Thursday, October 20, 2011

Coming Soon - My 3rd Step By Step Nail Design Book


First there was Nail IT! (2009) then NailQ Signature (2010) and now....NailQouture (2011)

It has been a pet project that I've been working on this year in between my busy schedule and the travels and it's finally coming to fruition. NailQouture ( ~ nail couture) is inspired by couture fashion. It showcases dramatic and spectacular work on nails as a fashion and art installation.
Mediums used are wide and varied, showcasing particularly acrylic L&P, gel paint, prints and embellishment. The concept is bold, outrageous and avant-garde but artistically fused together as wearable designs.
Available from December 2011!

 

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Monday, September 12, 2011

Checkin In LONDON !








Corrine Bailey's finished Dumbledore and Harry Potter ~ just awesome !

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The Art of 3D Acrylic Embossing

3D technique is largely used in mixed media and fantasy work, the amount of embossed details and product control is the key to visual impact.

Mixed Media in the nail world, refers to a combination of mediums (i.e acrylic, gel, resin, silk, paint...) and techniques (3D, handpaint, airbrush, embedded....) used in creating a design. Usually there will be some limit to the height, length and width to the design on each nail.

Fantasy on the other hand is the complete opposite in terms of such size limitations. 4D or free standing character is used here to enhance the entire look. One can create according to your imagination plus you get to also dress your model according to the theme of the nails.

So in order to master Mixed Media and Fantasy, one has to perfect each and every medium of nail application and learn every possible technique that can best express your creations.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Dress Up the Snakeskin Effect With Some Bling !

I dressed up the snakeskin effect with some bling and chains with the Hyper Bond and they stayed on real good.

Tried and tested with all the travelling, luggages and CRABS !
All is well and these nails remains clean (can't stand dirty long nails) and proud to say that they are still in mint condition :)

Saturday, August 27, 2011

VIVCAT-ONS Aussie Tour

The tour started with the Sydney Expo with a proud moment of victory for ONS Australia - Vivid Nails education team

Both Viv and I keep ourselves constantly evolving and moving forward because of the wonderful and passionate people whom we encounter in our industry through education. 

Sydney (special thanks to Olga Menshikova, Sam Goddard & Emi Ohkuma)

Brisbane (special thanks to Desiree Dowling)

Adelaide (special thanks to Kirsty Crouch)

Melbourne (special thanks to Olga Mesheryakova & Mandy Meeson)



Hope this tour has inspired you and sparked your creativity in the salon with our amazing products & technology. Let us all continue to spread the love and do beautiful nails !
...and don't forget to have some fun doing it !

The Snakeskin Effect

Snakeskin is recently the talk of the town. Nailtechs are embedding the real thing from shedded snake skin into nails to create that special effect. Though I consider myself quite adventurous when it comes to nails, I admit that I'm not quite liking the idea of having the dead cells of some living creature sandwiched in between my nails !
So, here it is....my version of the snakeskin effect using ONLY GELS! Nothing is embedded inside the nail, not even nets. I've shared this fast and easy technique during "play day" with some of my educators recently. I'm wearing it now to see how well it is coping. I'm sure we will have plenty of new designs with this technique in time to come, so stay tuned :)


Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Maximum Effects, Minimum Time

Time is money, time flies.
As we get older, we find that we always don't have enough time and wish there were 48 hours in a day. For the nail tech, time is money and who really cares about all that fancy art if it takes all day to do one nail, you can't make money in the salon. Well, we can't please everybody. Art is art, art is passion, love and it is very subjective.

To have a very good technique and the artistic ability enables the technician to differentiate themselves and create a niche where they can charge higher. However, time is of great importance to the customer as they won't want to sit in your chair all day getting a masterpiece done on their nails.

So begins my mission.... to come up with the fastest way to whip up an amazing piece of art that takes no more than 15mins to create. (after training & some practice)

Together with a great product and through research and experimentation, I've now developed the training in my workshops/classes for techs to learn and master these techniques so that they can apply it to their day to day gel painting or acrylic 3D creation in the salon. Note that if you're naturally slow, you will still find a great improvement in your designs.

See below for our workshop attendees' art after just 2 days of training :

100% painted with Gel 
Note : These art are meant to be complex for training purpose.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Run For The Roses - Courtesy of NAILS Magazine


NAILS Magazine - August 2011 Issue arrived at my doorstep today and pointed to a video interview that Kim Pham & Jessica Hoel did with me while we were in Orlando. Thanks ladies! It was great catching up and I had a great time xxx
Get the story here :
Run For The Roses Interview

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Aussie Tour in August 2011 - Mark Your Calendar !

Australia, we are coming to your area to showcase some great techniques you can use in your salon in both gel painting, gel & acrylic design sculpture, so mark your calendar and be sure to reserve your spot as space are limited ! Click on the poster below to get the details for registration. Thank you guys !

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Top2Bottom - I LOVE IT!

I need to rave about this awesome, awesome gel top coat ! It cures in LED lamp in seconds and UV Lamp in minutes.
What's so special about Top2Bottom is that it is a soak off system, super easy application and guaranteed to deliver crystal clear High Shine
You can use it 2 layers as a nail strengthener alternative, or use it as a base and a top coat for gel polish over natural nails, traditional gel nails(both hard/soft) or acrylic nails.
 (Do not apply over regular nail polish as a topcoat, however you can use this as a basecoat prior to nail polish application to protect your nails from yellowing and to give it that nice smooth surface to polish)
Because it is pure soakable gel, you need to wipe off the final dispersion layer with a cleanser but I promise you, it will not dull like the generic ones, You will be pleased....Very pleased at the finish :)
I'm loving it because I've used this for all my recent competition work to deliver such gorgeous finish and I just have to share this info with all the nailtechs out there because I have tried so many soak-off gel topcoat and this one just blew me away ! 

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Just Fantasy

My entry for Mythology of the East & West @ IBS Las Vegas
This has got to be one of the most rushed entry that I had to work on, it started in Singapore and completed in the USA over 10 days in between transit and work. It was also my most fulfilling piece of creation as I love the characters of mythology and especially working with different mediums and exploring new techniques to push the level a notch higher.
Models : Fiona Otten (Greek Goddess) and Gina Silvestro (Angel) ~ Thank you xxx
As a bonus, these "girlfriends + nailtechs" of ours were fabulous as models who brought our theme and character to life

Kentucky Derby ~ Run For the Roses @ Premiere Orlando



Nailed 4 First Places in NailPro USA Season 2011

2 First Place win at Premiere Orlando 2011
Winning pose with my team mates Milena Bogasow (Germany) 2nd Place  and Lee So Young (Korea) 3rd Place in Design Sculpture Veteran in IBS Las Vegas
 
With Fiona Otten (Netherlands)
With Viv Simmonds (Australia) and Trang Nguyen (USA)
I'm ecstatic winning 4 first places in veteran - Fantasy (Kentucky Derby & Mythology), French Twist and Design Sculpture in the US recently and to top it all, our ONS Team bagged the Nailpro Cup 2011
It was truly mission accomplished for this competition season for me and being able to catch up with all my nail friends !

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Strawberry Shortcake & Friends - Wear It, Flaunt It !

 The characters of Strawberry Shortcake and Friends came alive in the hands of the nailtechs who did a workshop with me which ended today. I cannot wait to share their talent with you here :)