Design Services

It seems lately that I've been doing a lot of sets with no smile lines.  This is a great option for those who like to extend the life of their designs, but I miss the crispness of having a nice clean smile line! 

The nails I am wearing right now contain quite a few design options: stilletto, liquid art ~ this is what gives the nails the cool stained glass effect, impressions, and multiple confetti's.

Other design options available include marbling, tie-dye, gel paint, spinners, polymer art, engraving, mylar... the possiblilies are endless!

POWDER GEL?!?

There are many misleading terms being used in the nail industry, either by nails techs who don't understand the services offered, or by less honest techs who are inflating their service price by making you think you're getting something "extra"!

One of the more common terms to be aware of:  POWDER GEL This term is often used by nail techs who are applying acrylic nails, but using a gel top coat.

There are several types of enhancements available to you, two of which are ACRYLIC (liquid & powder) and acrylic oligomer GEL (um, it's gel). Any time your nail tech dips their brush into a liquid (monomer) then into a powder (acrylic polymer), you are getting ACRYLICS! If you are getting gel nails, the substance used will look like a GEL! Typically when you are having a gel service done, you will be putting your hands into a UV light repeatedly throughout your service.

Gel nail Harvest design!

There is nothing wrong with having a service that includes acrylics with a gel top coat ~ that is one of the most common service I perform! It's almost impossible to tell the difference visually between acrylics & gels when the gel top coat is used. Just be aware of what you are paying for!

The industry standard seems to be that you will pay anywhere from $2-$8 extra for a gel top coat. It's also fairly standard to pay $10-$15 more for true gel nails.

At PANACHE your gel top coat is always included in the basic service cost, and there is no extra cost for gel nails.

My commitment to YOUR beautiful nails!

As many of my clients already know, I was blessed to receive extra training from the very start of my career by one of the best educators around, international educator and senior mentor of Young Nails, Tracey Reierson.  This weekend I am traveling down to California for two days of continuing education, which will be taught by three international educators (including Tracey and Young Nails co-owner Greg!).  The class will include hands-on training in technique and design, all with the goal of providing you with a higher level of service! 

If you haven't already been in to Panache, but would like to find out more, feel free to call for a free consultation.  I would be happy to schedule a time just for you, and go over the wide variety of options available to create your custom look.

RockStar Toes with purple flames

RockStar Toes with purple Gel flames

Fall Colors

One great way to change the look of your nails while extending the life of the design is to add gel art.  Shown here is the original four-tone set in acrylic with gel paint:

Two weeks later, after a "Pink" fill and a change-up to midnight blue gel flames:

Add-on pricing applies to gel paint services.

Polymer Clay Art Slices

POLYMER CLAY ART SLICES are the latest service option available for the best RockStar services in town!

Available now in several unique designs, either to cover most of the nail (unbaked), or in smaller pieces as an accent (baked).  Many designs will be limited edition, so when they're gone, they're gone!  Love animal prints?  Coming soon in tiger, zebra and leopard prints!    

Add-on pricing will applies to this service.

What's Next? Service options for acrylics

There are a variety of options available to you at each service appointment once you have a set of RockStar enhancements on. To help demonstrate this, here is one client who chose a few different options. First, we put on a Full Set of RockStar French acrylics:The basic pricing for this service includes your choice of any two colors (solid or glitter) or any one color plus any of the many types of confetti that I have to choose from!

At her next appointment, she opted for a RockStar French Back-Fill in white and Tippy Cup Turquoise:

It is always possible to switch from RockStar French to Pink & Whites or vice versa! I do not completely remove the set to change colors, so there is no "soaking off" in between. A Back-Fill involves first doing a "Pink" fill at the cuticle area, followed by filing off the existing tip and restructuring the extensions with the new color choices.

At her third appointment, she opted to receive a "Pink" fill (new product at the cuticle area) and keeping the same free edge colors. For something extra fun, we added gel flames in a soft white and sprinkled some Funkadelic glitter over the top:

A Reformed Nail Biter!

***UPDATE*** I'm adding a new picture after 4 weeks with acrylics on! We did these last Tuesday!

I was able to do a nail transformation on a (newly reformed) nail biter ~she promises me that she never does if she has nails on. ( TRUE!)

Here's the Before shot: And the After shot (original set):

After the second back-fill - boy do her cuticles look AWESOME!

Oh, Happy Feet!

Here's a picture of my RockStar toes at day 30. I'm ready for a new color, but they're holding up well. I finally got around to my LO-O-O-NG overdue pedicure, since I had NO takers who wanted to give me one! I absolutely love, love, love the Footlogix line and am so glad I chose it for the studio foot services. Here's a before and after... Stop reading now if you're squeamish. I had a close-up up the big toe which really shows how great this stuff is, but really, e-e-ewww.

Pompeii Purple Gel Manicure

Today we soaked off DD's acrylics and are now trying out the OPI Axxium Gel lacquer in Pompeii Purple! Very pretty, and I love her tiny little pinkies!

Rockstar Toes

I'm really loving these RockStar Toes in Neon Rose with a custom glitter fade. For those who are new to the world of Rockstar Toes, I use a soakable gel called MANI-Q from Young Nails, and this stuff is the bomb! Um, hmm, I better check with the kids to see if it's still okay to say that...

Anyway, as described on their website, mani-Q is: A CLEARLY BEAUTIFUL, SUBLIMELY RESILIENT, ENTIRELY NEW NATURAL NAIL CARE GEL. WITH PROPER APPLICATION (IT) WON'T CHIP, CRACK, OR BREAK - NO MATTER WHAT - FOR FOUR LONG WEEKS. Add in some fun color and glitter (fully embedded into the gel), and you have Rockstar Toes!