Hey you beautiful people! It’s nice to see you here again reading my latest blog post all about ‘my favourite e-file its’. As well as sharing the bits I love the most, I will also be telling you what I use them for and where you can purchase them. I also have some cheeky discount codes to share so stay tuned and keep on reading to find out more…

TOP 5

These five are my main e-file bits that I don’t actually think I could live without! Like seriously I really don’t. They are such an essential part of my prep work and shaping, so let me go ahead and share with you a little information about them. All the bits mentioned in todays post have a standard shank size of 3/32 which fits most E-file hand pieces. You can save 10% of the Drill bits at glitterplanetuk.com with my code NINJA10 at the checkout stage.

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1.Cuticle Clean 

So this bit is one of my absolute favourites and ever since I discovered it over 4 years ago I never looked back, you can purchase by clicking HERE from Glitter Planet. It’s small and gentle and is extremely thorough in removing cuticle/dead skin from the nail plate. I use this bit for cleaning the nail plate once I have pushed back the Eponychium(cuticle), it really aids me when trying to reach into the side walls and close to the proximal nail fold (Skin). I did actually throw mine away accidentally once when clearing up and I was devastated – I though my world had anded and I definitely didn’t want to do my next client!

2. Large Smooth Top 4XC Carbide Bit

Ok, not gonna lie, this BEAST is INSANE! And I am so SO glad I have this in my kit. It is an absolute blessing to my life!! I use the 4XC bit for removal of acrylic design, and also for removal of 3D work or gel polish over acrylics or hard gel. This bit is DEFINITELY not for the faint hearted and I would NOT recommend to use it on natural nails – You’d cause some serious damage! I use my e-file on a medium speed and tend to remove the main bulk of design work then switching over to the Smooth top ceramic for working close to the cuticle and once the Acrylic has thinned out, because it cuts through product so fast It’s better to be slights cautios and constantly check the thickness of your enhancement. You can buy the 4XC bit HERE.

3. Smooth top Ceramic – Medium

Here is the next bit I want to mention, the Smooth top ceramic bit. This bit I use for shaping around the cuticle area, removing bulk after encapsulation or filing under the free edge. It’s a real great all rounder bit as I also like to use it to refine the shape of my enhancements before I go ahead and finish file with a hand file. The hand files I use are the 100/180 grit fries from Glitter Planet™ and you can buy them here £3.25(exc.VAT) for a 5 pack.

4. Large cone medium Carbide bit

The large cone bit I mainly use for removing any bulk on the nail and reshaping where necessary. I find it really useful and handy to have a variety of bits in my kit to ensure I have the correct tool no matter what the job may be. So even though some bits I use for the same purpose they are very different to work with and also offer other qualities. You can find this particular cone bit here.

5. Round top ceramic bit

The round top ceramic bit has many uses but I in particular like to use it for prep of the natural nail or sealing the cuticle are after my acrylic application. Once you have applied your acrylic you should amino have it as flush as possible at to cuticle are to eliminate any chances of lifting, if however you haven’t quite got it as smooth and flush as you’d like then this bit is great for making that happen. Simply set to a medium speed and run it gently around the cuticle are in order to debut and make to product lay flash. This bit makes that easy because it’s so small it gets right into the required area without getting in the way or catching the skin around the finger. You can buy this bit from Glitter planet ™ buy now.

Essential E-File Collection

**Save some money by getting the kit and also use my discount code for 10% OFF!!**

Glitter Planet™ also stock the Nail Mate™ Essential E-file collection which includes all of the bits I mentioned above plus 2 more and also a handy case to store your bits.

Includes 7 E-file Bits & Case:

• Large Barrel smooth top Ceramic , Fine
• Round Ceramic bit , Medium
• Small Barrel Smooth Top, Ceramic, Medium
• Cuticle Clean, Carbide
• Large Cone, Carbide , Medium
• Large Barrel smooth top, Carbide, 4XC
• Diamond Bit, Coarse
• Storage Case
• standard shank size 3/32

I hope you have enjoyed this post and maybe learnt something new? If it’s helped you out then don’t forget to LIKE it and also share it! As a blogger it really helps me out if that you enjoy my content you can share it because the support from you will mean I can keep on creating more content for you guys! And I would love to keep doing that as I have so many great ideas for posts I know you’ll love and benefit from. Thank you so so much for reading if you got this far you are BOMB!!

Please always remember you are BOMB.COM, LIT AF ! Don’t ever let anyone tell you any different. You’ve got this! Love yah! Mwah.

Lorna Andrews | Not Your Average Nail Tech x

OK, so here I am. Four days later, deciding I want to document how utterly amazing my FIRST Live competition was. And boy it was intense. Let me take you back to the very beginning, way before I even entered. February 2018 I thought about entering the competition but wondered if I was good enough or whether or not I’d be able to face the fact I’d have to have an interview – I’m not so good at ‘speaking’ in front of strangers or crowds so that part terrified me. It’s my goal this year to be a more confident speaker – so if anyone has any tips please let me know!

