So IBS is this weekend. Needless to say, I have been practicing my fingers off — or nails rather. My own nails haven’t been done since before I went to Germany (Gag!) So I’m completely missing two nails, four of them are half lifted, and the other three are modified design sculptured nails with a flower theme. What a mess. A perfect example of the shoemaker’s kids having no shoes I guess. (A thing that I will rectify this week)

But what’s my point?

Oh Yes, IBS.

I’d like to talk a little about salon success competition nails and nails that are done in the salon. This will help clarify for those of you who have never competed before, or maybe even for those of you that have are still unsure about the difference.

Salon nails are of course what you do in the salon. You do these kinds of nails everyday, all day long. They are great for the salon and they are perfect for your customers, but they are not the style of nail that is required in a salon success competition because salon success nails are competition nails. So really, don’t bring your everyday salon nail to a salon success competition because the judges are looking for perfection.

Personally, I think the salon success competition is incorrectly named. It should be called a free-style pink-and-white. Because it is really a shortened version of the sculptured nail category.

Here are the differences. Salon Success (SS) nails are made to a thickness of a credit card, sculptured nails are to be no thicker than a business card. SS nails have a two to one length ratio (the extension is half the length of the nail bed), and sculptured nails are one to one.

For SS nails, you can use a tip (with the exception of a white one), and sculptured nails you can not. SS nails still have to have a sharp, defined smile line, like a sculptured nail competition, but (and here is the real catch) you have 1.5 hours to create the SS nail and you have 2.5 hours to do the sculpted nails. Remember when you study the criteria differences for sculptured nail and salon success nails, to always keep in mind that it is a competition.

I’m off to IBS tomorrow. I should have lots of pics for you next week.

See you soon!

— Lynn