I’m just so excited about going back to my home, Northern California, for the NailPro Sacramento show on October 2nd. I’m from San Francisco, and you can bet I’ll be hitting up the City while I’m there. Simply the thought of being back in my home state gives me an Arizona smile.

The theme for the hand-painted turn-in event this year is "sea life."

I’ll be the first to admit that hand painting is not my strong point, but with my not-so-good outcome at the Future Professional’s Expo in Hersey, Pa., back in May, I am now dubbing this particular competition REDEMPTION.

I’m not saying I did terribly at FPE, just not as well as I had planned. But I’m coming back with a vengeance. I will apply every bit of artistic ability I have to my ten nail tips. I have practiced continually (on my down times) to get to where I believe I can finally show the competition crew what I’ve got. To me, everyday is a competition.

The Gel Polish competition is completely brand new, and oh-so-exciting. We have to apply the gel polish in a French application on one hand, and red polish over the other hand. Sounds simple enough right? I mean, we learn those two basics in school. Well my lovely ladies it’s not that simple. I have been practicing my timing and application like crazy and I gotta say I’m ready for this competition.

I’ve thought about advancing myself to sculpture nails, but mentally I don’t know if I’m ready for that one. Besides, I like to watch “the big boys and girls” compete. But I will compete in Salon Success, and I’m confident that it will go well.

Behind the scenes, most people don’t know how much competitors practice. If there is down-time, I can guarantee you I’m practicing. The only downfall to so much practicing is the lack of hands! I need more friends to practice on.

This isn’t a plug at all, but the nail trainer has helped me out a ton. So at midnight when I get the itch to work and can’t call a buddy to meet me at my studio, the robot-hand comes in pretty, uh, handy. *Pun intended ;)

I wish everyone the best of luck and I’ll see you in Sactown!

— Classic