Has competition ever interested you? It makes me curious, but I didn't think I would stand a chance competing. The first thing that throws me off are the nails themselves. They aren't in a normal salon style and shape for my area, so I'd be spending a lot of time getting good at something that wouldn't help me earn a living. The next thing was the time limit; the turtle is my logo for a reason! The current addition to some competitions of the soak-off category, however, has really intrigued me. That being said, what better way to see how the whole competition thing works than to be a model? It caught me a bit off guard when Guin asked me to be her model at Long Beach, but as I thought about it, the opportunity was really exciting. I'm working at the show for LaVaque and Empower though, so that took some thought. I struggled with the fairness of asking them for an hour off to be a model. In the end, I decided to go ahead and ask them as it was a unique presentation of chance, thinking I would hopefully make it up to them by working like a fiend before and after! Barry and Lucien were each generous enough to wish me well, so a huge heartfelt thanks to them for giving me to latitude to explore the competition and share it with all of you.

As a model, my job is to show up with healthy eponychiums and hydrated skin. I have been faithfully applying Cuticle Eraser and SolarOil to my nails daily and plan to wear Vinylux to work the booths so that she can easily remove the color for her application. To combat the dry Iowa winter, I have thought outside the box and slathered my hands with Cucumber Heel Therapy before bed every night to keep the knuckles from doing the winter cracking routine. My fingers are crossed for Guin, and I can't wait to try my hand at working two booths at once! Hope to see some of you this weekend in Long Beach at ISSE! When not trying my hand at being a model, you will find me with LaVaque Professional (booth #1369) and Empower Nail Art (booth #1371). Be sure to introduce yourself and if you want to take a picture, I would love for you to be in it with me, so don't be shy!

— Holly