My Ripponburn ladies 5:14

wee ivy

Hey girls! My 300th post!!!! Thx all for reading and accompanying.
Another full room at Ripponburn!! I think I am becoming more popular - even have two husbands sitting in on the fun. And selecting polish (though they usually get over-ruled!). Thirteen ladies – would have been fifteen, but Ida got up and left mid session and Lilian had an infection so couldn't get her nails done.
It is difficult to know where to start "in the round".  The lounge chairs are in a semi-circle, but there is also a table off to the right side and a few sit around that. It all depends if they need to sit in their wheelie chairs or not. Space and all. And when I arrive they are all there, waiting for me, watching André Rieu or something, sipping tea. I don't know who arrived first, or better, last. So today I started with Margaret.

margaret

It is funny, as they all first swerve towards a pink but then you ask the next question (glitter?) and they say yes and see the glitters then you build from there. I have to say, Margaret's mani looked fantastic. I used a new glitter I brought special for the day (a UK giftie: from Essence, Time for Romance). This is a burnt rose-copper glitter. Can be very thick i.e. full coverage, but I used a slight hand on the manis.

helly

gladys

This was so popular that Helly and Gladys also wanted it. There was a different base to each mani: purple, burnt red and deep plum. All the bases worked well with the glitter, my fav would be Gladys' into winter. Gladys has gone back to biting her nails and that is a shame. She has lovely, long fingers and with nails her hands looked so elegant. But she – like the rest – is just getting old and who knows what worries her.

dorothy with hubbie's sox!

nellie

joan 2nd

Dorothy's husband kind of chose her colour, and was absolutely amazed at the magnet effect! Next was Nellie and she was my own inspiration for my current mani (here) and for Joan 2nd (there are two Joans). The blue with that Nostalgic Lacquer glitter just pops! And it still does and I am on my third day.

janice

norma 2nd

Janice thought she wanted this as well, but she has little patience. That is not her fault, it is her illness. She lays/sits in a wheelie thing - she is so very pleasant. I tried to do two coats but she thought I was already finished and got "cross" with me. So I stopped. And the "new" Norma wanted green (yeah, green!). And poor Lena, who can hardly see, wanted red with sparkle. When it was all finished everyone described it to her. See - even if you yourself can't really see it, you still want to be girly and look nice!!

joyce

joan

jenny

Where's the pink, you ask???? Well, no day would be complete without some form of pink. Joyce wanted pink with glitter, Joan wanted plain pink and Jenny wanted dark pink (ended up being purple) with glitter.

ivy

This brings me to my favourite wee Ivy. When all was done in the main room, I went back to Ivy's room. She was laying in her bed, staring at a row of pics on her bed table. All of her grandchildren. Such pretty girls!!! She lit up when she saw me and we sat and chatted while I did her nails. She immediately tried to pull up her blanket so I stopped her, did it for her and just sat and talked holding her hands (secretly waiting for them to dry!). I think she looked a tad thinner. And was not that talkative - had a hard time finding words, I guess. I am back two more times before Easter and I told Ivy to take care of herself, I promised to be back and she said, "I will!". Let's hope!


Mani breakdowns:
Margaret: one coat Layla Fuchsia Sky, one coat Essence Time for Romance
Helly: two coats Kyo Kyo burnt orange, one coat Essence Time for Romance
Gladys: two coats Essie Velvet Voyeur, one coat Essence Time for Romance
Dorothy: one coat Layla Silver Galaxy w/ effect (magneffect) 
Nellie: two coats OPI No Room for the Blues, one coat NL Rollin' with the Homies
Joan 2: two coats OPI No Room for the Blues, one coat NL Rollin' with the Homies
Janice: once coat OPI No Room for the Blues
Norma: one coat Zoya Logan
Lena: one coat CG Hey Sailor, one coat CG Make a Spectacle
Joyce: one coat Orly Artificial Sweetener, one coat CG Make a Spectacle
Joan: one coat Orly Artificial Sweetener
Jenny: one coat Layla Fuchsia Sky, one coat China Glaze CG in the City
Ivy: one coat CG For Audrey, one coat CG Make a Spectacle

Making Room for the Blues with NL glitter

Now this is a first.... I got inspired by my Ripponburn ladies! The idea came while there this week and two ladies had their nails done just like this. It looked so pretty, the blue just pops! So I decided to wear it myself and it is gorgeous! I have received so many compliments on my nails - and I have only been wearing less than a day.

The base is two coats of OPI No Room for the Blues (2009 Bright Colors). I have had this blue for quite a while but never use it. I tend to grab Czechbook and leave this for Ripponburn or the studio. I don't know if it the colour of the blue in the glitter or just my skin tone right now. But the blue is absolutely fab!

This was topped with Nostalgic Lacquer's Rollin' with the Homies (Clueless). I have used this glitter for earrings but this is the first time I have mani-fied them. Great glitter, well disbursed. I dabbed on a thicker coat to push the spots around and then topped with a thin coat to even out. The glitter has round specks of white and cobalt blue in a clear base. There is some back in there as well, but the blue and white dominate.

Together this is a stunning combo! Looks like robin's eggs or granite sheets in a bathroom. Whatever it reminds me of, it shur is purty! I topped with two coats of Out the Door. After one coat I felt the glitter just a tad, so evened the surface out with another coat. And just so you know, below are Nellie's nails – but more on that in another post!

nellie!

CND blue rapture with one stroke flowers

I have not been lax in writing. It is just that my last mani (the purple butterfly one) lasted 6 days!! In fact, it would have still been good but I was over it. I had to top up the tips with black ever so miniscule, and always top coated every other day. But, it was time for a change and I felt like the beautiful grey blue of CND Blue Rapture.

