Charli - The Nail Tech

Soak Off Gel Polish

2011-11-14T10:50:00.000-08:00

I just have to say that I am in love with Entity's Color Couture soak off gel enamel.

In talking with various nail clients I see a confusion with the term 'gel'. Unfortunately there are basically 2 types of 'gel' nails out there.

Gel Nails - this is what I call a hard gel (it hardens to form a nail). It is used to extend and enhance the nail, much like acrylics do. This cannot be easily soaked off like the gel polishes. It does come in various colors. I never saw the use for red or orange or whatever colored hard gel because to change the color I would have had to sand all of the gel nail off. Yikes!

These are the nails before gel enhancements

Gel enhancements using forms to extend the nail.


Gel enhancements using tips to extend the nail.

They are pretty, but as with acrylics they require retouches and some women out there do not want to do the acrylic/gel nails. Now we have soak off gel polishes for the manicurist to offer clients. Stay tuned for my post on this newest product for nails!

Dancing with the Stars

2011-04-11T08:21:00.000-07:00

It is kind of fun to know that my nails are getting to be everywhere; People Magazine, The Oprah Show, David Letterman, and now Dancing with the Stars!

With Kirstie out there on shows...my nails are appearing everywhere! Love it!

A Year with Entity Beauty Nail Products

2011-02-28T08:24:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe that it has been a year since I posted anything! Time sure does fly by quickly.

I'll start by saying I still love Entity Beauty Nail products.

I have been using Entity's Acrylic system for a year and have absolutely no complaints. I can now say that this is the best product out there in terms of durability, ease of use, color, etc. When I do a set of acrylics I know that those nails will look good and last.


Entity's Pink and White System


The Natural Look

Either way they are beautiful!

Nail Educator

2010-03-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

So...

I took an acrylic nail class with Entity Beauty a few weeks ago.

I mentioned to the educator, Laura, that I would like to become an educator for Entity Beauty. It was for completely selfish reasons...I want to make sure this company sticks around!!!! I love their product.

I got a call today from the person in charge of educators! It is sort of last minute but they do this once a year and one is coming up. I am going to do it! I truly want to help this company expand and stick around.

The class is in Las Vegas! So I will have to post pictures. hehehe

Kirstie Alley's New Show

2010-03-16T10:02:00.000-07:00

I promised some exciting news...

Kirstie Alley's Big Life

Starts: Sunday, March 21st 10:00 pm ET (7:00 pm PT)

Look for me in one of the episodes! They filmed an episode while Kirstie was getting her nails done by none other than...
me!!!!!!!

Nail Hell - Part 2

2010-03-10T08:20:00.000-08:00

Well my search for an acrylic nail product went on for about 8 months. Just some of the products I tried out...

I tried whole systems...
I tried mixing different powders with different liquids...
Nothing was working. The nails would lift, crack or both. I had clients who never broke nails coming in with many nails broken or lifting or both...

Needless to say I was just about at the end of my rope and thinking of different career choices.

My wonderful daughter and I went to a Hair and Nail Expo in Long Beach as a final search for a company I hadn't tried.

And... I found one! Entity Beauty!

This product is amazing! I am still working out the kinks with how this product needs to be applied. Mainly it doesn't like the cold so I have to make sure I apply it thicker than I usually do. But so far every client is loving this product!

Success!

Coming soon...Kirstie Alley's new show!

Nail Hell

2010-02-17T07:53:00.000-08:00

Sorry for not posting in a long time. I have been in what I call "Nail Hell".

It all started a little over 1 year ago.

A little history is necessary:

I started my nail career using Porce-A-Glaze. Let me tell you, this was the best: strong, never yellowed and never lifted...unless the manicurist didn't know how to apply the stuff. After 9 years the product started yellowing...badly. Called the company and they tried to tell me it was having the liquid dish to close to the powder dish. Huh? (I found out later that the company had been sold, not once but twice. The product had been changed!).

After trying different products I settled on Creative Nail Design's Solar Nail product. I did a little mixing of powders as I found CND alone to be slightly brittle. I was happy...not as good as I was used to but it was close.

Sometime ago I tried CND's Radical acrylic liquid but found too many clients becoming sensitive to the product. So back to the Solar Nail Liquid.

About 3 years ago I began hearing that CND was going to discontinue the Solar Nail Liquid. I started buying it up. Sadly my supply finally ran out.

I switched to CND's Retention. Worked well and I was happy. That is until clients started to complain about burning, itching skin for a couple of days after their fill. Not 1 or 2 but 12 clients!!!! AND 3 of them had to take the acrylic nails off as the reaction was so bad. (In the past 26 years normally 1 client every 2-3 years became sensitive to the product and had to stop getting acrylic nails)

I emailed the company and got a call. Basically...I was doing it wrong. The liquid cannot touch the skin as it had more chemicals. Hmmm. One slight problem - I was becoming allergic to the product too. Far too caustic!!!!! Not acceptable to my standards.

So my search began...

