for all my kit and heaps cute!

Finally, this weekend I have been studying and making the most of time with my man before he heads off to China on business in a few days... Next week the busy schedule and studying continues, but I hope to participate in The Crumpets 33DC during the week and then do a catch-up post on goings on again on the Sunday. Boy I've missed painting my nails!!... But right now I have a mixture of my fellow student's acrylic, silk and fibreglass practice nails on and need to leave them as they are for infills and removal tomorrow lol, had to cut down my nice natural nails for the process (boohoo), so nubbs will be the order of my posts for the next couple of weeks!

Check out below to see what other British Nail Bloggers have been up to this week...

MissLanage x

An InLinkz Link-up

MoYou Nail Mail & Darling Diva "Menage a trois"

Received my much anticipated MoYou London order in the post yesterday! Yay... can't wait to order some more, I have a wishlist at the moment. They are the perfect size for my nails when they are at their longer length and the images are FAB! Stamp so good too :)

MoYou London Pro Collection plates 10 & 14, Back to the 80's Collection 03.

So, I decided to couple a stamping mani with one of my newly purchased indies, the Darling Diva "Menage a trois". I started with a one coat blue base, used one coat of the Darling Diva over the thumb, middle and pinky nails and then stamped a rose design using the pink "Wing Fling". Next I used an orange stick to pick out some different sized hexes from the DD polish to place in the centre of the roses and finished with a topcoat. Quick and easy... and pretties :)

Love this new addition to my indie collection... The mix of pink glitter and pink holo hexes is just gorg! It has a slightly pink base which also gave the blue underneath a lovely lavender hue. Was also pleased with how well the Take Wing Collection Color Club polish stamped over the blue. Can't wait to use more of these stamping images! Really pleased with my purchases.

Barry M - Blueberry Icecream, Darling Diva Polish - Menage a Trois, Color Club - Wing Fling, Topcoat, MoYou Pro Collection - 10.

Unfortunately I didn't get time to do a second mani with my other DD polish as planned. I have been busy preparing for my first day on my nail technician course tomorrow, as well as doing all the usual Sunday routine stuff... will post the mani and be keeping you up to date with my learnings etc throughout the week :)

Night All!

MissLanage x

OPI Liquid Sands: Alcatraz...Rocks!

Evening lovelies... I must confess, as much of a nail polish addict as I am, this is my first OPI polish! Can you believe that?! They've just never caught my eye enough to spend the money... This one was different, I spotted it across a crowded duty free shop at the airport hahaha! Love at first sight! It's a glorious inky blue, inky formula; with gold and purple glitter pieces which is just beautiful. In different lights it is different shades and it can sparkle in every colour of the rainbow. It looks gorgeous in textured finish as intended AND with a topcoat, which I did a day after enjoying the first look. I got heaps of compliments on it wherever I went!

Two coats in daylight, looks like denim! I loved it, in the light the gold and purple sparkle really lifted through the inky blue base. Please excuse the slight chip on my pinky, I had worn it at work all day.

Two coats in artificial light (evening), like indigo denim now :) Love this bottle shot.

This is the two coats topped off with two coats of topcoat (Color Club) in daylight; now the glitter really sparkles!

 This is the same two coats on two coats in artificial light (evening). Shimmery, sparkly goodness!! I had to take all the different pictures to do it justice.

 OPI Liquid Sands - Alcatraz...Rocks.

MissLanage x

Return From Holiday Mani: Shimmer Polish "Jovie"

Well... I used up all the data in Spain... Again and it wasn't worth topping up AGAIN so here I am back in the UK before bringing you another mani!... I returned from my hols to find a package of three indie's I bought online whilst on holiday LOL, even on my travels I can't miss a bargain polish! And one of them I used for tonight's mani, I LOVE it, I think it has to be No.1 in my glitter polish spots (at the moment haha). It's a clear base with teeny tiny glitter inside, then added pink/silver/blue shimmering holo hexes... It's beauuuutiful.

I started with a base of two coats of the "Mushroom" followed by two half-ish coats of the "Jovie" on all but the ring finger which I covered entirely. I also dabbed the dry brush to the tips to add the odd bit of sparkle to enhance a sort of gradient effect. I topcoated all but the ring finger with my go-to Color Club and used the Rimmel matte topcoat on the ring finger. I forgot just how much I love the matte look... I can see a few more of those popping up in the near future.

Added the close-up shots to try and better capture the matte accent nail :)

Models Own - Mushroom, Shimmer Polish - Jovie, Color Club - Topcoat, Rimmel - Matte Topcoat.

I have the other two pretty indie purchases from Darling Diva Polish to show you this week along with a mani using the MOST lovely OPI Liquid Sands polish "Alcatraz - Rocks" that I picked up in Duty Free at the airport!... And I start my nail technician couse next week!! *Squeal*

MissLanage x

Holiday Mani No.4: Avon Nail Stickers "Hot Pink Bling"

Just wanted to say a quick hello and thank you to all my new followers! I appreciate each and every one of you and some exciting stuff is in our midsts! :)

Today's mani was a very quick and simple one to do... Nail Stickers! Perfect for use on holiday as there is no messing about and no worries of damage in transit! This was the first time I have used any whole nail stickers from Avon and I must say I was MOST impressed, (well done mummy)! Firstly they had a really good range of nine sizes to choose from, particularly at the smaller end of the scale which is much needed with my small nail beds. Secondly the thickness was perfect, very thin, but very strong and stretchable. Thirdly they look great (I think, please do tell me if I'm wrong lol) and put up with the stresses of holiday antics really well! As you'd expect I simply applied the most suitable sized stickers to clean, naked nails; folded the ends over the tip and filed off the excess... That's it! Instant nail art bling! Exactly what I needed tonight with the other half ushering me to get ready for dinner ASAP hahaha! I would definitely recommend these and am looking forward to trying out the others my mum ordered for me :) I'm not sure how much they were as they were a gift, but knowing Avon, it won't have been as much as the other brands that are available and the quality was just as good if not better in my opinion...

Avon Nail Art Stickers - Hot Pink Bling.

MissLanage x

Holiday Mani No.3: Nail Lacquer UK's Happy III

Apologies for the gap in posts, the internet here in Spain has been a little hit and miss... Looks like I finally have a decent connection that should hold up for the rest of my trip now though, yay!.. Just as I say that we hit the data usage limit! Grrrrrrr!... 24 hours and €10 later...

Tonight I have for you another lovely swatch and review of a Nail Lacquer UK polish - Happy III. It's a lovely multicoloured, multi-sized hex filled topper which fits the name 'Happy' perfectly; reminds me of childhood and more specifically arts and crafts time at play-school for some reason?! Lol! That and of course the polish name was the inspiration behind my naive design... I used two coats of it over two coats of the white on all but the ring finger; on that finger I used a nail art pen to write the word happy and then used a dotting tool to pick out some hexes and glitter pieces to place around the word... I love the coverage you get with this polish and the different sized and coloured hexes really pop!

Models Own - Snow White, Nail Lacquer UK - Happy III, Barry M - Black Nail Art Pen, Dotting Tool.

 MissLanage x