This is the only way I could describe what I was doing today – discovering an entirely new world. This wasn't your ordinary Sunday, oh no. I was invited to a specific education/event and since one of my unwritten New Year resolutions was to keep an open mind and try new things – I accepted the invitation! Originally, I had no idea how long I'd stay and if I'd like it at all. The element of surprise was so intense that I decided to spend almost three hours which, honestly, flew by because everything I saw was very interesting. Basically, this event I attended was about acrylic nails, gel nails, specific nail art and materials used to draw the most complex designs. The entire focus was on the new Clarissa Flash & Shine boxes, also featuring gel and acrylic 3D nail art whilst covering some basic stuff regarding nail decoration and treatment you see at professional nail salons. For someone who adores nail art but prefers short, natural nails which I regularly feature here at MB – you can imagine what a culture shock of a sorts I've gone through. I truly have nothing against long or extremely long nails, it's all a matter of preference and there's no right or wrong. This was additionally interesting for me since I've had a terrible experience with gel nails a few years ago. After hearing and watching how it's all done today, I can say that I'm enlightened and things have massively changed. I still don't have the urge to run off and transform my nails but there's a tremendous professionalism involved when even I admit that gel and acrylic nails can indeed look amazing. I look at that nail art area as an artistic outlet and there's serious commitment, talent and practice involved if you desire perfection. I do prefer short nails but I also now understand that some nail artists need a bigger canvas to create these small pieces of art. I also admit that acrylic is an interesting material – check out this handmade ring made by one of the educators (isn't is pretty?).
Jedini nacin na koji bih vam opisala kako sam provela dan je doslovno – otkrivala sam jedan potpuno novi svijet. Ovo definitivno nije bila obicna nedelja! Bila sam pozvana na Nail Art Show/edukaciju sa trajnim lakovima i prezentaciju Clarissa hi-tech linije lakova ‘Flash and Shine’. Posto je jedno od nepisanih novogodisnjih odluka u mom slucaju bilo da budem otvorenog uma i da isprobam neke nove stvari, odlucila sam da prihvatim poziv koji mi je uputio Lilocosmetics Kakanj. Iskreno govoreci, posto nadogradnja noktiju nije nesto cime sam se intenzivno bavila niti sam posebno upucena u ovu temu, nisam znala da li ce mi ovo druzenje uopste privuci paznju i koliko cu se zeljeti zadrzati. Element iznenadjenja je bio ogroman do mjere da sam drage volje odlucila provesti skoro tri sata na ovoj prezentaciji i sati su proletili posto mi je bilo jako zanimljivo. U sustini rijeci je bilo o akrilnim i gel noktima, nadogradnji sa istim, posebnim materijalima i opremi koja se koristi za iscrtavanje kompleksnih nail art uzoraka. Druzenje je u biti namijenjeno ljudima koji su profesionalci i pruzaju navedene usluge klijentima tako da je izuzetno zanimljivo sto sam se i ja tu nasla kao autsajder. Kao osoba koja preferira kratke prirodne nokte – mozete samo zamisliti koliki sam ‘kulturni sok’ dozivjela, posebno ako imamo u vidu da sam prije par godina prosla kroz grozno iskustvo sa geliranjem noktica. Naravno, ne zelim da budem pogresno shvacena zbog svog ukusa koji naginje kracim noktima – zaista nemam nista protiv suprotnosti jer sve je stvar ukusa i ne postoji nesto sto mogu nazvati pogresnim. Nakon sto sam cula i vidjela sve danas tokom ove edukacije, mogu reci da su se stvari i pristup nadogradnji noktiju dosta promijenili. Jos uvijek nemam namjeru da pocnem prakticirati gel ili akril te njima transformirati nokte ali nema sumnje da je potrebna vrhunska profesionalnost da bi osoba poput mene priznala da nadogradnja zaista moze pruziti lijepe rezultate. Na nju sada gledam kao na vrstu umjetnickog izrazaja i da bi sve skupa izgledalo vrhunski, potrebni su talenat, posvecenost i dosta iskustva. Iako vise volim kratke nokte, takodjer shvacam da je nail art umjetnicima ponekada potrebna veca povrsina kako bi kreirali posebno kompleksna mala umjetnicka djela. Takodjer priznajem da je akril zanimljiv materijal – ispod sam fotografisala i rucno radjeni prsten koji je kreirala jedna od Clarissa edukatorica.
