Saturday, I finally got to go to Marie Nails Soho for my first appointment there.  It’s been nearly 1½ months since I’ve had any calgel on them, so I was ANXIOUS and excited!
I’m going to be doing a FULL comparison between Sakura vs. Marie Nails in a separate post, so this is just a post for my nail design.
Being that Spring has Sprung…I wanted to try a colorful design (as opposed to my normal black & whites).  So while browsing, I peeped this cute “hipster”-ish design:

I looked to Sayo and after a few seconds of contemplating…she was OFF!!
FYI about Sayo: She’s been doing Calgel for over 5 years (3 in Tokyo, then 2 in LA), so she is a PRO.  My entire design took about 1.5 hours — impressive! She never second guessed herself, she just did it. It was pretty incredible to witness.
First, she filed & trimmed my cuticles, but she used this cute little machine to groom them…(unfortunately, I don’t think my cuticles came out as “clean” as they normally do when they’re just cut with clippers)

Then, after the Calgel base, she did 2 coats of white in the middle, then 2 coats of pink calgel (#14) on the tip.

Then came the “intricate” part.  She used acryllic paints to mix a lavender, light pink, dark pink and mint green shades for the middle section:

She filled the “mosaic” sections in one by one…

Then went in afterwards and applied the Glitter Liner for definition! Here’s the final look:

Overall, I was super-impressed with Sayo’s handi-work.  She never hesitated, never faltered — she just went in there and rocked it out.  There were little things that she did without me even asking — like making sure the final top coat of Calgel was thick enough so that none of the “graininess” of the Glitter Liner could be felt.
I am definitely going to give Marie Nails another try — especially since the removal when I go next time will be FREE!