Open For Business

Well, this was an interesting weekend!

My coworker wanted to come back over for another Gelish manicure and her cousin was interested in coming over and getting hers done as well... And they offered to pay me! Like, actual money! So I figured... why not!? On top of that I also did my roommate and bff's nail. Meanwhile, my own thumbnail started lifting because I used nail polish remover without using any gloves >.< My own fault.

After doing the nails I actually got paid for, my coworker posted them on Instagram and started getting people asking how much I charge, if they can came over, ect. One of her friends asked if she could come over next weekend and instead of getting freaked out (like I normally do), I took a deep breath and said YES and started to wonder if I should, y'know, like really DO this. I've been trying to think of ways to earn extra money, because weddings aren't cheap. Then my roommate said the most brilliant thing ever: offer my "services" under the pretense that I'm trying to help pay for my wedding. Like a bake sale, only for nails! This sounded brilliant to me, because it has an "end date" in case I want or need to stop and it kinda solidifies the fact that, well, I'm not a pro by any means!

So, for now, I think I'll be doing nails on Saturday mornings!

Now, on to the manicures!

The first is my coworker. She showed me a pic and asked me to duplicate it.

From the Nordstrom Instagram account
I used Black Shadow with Matte Top It Off, and for the gold I layered Skinny Vanilla Latte, Danny's Little Helpers, loose gold glitter, and a coat of Twinkle. Moral of the story: I need Meet The King. I initially tried free-handing the french "tip". That lasted about 45 seconds before I broke out the striping tape.
The second one is my coworker's cousin. She brought in a picture and I pretty much just created a dupe (in retrospect, I need to work on being more original than just copying someone else's idea. It makes me feel icky.)

By HandJobsByAllison
I used Black Shadow and Sweet Morning Dew, and for the Index finger I used a Konad M60 plate and Konad black polish.
My BFF was a bridesmaid in a wedding this weekend, and lilac purple was the color of their dresses and the accent color for the wedding, so I mixed Cocktail Party Drama with Sheek White to get a light purple (I don't have Princess Tiara AND I've read that it's a fader anyway. Thought I might have more luck mixing.) I added some Feel Me On Your Fingertips on her Ring finger and used Cocktail Party Drama, Sheek White, and Gella "Lily" for the flowers on her middle finger.
Lastly, my roommate wanted Dia De Los Muertos nails. I used one coat Black Shadow, one coat Life of the Party, and one more coat of Black Shadow to create a kind of subdued glitter effect. I love the way it turned out! One coat of black shadow is great for layering effects! For the actual skull and flowers, I used Gella "Lily", Up In the Blue, and Red-y And Waiting.