During week five, we received another lecture on skin structure, growth, and nutrition and tests on pedicures and nail tips and wraps. We also received our semester to date comprehensive grade. Our total grade includes not only test scores, but also workbook completion and daily assessment. The latter covers such activities as appearance, classroom clean-up, effort, and work area compliance. I am pleased to report that so far I have achieved an overall A grade.

A good portion of the week was focused on giving manicures; secondarily on pedicures and liquid and powder application. One of the reasons for the focus on manicures, other than it being one of the most requested services in salons, is that in a few weeks our class will participate in a fundraising event with a sorority at a local university. The Tech I students will have a field trip of sorts to the university and provide manicures to students who make a contribution to the charity. I am looking forward to the event and will provide more information as it becomes available. I will of course report on the event itself in this blog.

As mentioned in previous blogs, for some of our practical exercises such as manicures and pedicures, we pair up with fellow Tech I classmates to perform services on each other. However, sometimes there are an odd number of students in class which makes a one-on-one pairing impossible; which is what happened last week. (Some may say all the nail tech students are odd, but that is a subject for another blog.) Fortunately, three of us, Leslie, Lizbeth and I arrived at a clever solution — we performed a manicure á trois on each other. That is, we took turns with two of us each performing a manicure on one hand of the third person.  It actually worked out better than it sounds. I have included a picture of the result of one of the manicures. I think we did pretty well. In fact, we may have invented a new manicure service!

In addition to practicals for manicures and pedicures we also practiced our liquid and powder application skills. Since we are in October, Shirley received a Halloween-inspired set of nails. The two-set pictorial included with this blog depicts the process of my effort. One picture shows both what Shirley would look like without any nails (It’s actually her twin sister, Jean.) and with short tips attached. The tips are reversed and glued to pre-placed masking tape and then the excess is clipped off. The reason for the short tips is to give Shirley’s nails some free edge for form placement.  The second picture shows the final result of the liquid and powder enhancement application.  Once again, I am indebted to Shirley for her uncomplaining patience.

Looking to the future, I will attend Nail Camp West later this month. The camp takes place in Cascade, Idaho, which is 90 minutes from Boise, Idaho. The event lasts four days and features shopping, keynote speakers, classes, and hands-on workshops. Because the camp is relatively far from San Diego, California, getting there and back will each require a travel day, so unfortunately I will miss a few days of nail school. In any event I will definitely report on the event after I return. For more information about the camp, please visit www.nailcamp.org/nail-camp-west.

I hope readers of this blog have visited the Instagram pages of classmates I have referenced in prior blogs. They are very talented and their pages are well worth the time to view them. It subsequently occurred to me that I have not cited my own Instagram page, @aladunsane, which I hope you will likewise visit. And don’t worry, it’s not all pictures by a fledgling nail student; it also features Disney and Comic-Con related events.

See you real soon!