Fancy French with a Christmas Twist

One of my staff (from my day job as a nursery manager) has always bitten her nails.

And I mean BITTEN. They were short, stumpy and very unhealthy.

She decided she wanted to have acrylics on for her wedding and while they were on, got out the habit of biting. When she removed them, she loved that her nails, albeit wrecked from the acrylics (she went to a NSS) were long.

So, the biting stopped. Once she had proved to me that she really had broken the habit, I offered to do her a 5 week course of IBX and also gave her some quality cuticle oil. 

She applied the cuticle oil twice a day as directed and with the IBX treatment her nails began to thrive.

My regret it not taking a before and after photo, as even I didn't expect the results that became apparent after 3 weeks. Application of IBX is once weekly.

IBX works from WITHIN the nail. It truly is the most magnificent treatment. My client is SO proud of her nails now. No more hiding in pockets or gloves, and seeing her face light up when she sees them makes my day. She has done all the hard work in breaking the habit of biting. To be able to see the difference really is rewarding.

She wanted some party nails. She has never before had a Gel Polish manicure, much less a french one!

Here, I am proud to present her nails. Fancy French polished with O.P.I. Gel colour Pedal Faster Suzi, with Gellux Silver on the ring finger - glitter pressed into the tacky layer. Topped off with MoYou Festive Stamping Plate.

O.P.I. - I Just can't Cope-Acabana

WOW, so I went really out of my comfort zone on this one, and EVERYONE noticed. All were really positive comments too!

I used O.P.I. 'I Just can't Cope-Acabana' with Konad Black stamping polish and the BundleMonster 'BM304' stamping plate.

Here's the plate I used

O.P.I. No Room For The Blues

I fancied a bit of a change, so went with blue, which is normally not a colour I would go for.

The coverage was good and gave a nice finish.

I used O.P.I. No Room For The blues, Stapming Plate QA68 and Konad metallic blue and black special polish.

Here's the plate

O.P.I. Every Month Is Oktoberfest

I wanted to prove that short nails can also make use of stamping and that they can be just as effective.

Here is one of my friend's nails who is a chronic biter and picker!

I used O.P.I. Every Month Is Oktoberfest and Sally Hanson Quick Colour 'Fuchsia Chrome' as the stamping polish.

The stamping plate is Konad m64.

Here's the plate

O.P.I. Amazon, Amazoff

I've become quite a fan of O.P.I Gelcolor.

I've recently bought the Amazon, Amazoff. Green is not really a colour I would go for, but I think some of my clients will really like it. It a really nice, deep green colour.

Once I'd applied it, I thought it was a little over bearing, so popped some stamping over it to spice it up a bit.

Here I used the BundleMonster 'BM404' plate.

Here's the Plate

I've also used Stamping plate Konad 'm83' and Sally Hanson Quick Colour Chrome Green, which is a metallic/chromey effect, for this leafy, fern-type design.

Here's the plate

Toe Stamping

One of my clients wanted stamping designs on her big toes. I've yet to find a plate with a full design on it big enough for a big toe nail.

It's a shame, as it looks so effective.

Anyway, I used O.P.I. 'Pedal Faster Suzi' and 'Alpine Snow' for the French and the stamping plate BundleMonster 'BM314' teamed with konad black for the design.

I really liked the results and being a french design this lasted 2 months on her, still looking ok.

It was the top design on this plate:

O.P.I. Every Month Is Oktoberfest

Now, the photo really doesn't do this justice.

I went for an Autumny look and used O.P.I. Every Month Is Oktoberfest and used Kleancolour as the stamping polish.

Stamping Plate used was BundleMonster 'BM-H11' for a fab leafy design.

It looks a bit smudgy on here, but it's the angle and crappy camera(-manship, but a bad workman woman blames her tools).

Here is a pic of the plate used:

O.P.I. - Amazon Amazoff and Which Is Witch

The O.P.I. Amazon Amazoff seems to be proving quite popular.

Here I teamed it with their Which Witch - which (hee hee) is my favourite glitter of all time. I LOVE this glitter. It is my staple go-to glitter and by far the most popular I have. Without a doubt, if someone says they want glitter, when I pull the swatch out for this, their little eyes light up.

Anyway, here it is on the green