Hold the Pickles, Hold the Mayo

I believe I have lamented in the past about my clientele's complete lack of interest in fancy stiletto nails. No stilettos. No super-long nails. Very little 3-D art. I don't even get to do those hideous duck-foot flare things! I'm not saying I'm a big fan of that look, but at least it's a new challenge that makes a heckuva statement!

Nail art has never fallen out of popularity in Visalia. When the rest of the world was wearing classy, elegant pink-and-whites, I was still going through polish like a mad woman. But at least I got to do nail art over it — I've never stopped enjoying the nail art, I just wanted to do it over pink-and-whites!

Then the "rock star" craze caught fire and brought a whole new definition of "nail art" to the masses. I was loving it! Glitter, rhinestones, mylar, impressions, AND hand-painted nail art! All on the same nails! At the same time! You cannot imagine my mirth.

Then the 3-D nail art and the pictures of stilettos came pouring on the Internet.

Oh.

My.

GOD.

It does not get better than this, right? Not for someone who claims to have been "born with a paintbrush in my hand." I mean, since I was old enough to speak words, it was known in my family that I was going to grow up to be an artist. All I had to do was find my preferred medium — *VOILA* — nails, of course. So this recent trend for uber bling-tastic nails is a dream come true.

Except for one thing. My clients aren't into it. They like the glitter fine, and went along with the trends for about a minute before letting me know that they really didn't want glitter, mylar, impressions, and nail art all on the same nails, all at the same time. In fact, several of my most daring rock star clients have recently reverted to pink-and-whites: "They just look so clean."

So what's a desperate nail tech to do? Take it off the nail, of course. So I've been embellishing rings and things, which make awesome retail doo-dads for the gals who want it, but not on their fingertips.

Today, one of my clients saw the ring I'm about to start on. So far, it's just a base of color with some acrylic — no actual art on it — and she says, "How much are you selling that one for?"

About breaks my heart. All that work on all the other rings. All that time and energy I spent creating something and she says, "I'm just a plain kinda girl."

I should charge her extra for that.