Shellac Fall/Winter 2012 Preview..... and some salon talk

Summer has been very busy. I would say it has been one of the best summers ever business wise.
I have been enjoying doing lots of gel polish manis and pedis. Clients are in love with color and I rarely do "french". I'm OK with that LOL.
Overall, I think Shellac is the winner in my books. It's my favourite brand, hands down.
The issues I used to have with dryness seemed to fix themselves. I owe this to Doug Schoon. I'm surprised how many people in the industry still don't know him.
He's advice and knowledge are priceless.
What do I do differently? Doug said to time the soak off time. I used to "eyeball" it. Now I actually set a timer. I use OPI Expert Touch for the removal and tell each client to use cuticle oil till I'm blue in the face. I make sure that I remove the Shellac GENTLY, not scratching the nail.
I do very but very light buff just around the cuticle area with a fine buffer. Just like I would before a manicure. This step is used to ensure a very smooth surface so the color doesn't snag on anything.

One thing I'm lacking is.... MORE COLORS!! I NEED more colors! I was super excited when I came across the preview of the fall/winter collection. Darks!! YES! Navy! YESSS! Green? Even better.

OPI Spring 2012 Gel Colors collection

I can't believe that the last time I posted wast the beginning of April!! It's been 2 months and it feels like 2 weeks!
It's been a busy spring for me in the salon! I'm also changing locations so it's been hectic!

Today I picked up the 2 new OPI collections. I can't say I was super excited. I don't know why...
I like OPI GelColors but sadly I'm not in love with the line overall.
Surely it's a great addition to my Shellac collection (I can't wait for more Shellac colors!!) so I'm glad that OPI came out with new colors. My clients have been demanding more colors I must say ;)

OPI Pure Lacquer Nail Apps

When I heard that OPI is coming out with "nail polish strips" I was super excited! I have tried Sally Hansen Salon Effects when they first came out and I loved it... the only drawback was the lack of nice patterns. I only found maybe couple that appealed to me.

I know that OPI introduced product called (Nicole by) OPI Nail Apps a while ago but that I was a consumer product and those were not "polish strips" but stickers.




OPI "stickers"



OPI "Lacquer" Nail Apps

ABA Toronto, Doug Schoon and Dashing Diva French Wrap System

Happy Easter everyone!

I haven't posted in a while but don't think I was slacking off! I was busy shopping, working and checking out new stuff. Click below to read more about the ABA show in Toronto, Doug Scoon and Dashing Diva French Wrap review and pictures.

Luxio by Akzentz Spring/Summer 2012 - preview

Luxio by Akzentz just came out with their new Spring/Summer 2012 collection.
I'm very impressed with the colors I must say!
A little background:
Akzentz is a Canadian line of nail products manufactured by Haigh Industries since 1989.
Some of you might now that I have a quite a history with Akzentz... since mid 90-ties I was an educator and a distributor of Akzentz. Later on I started educating internationally and became one of the 4 Akzentz International Educators. I had a privilage to train some of truly awesome educators along the way. I worked trade shows and traveled to Europe at least 3 times a year to teach educator classes. At the beginning of this year I decided that it's time for a change (year 2012 is a year of changes after all!).
I decided to part with Akzentz and devote my time to my salon and my clients. So far.. I have to say.. I'm enjoying my freedom!
Anyway... back to the products!
The spring/summer 2012 collection looks exciting. After the 2 previous collections Fall 2011 and Winter 2011 this one contains quite different and interesting shades.
Here they are:

For more pictures please click below