I finally decided to push myself and enter the competition, then came the wait. We had to wait until April 2018 to find out if we had actually made it through to the final 5. They day came for finding out and I checked through the finalists posted on the site (2 days late as I was ill in hospital), oh no, I couldn’t find my name there, I hadn’t made it. I was definitely disappointed. However, later that day a follower on my instagram congratulated me on getting through to the final rounds, I was like whaaaattt! Let me go and check again. Again I checked and couldn’t see my name. At the time I didn’t realise there were categories missing from the list. I then found out that when viewing the results on your phone you need to zoom out in order to view ALL of the categories (silly me). And low and behold there it was, MY NAME! Listed under Mixed media nail Artis of the year!! I was LITERALLY SHOOK! And when I say that I really mean it. I was super excited. We were then sent the rules and the theme (DISCO FEVER). I knew I was up against some fabulous Nail Techs, especially one I looked up to and hope to train with in the near future, the fabulous Hazel Dixon. Her work is stunning!!

**Visit Glitter Planet for amazing glitter and nail supplies**

Ok. So now i’m in the running for Mixed media nail artist of the year, along with 4 other fabulous techs. The rules are in my hand, and I’m ready for a challenge. Which is a good job really because we only got allocated a 1 hour time limit for designing 3 Mixed media nail tips, which had to consist of 2 or more medias. Like is this even possible?? I have no idea, but it must be…Anyway me being me as cool as a cucumber, I don’t do anything for another 2 weeks. I keep myself calm and now and then an idea would pop into my head of what I’d like to create. The week before the contest I had to get my but into gear. I started to PLAN my idea. I knew I wanted it to be crisp, clean and bright. with enough detail and a good display of skill/technique. As I write this I’m hoping I managed to represent myself well.

I had my design In my head and I had practiced a couple 3 times, each time changing my technique to ensure I could fit it into the 1 hour slot. The final time after refining my technique I was shocked to have 10minutes left on the clock, but I knew that I’d possibly experience some nerves, and the judges on the floor may talk to you & ask questions, so having 10 mins to spare was a GOOD thing. Because after all that it’s probably not going to end up being ‘spare time’ lol.

The day is here 14th May 10.00am! We all get set up into the room, desks and products at the ready. I Wasn’t really nervous at all at this point. I was quite calm and I wasn’t shaking. But as soon as the lovely Helena from Scratch mag said “GO” (10.30am) my body was over ridden with adrenaline and passion, The shaking began. I prepped my nail Tips and then came to hand paint the checkered dance floor, now, my logic behind this while practicing at home was that its the most time consuming part so if I get it out of the way at the beginning then, it will be really good. But now I’m at the London College of beauty therapy (LCBT) I was shaking so much it was a struggle to get the lines perfect. Some how I managed to pull it off, and within the 60mins I completed my whole design.

My Final Design

Now the wait is on for all of the finalists to find out whether they have done enough or now. The competition was SO tough and the other techs in my category produced some amazing final pieces. All of us will have to wait until the Scratch summer party in July for the winners to be announced. If you want to attend the hottest nail party in the UK you can purchase your ticket here: click here to buy tickets

Good luck to all of the other finalists in every category you all preformed amazingly! Here are some images of the other techs entries from my category:

See what I mean when I say the level of skill was high!! It was super amazing to be able to see how other techs created their idea and interpreted the theme disco fever.

Thank you so much @scratchmagazine for such an amazing day and having me as one of your finalists it was an amazing experience!! See you in July!! And thank you guys for taking the time to read my blog post.

“Always remember, you are BOMB.COM, LIT AF. Don’t ever let anyone tell you any different! You’ve got this. Mwah”

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Love from Not your average nail tech

Lorna Andrews. x

P A S T E L.  W A V E.   N A I L.

Hey beautiful!!! So for today’s blog post I thought I would keep it short and sweet and share with you this idea that I had. The ‘wave’ nail. I think it looks so magical, delicate and BOMB.COM!! Like seriously – LOOK AT IT!!! I am in love.

I did a full video tutorial on my channel you can see it here:

I took a MILLION and 1 photos of this set because I was SO OBSESSED! Might swell share some with you . . .

WHERE DID I GET THE SUPPLIES FOR THIS SET?? ↓↓↓

Glitter Planet is your answer – https://glitterplanetuk.com

Mermaid Shards 

Rainbow Bokeh

Fairy Dust

Crystal AB Mixed pot

Large AB crystals

Small AB crystal bow

I really hope you guys enjoy this set and this cute little trend. If you recreate it tag me #ninjanailfairy #layeredwavenail so I can see and give a shout out on my social media.

Thanks guys. Always remember you are BOMB.COM LIT AF. Don’t ever let anyone tell you any different. You’ve got this. Love yah. xoxo