Proff. Beauty Manchester, the championship

Something went terrible wrong at this competition too. One thing that happened, that were not at all my fault, was that three of the tips cracked when I cut them. This has never happened to me before, never in my 11,5 years of doing nails! I think I know why it happened. We had to stand outside the show-venue for 15 min. before we were allowed in and it was freezing cold. I think THIS must have made the tips fragile.

Because of the cracked tips I lost about 15 min. (I had to file them off and replace) and that were the 15 min. I was going to use for the polish and last finish. Again, this time I lost lots of points in the polish-section, but this time it happened because I was so stressed that I was shaking. The feeling was NOT good.

Other than that, I know I should have practiced before the competition. I didn't, so it was all my own fault. However I think I have gotten the inspiration to practice again now. Maybe I will take a session next week, I think so... :)

PS. I was the only one who used gel in the championship! In one way I am really tempted to switch to acrylic, because for competition, it is easier as you can pinch acrylic. I also think it is easier to make a crisp smile-line with acrylic. On the other hand... gel is *my* thing and I HAVE won with gel over acrylic. So yes, it IS possible, I just have to practice more!

Blocked or runny nose what is the worst?

Have had a blocked nose all night and woke up with a slight head-ache. Not very good for todays competition. However I took some meds. and my head is feeling better. My nose? Well, it went from blocked to runny, not sure if that is better. My poor model.... Well, I have brought lots of napkins, fingers crossed we both will survive this! :-D

Right now I am looking forward to the competition. I haven't done 2,5 hours competitions since I won in London, in March, and I have a feeling that 1,5 hour simply isn't enough time for me.
I usually have plenty of time at the salon because I don't like to rush through, so I am not used to working with the clock in my **** :-D

Fingers crossed this will work better for me!

What went wrong?

Well... The funny thing is... I lost all the good points in the polishing-section!!! :-( I am normally scoring very high there, so I just think I forgot to pay attention. Stupid...

Another thing I did wrong was that I changed to white tips (in this comp. you are allowed to use white, clear, natural tips, you don't get any scores for smile-lines) 5 min., before the competition started... I know, I know... I shouldn't have done that. Especially since I eh... this is embarrassing to tell... It's about 10 years since I last used white tips... (the only reason I had white tips was because I won some when I won the championship) :-/ I KNEW I would get problems, still I did it, to save time. Stupid, stupid, stupid...

And yes, I got the problems I KNEW I would get with white tips... the product too thick at the sidewalls and that again made the polish-work miserable.

I also forgot to WASH my models hands and lost lots of points for that. Stupid, stupid, stupid...

There is a new competition tomorrow, but to be honest, I am not looking forward to it...

Decided to compete in Manchester

I decided, last minute, to enter the competition in Manchester. I must have had a very good day because I signed in for TWO competitions, the salon-speed and the championship. Luckily I got two models very quick, so don't have to worry about that, at least. The problem is that I don't feel the inspiration to compete, or at least to practice. I haven't practiced since June so really don't expect anything for these two competitions.... I just hope the competitions will get me into the mood again!

The salon-speed is first, tomorrow. I came to Manchester this afternoon without my luggage! My suitcase, with all my competition-stuff in, was left in Amsterdam. The woman I spoke to said the delivery-company didn't deliver in the evening, so she could only tell me I would get the suitcase before 12 tomorrow. Well, that was way too late for me. I decided to go back to the airport, to catch the last plane from Amsterdam, and LUCKILY my suitcase came with that plane.

I don't know if I am ready for tomorrow, but at least I have something to work with! :-D Fingers crossed I will finish in time..... 90 min., is not long... Luckily this is a REAL salon-speed competition and they are looking for natural nails, so no points for white free edge. I think I have decided to go for natural tips and not white. That will do the work a lot easier.

I wish myself good lusk for tomorrow! :-D