September 23 2008 - Trends
Not Your Mother's Pink & Whites
Behind-the-scenes of NAILS' stiletto French October photo shoot
By Hannah Lee
Model Competitor
When Lynn Lammers made up her mind that she was going to be serious about competing, she wasn’t kidding.She threw herself into it with the passion of a champion (and to nobody’s surprise it only took her three years to reach that champion status). "When I finally decided to get serious about competing, I attended every competition I could. I made sacrifices and I practiced a lot," she says. While some competitors find models on the show floor, Lynn took no chances. She brought her competition model to every show she could. And obviously, it paid off.
"Competing regularly is a big commitment, but the benefits far outweigh the expenses," says Lynn. "I got to see new places and meet new people. My nail style changed for the better. And pretty soon after I started, competing began to pay for itself with winnings. There is nothing wrong with spending your birthday on the competition floor!"
A nail tech for 20 years, the freelance nail stylist sees clients on a referral-only basis in Redlands, Calif. After coming out on top of this year’s NAILS Top 25 list, she’s exactly where she wants to be. (Well, she’s now set her goals on traveling to international competitions and becoming World Champion.)
She seemingly came out of nowhere on the competition circuit. (We didn’t even have an actual picture of Lynn until earlier this year when we noticed her winning a lot.) "It’s a funny thing; it happened so fast that I didn’t get a lot of face time so most people only know my name. They don’t recognize me. At a trade show last year, I was talking to a girl about competing. When she asked my name, I said ‘Lynn Lammers,’ and she exclaimed ‘You’re Lynn Lammers? Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’m talking to Lynn Lammers and I didn’t even know it. I have goosebumps!’ I was so flattered that the only response I could give was ‘Well, now you’re giving me goosebumps!’"
When we have a competitor, and a number-one competitor at that, come in for a cover shoot, we love to have them do something extreme. Her favorite competition style is long sculptured nails. Lynn suggested this extreme pink-and-white stiletto look, and like she always does before a competition, she practiced the set several times so she was ready to go when she arrived.
To get this look:
1. Shape and file the natural nails. Remove the surface shine, dust the nails, and apply primer to all 10 nails.
2. Sculpt all 10 moons with glitter acrylic.
3. Go back to your first nail and apply the form. (Lynn pinched the end of the form into a point in order to achieve the stiletto tip.)
4. Using a pink camouflage powder, extend the nail bed out past the natural free edge. You want to keep the camouflage pink very thin.
5. After you’ve extended the nail bed, apply the white tip in an extreme stiletto shape.
6. When you’re satisfied with the smile line, apply a transparent pink acrylic over the entire nail bed to add depth to the nail.
7. File the nails to refine the shape and dust them off.
8. Apply a UV gel topcoat and cure.