The Queen's Claws

Poor, poor Lambchop. Getting choked out by these vicious Halloween nails (weapons.) 😆🧟

I am reaching out to anyone who has direct experience with the Covid-19 virus. Perhaps you or a loved one, or maybe you are a first responder. I would like to commemorate those who have suffered in an art project I call Woven Prayers: A World United. The idea of Woven Prayers is inspired by Tibetan prayer flags. If you are interested, you can read more about my past pieces here(http://scfa.page/blog5). For this project I am looking for individuals that would be willing to write a memory or anecdote about your loved one. They need not have passed for you to participate. I would love to hear about their strength and courage. This weaving will be imbued with the hope, strength, and love of those affected. If you are interested, please contact me and I will send you some silk ribbon to write your story on along with a SASE for you to return it in. As I receive the written ribbons, I will lovingly weave them into a powerful tapestry of our time.

Please, feel free to share this message outside of Facebook. I can be contacted through my website at SandraClarkFineArt.com.

Thank you,
Sandra

Woven Prayers — Sandra Clark Right now I am finding myself to be a gigantic bag of mixed emotions. How about you? I seem to be oscillating between days that I am happy and incredibly grateful to be healthy, and days that I'm unbelievably sad for those who have lost their lives or loved ones. Then when I am feeling happy, I star

What about my nails?

Remember those movies where aliens are taking over the world and each day the news casters look more and more ragged? This is what the comedic part of my brain is envisioning right now. In a few months we are all going to find out what our friends and neighbors really look like. (a little chuckle)

Seriously though. I am a nail tech that lives here in Mission Viejo. Last week when I began cancelling all of my appointments I gave my clients instructions on caring for their nails until we meet again. It occurred to me that some of you might be interested.

If you are like me, you have product on your nails to improve their strength. If this is the case, I recommend filing down your nail length and leaving the product on as long as possible. Lift at the cuticle end often occurs because the nails have grown too long and the product is no longer balanced properly. Basically, the tip of the nail gets top heavy and the product acts like a lever. Maintaining their length will help keep that in check.

If you have more than gel polish, such as acrylic or hard gel enhancements, you will start to see thicker tips to your nails as you file down the length. This is because nail enhancements are created narrow at the edges with a build-up in the center. You can take your file and actually file the surface of your nail to reduce the thickness of the product. This will end up removing your color, but will keep a layer of product on your nail to keep that added strength as long as possible. Don't file your actual nail plate.

The most important thing is DON'T PICK! This is difficult in this time of such high anxiety. Pulling product off of your nails not only removes the product, but removes layers of your actual nail plate. If you have acrylic or soft gel polish and you start experiencing lift you can easily soak off the product with acetone. A non-acetone nail polish remover will NOT work.
a. File the top coat of polish off manually to allow the acetone to pe*****te the product.
b. Soak a small piece of a cotton ball in acetone and place on your nail plate.
c. Wrap the tip of your finger (and cotton ball) with a piece of foil. Be sure to wrap tightly so that air does not get in. Otherwise the acetone will evaporate before softening the product.
d. Wait 15 minutes. Then unwrap one at a time and gently push off softened product with an orangewood stick or other implement. The goal is to remove the product gently without damaging your nail.
e. Sometimes these steps need to be repeated depending on the amount of product on the nail.

There are some products that do not soak off with acetone. If you follow the steps above and there is no change to the product on your nails, then you will need to file it off manually. Simply use the coarse side of your nail file (100 grit) and file it off. Be very careful not to file your natural nail.

Use oil to keep your cuticles and nail plates healthy at least once a day. More with the increased hand washing we are all doing. The oil is not just for your skin, but it absorbs into your nail plate holding in moisture and increasing flexibility. If you have any questions, feel free to direct message me.

Prayers for everyone's health.

Perfect for a bright and shiny Fall day!

It's starting to look like Fall in the nail salon 🍂 What fun ideas will you wear this season?

Megan's pink and silver glitter ombre are the perfect match for her Vera Bradley purse 🤩

Spring is here!!
# springnails

Sometimes people just need a panda in their life 🐼

Subtle Valentine 😘

I don't know about other nail techs, but I often get interrupted half way thru doing my own nails. I've finally learned to complete one hand before starting the next. When I got up this morning I noticed my mismatched hands went perfectly with my mismatched pajamas 🤣

Are you ready for Valentine's day?