There is a happy ending to this so come back for the next installment.
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Kirstie Alley's Nails

2009-05-09T07:49:00.000-07:00

My sculpted acrylic nails have appeared in a number of TV shows throughout the years: Townies, Party of Five, CSI, Cold Cases and The Oprah Show. While it is fun to know this, I have never been one to be 'star struck' or on the look out for celebrities.

But...

I became so excited when someone showed me the newest issue of People Magazine. Kirstie Alley is on the front cover!

That meant that my nails were on the front cover of People Magazine!!! I opened the magazine and found Kirstie's article and while reading the interview I confess that a huge bubble of excitement wanted to burst inside as I noticed Kirstie's hands and that my nails were visible! The color, by the way, is OPI's Pompeii Purple. And it is her favorite.

I was finally able to sit down and watch my recording of The Oprah Show with Kirstie Alley. (She is wearing OPI's Alpine Snow on her nails.)

She mentions the paparazzi and how the other side is not shown. There have been a number of times when Kirstie has come to Krimson Hair Studio for her nail appointment and the paparazzi were outside waiting. The first time I was completely unaware of them taking pictures as she left. I cannot tell you how violated I felt when I found out after they had been posted on the Internet. And they weren't even taking pictures of me!!! So now I always go outside and take a little walk around the salon before she leaves.

I started doing Kirstie's nails about 1 ½ years ago. I had always wanted to meet her, thinking that she would be a truly nice person. And I was right. She is fun, interesting, caring and real. She is amazing!

Do Not Cut The Cuticle Off

2009-04-14T06:58:00.000-07:00

Taking care of the cuticle is something I have learned by experience.

The rules are:

Do not cut the cuticles off.
Only trim the part of the cuticle that is sticking up or frayed.

I grew up a nail biter. My parents offered everything but the moon to get me to quit biting my nails. That said...I did quit biting my nails. But not because of any bribe my parents offered.

I began manicuring my own nails every week. I got out my little nail kit and would cut my cuticles off, then file and buff my nails. I didn't bite my nails but I did continue to bite my cuticles. A bad habit that is so hard to break.

A few years down the line I found a way to polish my nails that would last a week. With polish on my nails I stopped biting my cuticles. I didn't want to mess up my polish job after spending hours making it perfect!

My cuticles were still ragged! I bought that neat Revlon cuticle trimmer. Big, big mistake. My cuticles were still ragged. Hang nails were a continual problem. Until manicuring school.

Beauty school is a challenge in that you have to find something to do to fill all that time! I got a manicure everyday! That meant my cuticles were gently pushed back and only the hang nails trimmed. By the end of school I no longer had a cuticle problem.

Your skin (cuticle included) is made up of many layers of skin cells. There is no way that you can cut off a layer evenly. When you trim your cuticles off you can bet that you have trimmed the layers unevenly. So when the skin grows back it grows back uneven. Cutting the cuticles off in an attempt to smooth them only makes the matter worse. Thus you have ragged cuticles.

Make sure that you apply lotion to keep the cuticles moist and gently push them back before trimming. This done frequently is the recipe for beautiful cuticles.

Anatomy of the Finger Nail

2009-03-11T11:05:00.000-07:00

So here is your first lesson on the finger nail, covering the name of the different parts of the nail. It also applies to toe nails.

Your nails are made up of several layers of a protein called keratin, also found in your hair and skin. The parts of the nail are as follows:

The nail plate is that part of your nail that you see. It is the hard portion of the nail.

The nail bed is the 'pink' part on the nail. It is the connective tissue beneath the nail plate holding the nail to the finger. When the nail grows it glides over the nail bed.

The cuticle is the skin that overlaps your nail plate at the base of your nail. It protects the new keratin cells that are forming the nail and growing out from the matrix. This is one reason why you do not cut off the cuticle!

The matrix is located under your cuticle and skin at the base of the nail. This is the root of the nail. The matrix produces the keratin cells that make up the nail and as the new nail grows, the older nail cells become hard and push out toward your fingertips creating the nail plate. Damage to the matrix can cause permanent damage to the appearance of the nail.

The lunula is that whitish, half-moon shape that you see at the base of your nail. The lunula is actually the front end of the matrix and lies beneath the nail. The lunula is usually most visible on the thumb and some people do not have visible lunulae.

The free edge is pretty self-explanatory. This is the part of the nail that extends beyond the finger and is not connected to the finger.

Proper and regular care of your nails is essential if you want them to look healthy and nice. Check back for the next installment covering just what is proper care.

A Nail Technician's Knowledge

2009-02-24T07:56:00.000-08:00

My purpose in creating this blog is to provide my experience and observations in the manicuring business to the public. My clients have benefited for years and now it is time to spread this information.

I have searched the Internet and have found some misinformation, misconceptions, and valid information regarding manicures, pedicures, acrylic nails, sculptured nails, and artificial nails. I would like to attempt to clarify the information and present it to you.

I welcome questions and will attempt to answer them or redirect you to the appropriate website or specialist. I am not a doctor and do not attempt to diagnose problems that you may have or encountered. Instead I will direct you to a doctor if it is beyond my scope of help.

The first thing that I will start with is going over the parts of the nail and the products used by a nail technician. In this way my blogs will make more sense when I use terms that I am used to but you may not.