Having an art teacher for a mother certainly helps pave the way to becoming a passionate artist. And that’s the case with Sabella Snyder, a Los Angeles area nail tech who got her start just about two years ago. The aspiring artist was a fine art major before deciding to go to cosmetology school. “I’ve been involved in art since I was 3 years old. It was inevitable that I would be involved in art for the rest of my life. Since it’s really hard to support yourself with just art alone, I went to cosmetology school knowing that at least it’s a creative field,” says Snyder, who originally thought she’d be a hair colorist.

Young Nails Senior Mentor Sabella Snyder (right) can often be seen teaching classes and on the trade show floor sporting colorful hairstyles. She says: “I’ve had my hair purple, pink, periwinkle, teal, and blue. Purple’s my favorite color so most of the time I have my hair purple. Since I have to wear black a lot for my job, I love to have bright hair and bright nails to balance it out and make it colorful.” You can follow her on Instagram at @sweetbcreations.

Young Nails Senior Mentor Sabella Snyder (right) can often be seen teaching classes and on the trade show floor sporting colorful hairstyles. She says: “I’ve had my hair purple, pink, periwinkle, teal, and blue. Purple’s my favorite color so most of the time I have my hair purple. Since I have to wear black a lot for my job, I love to have bright hair and bright nails to balance it out and make it colorful.” You can follow her on Instagram at @sweetbcreations.

During cosmetology school she saw the nail art documentary “Nailgasm,” and was instantly inspired. “Originally thinking I was going to be a hair colorist, I had an epiphany that you can paint whatever you want on a nail and I was hooked! That documentary blew up my mind with inspiration in the field. It was there that I actually saw an interview with Greg Salo of Young,” she adds. A Senior Mentor for Young Nails now, she joined the company shortly after officially becoming a nail tech, first taking classes and One Week Courses with them, and then going on to become an educator.

“After I got my first e-file, Greg showed me how to use it and then I realized that Young Nails was for me. I thought, ‘If I can learn this much in a 15 minute demo then I have to take their classes,’” says Snyder. “Young Nails has changed my life and I am forever grateful for the knowledge they’ve given me. I love working for them because I can relate to different nail technicians and I love helping their careers just like Young Nails has helped mine.”

For this month’s bridal-themed cover, we asked Snyder to create gorgeous sculpted nails with a modern negative space art look. “As much as I love nail art it’s all about the structure of the nail,” notes Synder. “You can’t hide anything with art. Young Nails always goes into depth with nail prep and structure. If you establish your foundation, you can incorporate art into the mix and it will look amazing!”

Here’s how you can get this month’s cover look:

1. Push back cuticles with Young Nails Magic Wand and prep the nails. Apply two coats of Young Nails Protein Bond to the entire nail of all 10 fingers. Since the model’s nail beds were square, take center piece out of the Young Nails Artistic Form and cut a straight line on top of the “Y.” Reattach it to the back of the form right above the opening to form a square edge for the nail. For the almond shape tilt the form slightly downward so the extensions will come straight from the sidewalls. Using Young Nails Artist Sculptor apply a small pearl of Young Nails Speed Clear Acrylic below the free edge meeting up to the nail, establishing a platform for the rest of the application. For the next step, apply a bigger pearl of Speed Clear right below the cuticle making sure the acrylic goes close to the cuticle without going on the skin. Tilt the finger down so the self-leveling property of the acrylic will help you cover the whole extension with just one pearl.

2. After the Young Nails Speed Clear has dried for four minutes you can start to file the nail into shape. Use an e-file to shape the nail. After you get the structure down, file the perimeter of the nail with Young Nails 150/150 Zebra File. Make sure the side walls are nice and narrow and taper the edges toward the center to create your almond shape. File the surface of the nail to smooth out any imperfections.

3. Dust off nails and cleanse using Young Nails Swipe. After the surface dries, apply one coat of Young Nails Protein bond to all 10 fingers. After the surface is prepped, apply base Young Nails Mani-Q gel to the extensions. Cure for 30 seconds.

4. With Young Nails Mani-Q Pink 106 apply a thin layer exposing part of the nail for negative space. To clean up the border of the negative space use the point of a Young Nails Gel Sculptor brush saturated with Swipe to make it crisp. Cure nail for as long as it takes to apply to the other hand. Apply another coat of Pink 106, repeating the process and cure.

5. Using a Young Nails Striper Brush, paint a line with White Kaleidoscope Gel Paint or white acrylic paint along the border of the negative space to make it stand out.

6. Proceed with the rest of your design by painting with heavier pressure to create thicker lines to make a leaf shape coming out of the border of the negative space. Then with very little pressure, barely touch the nail and paint thin lines and loops within the leaf shape and border to add a delicate touch to the design. After the design is done seal it in with one coat of Mani-Q Top Coat and cure for as long as is takes to apply to the other hand.

7. After curing, apply a thin layer of Young Nails Gloss Synergy Gel to the entire nail. Do not cure. Dip your Young Nails striper brush into the Gloss to make it sticky so you can pick up caviar beads. Gently roll the brush on the wet layer of Gloss Synergy gel to put the beads on the nail.

8. While you have the cluster of gold caviar beads on the wet layer of the nail, use your brush to arrange the beads along the line you painted on the outside of the negative space border. After you’ve arranged the beads in a nice clean line, cure them quickly so the beads don’t move. Cure one nail at a time so the beads don’t move around. After you’ve frozen the caviar beads into place apply another layer of Gloss Synergy Gel to cover the whole nail and beads. Concentrate the gel on the beads so they are fully covered to ensure none of them fall off and cure for two minutes. Use a cotton swab saturated with Swipe to wipe of the dispersion layer. After the nails are cleansed, condition the cuticles using Young Nails Rose Oil.

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