I honestly was sucked into the entire thing and listened to every word and advice two professionals presented for people who work in this industry – and I wasn't bored, not even for a second. I also learned a lot. I've attended two presentations with acrylic nails and I followed the entire process from start to finish – prepping the nail now doesn't include a completely diminished nail plate (finally!), there are special base and top coats used to prep and seal nail art designs and these ladies literally created extra long nails à la Beyonce from basically nothing. I've seen teensy nails become amazingly sexy claws. Now I know that acrylic liquid used for nails is called ‘monomer’, there's a special way to drain excess liquid to avoid bubbles, there are different sizes of monomer ‘beads’ you need to create smaller or larger nail plate and it should resemble an orange peel (not too powdery nor too wet). You also don't remove cuticles prior doing all of this, there's a ‘stress point’ (at the center, where natural nail starts to become elongated) and there's nail ‘pinching’. When an acrylic nail is shaped and started to set (after approx 2 min) you take special tweezers and place them on the side of the nail and press together so you create that natural resembling arch (C shaped) that every nail has. Then there's a lot of filing, applying a gel top coat and frequent use of supposedly new LED UV lamps – then we finally arrive to decorating the nails. Clarissa Flash & Shine colors are a new thing for 2015. and I've captured lots of their shades which look stunning. You see, I really have paid attention during the class. I really am impressed at how everything looks and how complex the procedure is. That's why I say that this is an entirely new world I've discovered. I'll definitely stick to my Essie, China Glaze and other nail polishes but this was truly fascinating. What do you think of my experience?
Istinski sam se osjecala uvuceno u ovaj, za mene, novootkriveni svijet i pazljivo sam slusala svaki savjet i sugestiju edukatorica a da se pri tome uopste nisam dosadjivala. Takodjer sam naucila mnogo. Prisustvovala sam dvije prezentacije sa akril nadogradnjom i pratila sam proces od pocetka do kraja. Priprema nokatne ploce napokon vise ne podrazumijeva brutalno turpijanje nokatne ploce (ouch, to je bilo moje negativno iskustvo iz proslosti). Koriste se posebne baze i zavrsni premazi kojima se stiti kreirani nail art dizajn i pred vlastitim ocima su ove dame stvorile izduzene nokte à la Beyonce od doslovno nicega. Vidjela sam kako se minijaturni noktici transformisu u zavodljive manikire koji su danas popularizirani. Naucila sam da se akrilna tekucina koja se koristi za nadogradnju zove ‘monomer’, postoji posebna procedura cijedjenja tekucine iz kista koji se koristi za modeliranje nokta kako bi se izbjegli baloncici. Potom tu su razlicite velicine kuglica monomera kojima se kreiraju razlicite duljine nokatne ploce i idealno je da slice narandzinoj kori (nisu puderaste ali niti vlazne). Takodjer sada znam da se kozica oko nokta ne treba uklanjati prije nadogradnje ili se eventualno radi barem tri dana unaprijed. Postoji nesto sto se zove ‘stres zona’ a to je prelaz izmedju ivica prirodnog nokta i mjesta od kojeg se produzuje tj. odakle pocinje samostalni sloj akrila a on se nanosi putem posebnih sablona. Nakon sto se akril pocinje susiti (nakon cca 2 minute), pocinjete sa ‘pincovanjem’ nokta. To znaci da cete pritiskom posebne pincete sa strana nokta da kreirate prirodni luk nokta u obliku slova C. Potom slijedi dosta turpijanja akrila finim turpijama, tu je zavrsni gel sloj i bilo je dosta upotrebe novih LED UV lampi. Tek onda dolazimo do dekoriranja nokta ali prije toga – moram podijeliti sa vama jednu anegdotu. Tokom prezentacije je jedna edukatorica spomenula kako se akril moze isturpijati i ‘starim turpijama koje su koristile nase bake’ – djevojka je potom pokazala klasicnu metalnu malu turpijicu. Ja se naprosto nisam mogla suzdrzati od smijeha jer kod kuce imam barem dvije takve turpije i samo njih i koristim. Zar sam toliko zastarjela? Za kraj, pokazani su mi swtachevi razlicitih nail art dizajna koje su dame kreirale i upoznata sam sa Clarissa novitetom za 2015. pod nazivom ‘Flash and Shine’. Fotografisala sam mnostvo nijansi u prilogu ispod. Zaista sam impresionirana time koliko je sve detaljno i kompleksno. Budite sigurne da cu ostati vjerna svojim Essie, China Glaze i ostalim lakovima za nokte ali ovo je uistinu bilo jedno fascinantno iskustvo. Sta mislite o svemu, jako me zanima!
