One last blog about the NTP Cruise. The final class day was a nail competition in which we were challenged to do sculpted gel enhancements using the product of our choice. This is a little tricky in a cruise environment as you cannot schedule models with great hands and nails ahead of time in order to do your best work. Case in point, here are a couple before pictures of the model's hands I had to work on.

I have never thought I would be a candidate for competing due to the meticulous pace at which I tend to work. Then I took a look at the nails I had to work on and made the choice to give her the best nails I could with what she had instead of worrying about making it in the competition time. I was still working as the second group of competitors got started. It seemed wise to create a nail to work on and then add the enhancement to it with the Forever French and deepened arch. She was quite happy with the finished result, and I'm still unsure about competing.

It was fun to at least have a go at it, and making the best of the challenge put in front of us is a big part of what we do in the salon. I snapped a couple shots of the second group competing once I finished up. As you can see from the second photo, another challenge of doing nails in this environment was keeping the gel from curing in the direct sunlight while working!

I have 3 gelfinity brushes with a stylus on the end to give away to random posters that comment on competing, whether it's a tip on how to compete, a dream about giving it a try, or anything positive you would like to share!

— Holly