High Falutin with Light Elegance

Love this color from Light Elegance. After a gel fill I painted one coat of High Falutin cured. Added line art and just a hint of glitter on the accent nail. So easy!

Beauty Classic 2012

      Today's segment is a show report from Premiere Columbus. First stop was the Dashing Diva Booth to speak with Mary Jo Zwirowski about their new fall products. We got a look at the new wrap designs that were beautiful as well as the base and top gel system. Her clients are getting two week wear with the Design fx topped off with their base and top gel. It has superior flexibility and can be used with any other system, it also cures in both UV or LED lights. You can also layer other fx before the final top coat. Patti@Fashion week Their new colors fx are available November 1st. I posted a link on our Facebook page that features Patty Yankee and these awesome new appliqués she used at Fashion Week. Check out more here Dashing Diva

     Next I visited the OPI booth and talked to Kelly Hettesheimer a guest artist from Charleston South Carolina. She showed me the new Skyfall 007 Bond colors featuring The Man with the Golden Gun 18karat top coat. It has actual flakes of 18karat gold in it. They also have a Sky fall 007 Magnetic Lacquer and magnetizer for 3 different designs in IS that Silva? self explanatory, Bond James Bond gold obviously, and Morning money Penny, a rich burgundy red. To round out the promotion they are offering 4 new pure lacquer nail apps, which is their nail appliqué. And last but not least the 6 piece limited edition "Bond" gel color kit. Check out more here OPI

      I ran into Jaime Schrabeck at the Light Elegance booth who was teaching 5 classes at the show. She was thrilled her classes were standing room only. I did mention we were talking about feet all this month and asked her if she would like to come on and talk about her waterless pedicure, so hopefully we can make that happen. Check out her website here Precision Nails

      Darcy Olin educator extraordinaire from Orwell New York shared all the new and exciting things going on at Light Elegance. They have launched their new Poppy paints, small pots of highly pigmented gel that take your nail art to a whole new level. They have a slight 3 d effect and this introductory line is now available in 8 spectacular metallic colors. They also launched Pretties, loose powdered pigments to enhance any nail design that can be added to both gels and acrylics for one of a kind works of art. They have two packs, Primary Pretties with shimmers and mattes and Effect Pretties with out there shimmer and sparkles. Very cool stuff. They also launched their nail art brush collection with 6 new brushed and 4 new bling brushes. Check out more here Light Elegance

 

      I spoke with Gina Cella from CND for a few minutes before her sold out Flavor of the season class. I got to see up close and personal their new fall shades and a sneak peek at the two holiday shades Ruby Ritz and Tinsel toast , both shimmers. Check out more here CND

 

      I stopped at the Venique booth to see what that was about. It offers the newest technology called Sil-tek. It actually integrates silicone into the top coat allowing the polish to expand and contract, almost like saran wrap. It Their top coat also boasts added diamond dust for enhanced strength and superior shine. Their nail lacquer flexes with the nail for longer lasting wear. The base begins the process with a tacky film creating an anchor for polish preventing chips and peeling. Check out more here Venique Nails We also sat in on MaeLing Parrish's gelish class. Who knew in Ohio we would have the honor of a cover girl in our class, but MaeLing is actually from Columbus. She is getting ready to head out to Brea California for a national educator training. She shared her new House of Gelish colors, and don't you all be Gelish when I start posting these fabulous colors. Her class was jam packed with top tips from a true gel master.

      We also got to see how she created those fabulous cover nails. She is on this month's NAILS magazine and she will be on December too. Check it out here NAILS

She also said they are launching new colors at Premiere that are so fabulous she couldn't even talk about them...well she told me but I'm sworn to secrecy..just kidding, I told her I was going to say that. So that's it for the Premiere Beauty Classic.