The CND Vinylus polishes apply very smoothly and evenly. I really like them and have just ordered two more (from candygirl). I have never had any problem of nail stains from lack of base coat. So, I started with two coats of Blue Rapture on naked clean nails. Then I top coated with CND Weekly top coat. I use this top coat for my glammy mani clients and the only reason I don't use it more often for myself is that I have a jumbo refill bottle of Out the Door. But for the price (about $19) you cannot beat it for durability with any polish - and it is fast dry as well. And it is shiny!

After about ten minutes I started with acrylics and painted one stroke flowers on my nails. Acrylics dry pretty fast, so when that was done I dabbed some glitter (LA Colors Aqua Treasure) and purple dots (a england Avalon). Then I drew some "leaves" and "stems" through the flowers, and accented some petals. This was topped with Out the Door.

Looking at these photos I am shocked at how dry my hands and nails look. I put on hand creme before taking the pics and to my naked eye, things looked great. But this damn macro on the camera makes my skin and cuticles look terrible! Oh well, at least the nails look good!

right hand

I have two glammy mani clients late afternoon - something to look forward to! I dropped off my flyer to some hairdressers in town and in Alex. Maybe that will bring me some word-of-mouth and a client or two. Hoping, hope, hope!

GOT: purple – monarch butterflies

Apologies, I am late in posting this. And double apologies – I didn't do a very good job of clean up before these photos. In the meantime my nails look a lot cleaner, but no pics of that! But this will not keep me from being absolutely enamored in this mani! Can't stop looking at my nails! Gradient purple monarch butterflies.

All the polishes are way over a year old. I started with two coats of OPI A Grape Fit. A nice creamy full tone purple. This was followed by a two coat gradient of a england Avalon. Avalon is a much underused colour on my end. It just seems so bright when I wear it alone. The wrong type of bright, I guess. I want to wear it, but then I don't like it on. Might have to do with my skin tone.

The tips were gradiented with one coat of Orly Fowl Play, a beautiful purple with opalescent flecks in it. So the tips have some orange and red coming through. Depending on the light, more or less. I fast dry top coated all of this before continuing. Probably waited about 15 minutes.

Then I drew/painted the lines and tips in black (any ol' black, combo of striper, polish and acrylic brush) and dotted white spots on the tips. I top coated with a thick coat of Poshé being careful just to hover the brush over the nail (no smears). After an hour or so another top coat of Out the Door.

right hand

I have a glammy mani client late this afternoon! Just a one-offer as she is visiting the area, but still - maybe some good word-of-mouth ?! I invested in 40 flyers but am uncertain as where to hang them out still. I dropped one off at the gym and hung one at the local supermarket. It has probably already vanished from there. The ladies who work there aren't very nice and take down things. Not really fair, but nothing I can do about it. It is free advertising but it seems the motorsport weekend flyers stay up forever.

Business-wise our renewal deadline has come and gone. We have not been able to sell the business so are now officially in countdown mode. We may get lucky and the landlord will find a new tenant who will buy the chattels off us. I doubt it, though. We feel the property owner doesn't really care much about us and our situation. Otherwise, we are loathe to even think about the work involved in clearing out. As Scarlet would say: we'll put that off till tomorrow!

P&P H-equinox in gradient with accent nail

I saw this mani on Eeeek! Nail Polish! blog a couple of days ago and totally stole it!!!! I think she used plates but I don't stamp so tried a freehand drawing of the hearts. I think this whole mani of gradient with glitter and hearts and accent and - oh just so fab!!! Eeeek, I thought. Must have!! And I knew exactly the glitter I wanted to use so planned the whole mani around that.

The glitter I have wanted to wear forever it seems is Pretty & Polished H-equinox My Socks Off. I have had this for months but spring then summer came and the colour just appeared too "wrong season".  The base of this glitter is light nude-grey. Very faint, but not a clear polish. Then there are specks of turquoise and gold. Totally unique.

I started with one coat (accent nails two) of Cult Nails nude. I fast dry top coated the accent nail so I could work on that later (last). Then I sponge gradiented the turquoise about three times on to my tips. This was then topped with one coat of the P&P glitter. I knew the coloured base of the glitter would give the visible nude a bit more depth – that's why I only applied one coat of nude.

right hand

By this time, my accents had dried sufficiently to start the heart art. I drew overlapping different hearts and then coloured them in using the gradient polishes as well as a blue glitter and grey. I used Out the Door top coat on the whole thing.

I was out and about in town, picking up my nail studio flyers (invested $20 in flyers, no idea of where to put them!), going to the bank, etc. Basically showing off my nails! Quite a few women said they looked "a-may-zing" and I told them they could have this, too. This prompts their automatic look at their own nails and the typical sentence: oh, my nails look so bad and I'm going to crawl under a rock and die because polish always chips on me and radi radi ra. Oh, how to build clients - that will be a challenge. Had another lady today (fab pastel orange glitter sandwich) and someone wants to call for an appt next week. So, let's hope.

Polishes used main nails:
nude = Cult Nails Cruisin' Nude
turquoise = alessandro 1507
glitter = Pretty & Polished H-equinox My Socks Off

Additional polishes used accent nail hearts:
grey = Pahlish Sitting in a Tin Can
gold = OPI L.A.M.B.
blue glitter = LA Colors Aqua Crystals

Below my inspiration, gorgeous nails from Mrs Eeeek!!! Thank you!!