Behind the Scenes: New Gig for Top Competitor

John Hauk has won more than 70 trophies throughout his years as a competitor and he has become one to beat in the competition arena. John, who was the #1 competitor on NAILS 2002 Top 25 list, has been on the list for four years. He also has been a finalist in NAILS’ Artists and Visionaries Awards (AVAs) three times.

 

But this nail technician does not rest on his laurels. In addition to being a top competitor, he is a salon owner who sees a full book of clients in his salon, and this year he became OPI Products’ new technical advisor, a job he threw himself into full force, helping to develop new products, educating as a guest artist, and working on photo and video shoots for OPI.

For this month’s cover, we asked this former construction worker (yes, he switched from working with one type of nails to another) to create a Pucciniesque pattern on the nails using OPI’s new AbsoluteFX Color Essentials.

Step 1. He started by creating five specially blended powders from the AbsoluteFX colors. To create the light pink, he mixed Absolutely Opaque Cool Pink with a little bit of Absolutely White. For the medium pink, he mixed Absolutely Opaque Cool Pink with a little bit of RedFX. For the fuchsia, he mixed Absolutely Opaque Cool Pink with a touch of RedFX, OrangeFX, and VioletFX. For the bright yellow, he mixed YellowFX with a touch of Absolutely White. And for the deeper yellow, he mixed YellowFX with a touch of GreenFX and OrangeFX.

Step 2. Once these custom colors were mixed, he applied Clear Structure Nail Tips and blended.

Step 3. Next, John mimicked an actual piece of Pucci fabric on the nails. (As a nail artist, you can come up with any design you want.)

Step 4. He used an electric file to buff the nails down and create curved, abstract free edges.

Step 5. He applied ThinSet Resin from OPI’s MicroWrap System to finish the nails.