Blogging 2.1

This week's marketing tip is about building your brand through blogging. Why blog you might ask? I posted about the simple process of blogging back in February of 2010. I would be curious to guess how many of our listeners started blogging and actually kept it up. I recently attended a blogging workshop with Beth Schreibman Gehring. Beth is an obsessive blogger and truly believes it is the best marketing medium out there for small business. Small business owners are passionate about their business, and sharing that passion is the definition of blogging. Blogging is challenging, trust me I live it. The only way I have kept up with my blog is Mondays. I know I have to have a marketing segment every Monday night for this show, Nail Talk Radio. Some posts come easier than others, but I still have to come up with content. And that is the major issue of blogging. Content. Blogging shrinks the world, it turns the ordinary beauty professional by day into a writer, a creative force, an expert, a brand overnight. Well maybe not overnight, but with consistency your blog can expose your business to so many venues you never even knew existed. Blogging shares who you are with the world, an online resume that showcases your heartbeat. Your blog shares what's going on in your world immediately, no need to wait for the monthly newsletter or weekly fan page update. Your blog can give readers a reason to become clients. So let's reexamine blogging for building your brand. Start with a free account on Blogger, Typepad, or Wordpress. These sites are very user friendly and setting aside a couple of hours to familiarize yourself with the process is usually all it takes. The real work comes in setting up the time in your schedule to actually write the content. Have a few categories like What's new. Favorite services. Staff picks. Nail of the day. Art gallery. Having several categories will make it easier to categorize and post your content. Blogging for business should be done once or twice per week. Having a nail of the day category is a quick and easy way to update your blog without a lot of writing, just post the picture with a catchy description and done. How do I get readers?
Some great headline strategies to get your readers intrigued enough to read more.
1. Ask a question. What is all the buzz about no chip manicures? What are things to look for at a top salon? What are the advantages of regular manicures?
2. Ask Why. Why gel polish? Why pay more? Why regular pedicures are a must?
3. Write a How to. How to plan a killer spa party. How to create simple nail art.
4. Lists. Top three spring shades 5 ingredients that should be in your beauty products
5. Best and Worst. Worst spa products or ingredients Best nail styles Best or most effective nail treatments.
Posting to Facebook and twitter will give your blog social media muscle. Connecting with other local beauty bloggers is a great way to get your content forwarded to their readers. Everyone is looking for content and will often times retweet or repost interesting blogs to their audience.
Here are a few blogging rules to live by according to Beth:
1 Set up a time to blog. I know myself this is critical Add it to your day planner like any other appointment and don't blow it off.
2. If you use someone else's images please remember to give them credit. Why yes we have an issue with this in our industry as well. If you don't know the source, post unknown but don't put them off as your own.
3. Copyright everything. You can get a free copyright covering your writing and images. Put the badge on your blog so that others know the terms of your copyrights.
4. Stay relevant to your topic. It promotes you as THE expert in your field.
5. Blog what you know. This speaks to your authenticity. If you feature someone else's articles on your site make sure to give them credit and not pass the post off as your own. If your reader senses any fraudulent posts your credibility is shot and they won't engage.
6. Don't use anyone else's words without their permission. There are ridiculous covert ways anyone can track information on Google so again, give credit where it is due. Besides many people you quote may be interested in quoting you one day. Getting your blog in front of a whole new audience. and after all isn't that the point?
So if you haven't started your blog yet, don't wait. Get blogging and get the visibility and the credibility you need to move your business forward. Move your business forward with marketing products from Pro Beauty Success.

ABS Recap Part 1

ABS was certainly action packed this year! We hit the show floor looking for the latest colors, trends and techniques. First stop was to say howdy to our friends at Famous Names who generously donated their booth location for our NTR meet and greet!

I caught up with Holly Schippers at the CND booth! So great to see her in person! The CND booth was hopping with the release of their new colors!

Young Nails booth was hopping ... as usual ... and I was lucky enough to catch up with Rhonda!!
What a pleasant surprise!

Greg was busy showing off the newest colors for spring.

                                                                   But not too busy for a photo :)


Carla Collier was kind enough to help a girl out... I ran out of time to get MY nails show ready. She used Orly's Gel colors Rage and Luxe two tone with hand painted nail art. LOVE them! Got tons of compliments, someone even asked me if they were Minx. Great job Carla!!

I stopped by the Light Elegance booth to see a few of my favorite peeps. Jim and Lezlie. You may not know that I wrote the very first educational instruction booklet for LE, before they were even LE lol.That's how far back we go and I am so thrilled to see how well they have done!!

I spent some time at the Nailsuperstore booth with Kevin Huang who actually designs many of his products for nail techs. His understanding of our challenges and drive to help us succeed is so evident in all his product designs. He is really a gem in our industry so make sure to spend some time on his site and check out his products for sure! He showed me his new chair and stool design and WOW so amazing! His new pedichair is motorized, it goes up and down, reclines and has swing away foot rests. What more does a girl need? His new stool is designed for the tech in mind with the rest in the front so you can take the presure off your arms while you work stabilizing your elbows to work smarter not harder. Brilliant!

I also stopped by the Gelish booth and saw some awesome demos by MaeLing working the table.

We ended the day with the Nail Talk Radio meet and greet with our friends at the Famous Names booth and our loyal listeners. Chelli Eric was the lucky winner of the Valentino Beauty Pure Air Purification System and Vicki Jenson won the Famous Names goodie bag.

To see all the photos "Like" my page ProBeauty Success with Millie Haynam.

To be continued....