ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2012 HandMeg
MEGHAN WHITE
Columnist Meghan White offers instructions for how to get creative with nail art.
MEGHAN WHITE TTN
PAGE 13
Nail art completes Filmmaking gives any outfit or look skill set to jobless,
I
am not really one for doing a full face of makeup everyday. Frankly, I am much more likely to wear jeans and a T-shirt than I am to dress up, but I would be hard pressed to tell you the last time I didn’t have nail polish on. While I have a strong preference for tacky nail art – and by preference I mean extreme weakness for tacky nail art – I can class it up when need be. Having nail polish on makes me feel like my look is complete. That sounds sort of trite and horrible, but really is true. As if I don’t spend enough “me” time with myself anyway, taking a half an hour or so out of my week to make my nails all pretty gives me some alone time. It also allows me to zone out and reflect on all the things that I should be doing instead of painting my nails. This list generally consists of paper writing and thinking, “oh god why didn’t I use the bathroom before painting my nails?” Now, I’m also not one to go out and have my nails done at a salon, and frankly on a college budget, doing so with any frequency is somewhat cost prohibitive. So I have an ever-growing collection of nail polish and an ever-growing list of techniques to try out. I still have yet to get to the level where I don’t smudge my nails. And they’re generally chipped two days later – a problem made worse by the fact that I love picking at my nail polish. But I do try really hard to not wreck a pretty set of nails. I’m going to share three nail techniques. The first requires some special equipment, and the other two use objects you may already have around the house. The first technique is called stamping. I originally heard about it while spending too many hours watching beauty gurus do their thing on YouTube. The brand version I first heard of was Konad, though I use generic supplies myself. More recently, if you’re into watching horrible television like I am, you’re likely to have seen “As Seen On TV” spot for a similar product. Like all good infomercials, the ad involves middle aged women who were all incapable of putting nail art onto their fingers until this product came along. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t buy into it, but look
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Imagine a playground of beer, where the Tap of God streams endless golden hop juice into giant steins. Monkey bars made of soft pretzels, sky-high slides that spill into pools of pilsner, spinning beer bottles and unlimited, all-you-can-guzzle beer. Sounds magical, right? While the annual Philly Craft Beer Festival probably won’t have water slides with stouts or beer bottle ring tosses, that all-you-can-chug element wasn’t a joke. Featuring more than 50 breweries including Yards, Triumph, Anchor, Sly Fox and more, and including more than 100 beers, this festival is the closest beer-lovers will come to heaven on earth. Heated tents and stands of brewers and beer specialists will line the former Naval Air Strip down at the Navy Yard for the afternoon. Proceeds benefit the Committee to Benefit Children, a volunteer-based charity that seeks to provide financial assistance to children and their families with cancer, leukemia and other blood disorders.
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into a few products first. I purchased my supplies more or less in bulk. That, coupled with watching a few videos on YouTube, and I was good to go the first time I started stamping my nails. For this technique you’ll need: - Nail art plate – laser en graved plate from your choice of manufacturer - Nail stamper - Scraper - Base coat and nail polish - Special nail stamping pol ish – while not entirely nec essary, this kind of polish is more viscous and generally results in a better image transfer. - Top coat – I can’t stress the importance of a good top coat enough – my personal choice is Seche Vite Dry Fast top coat.
STEPS:
1. Apply a base coat and optional nail color to your nails. Let this dry completely. We’re not just talking a level of dryness when the polish is not sticky, make sure it’s completely dry. 2. Once dry, put the special polish onto the desired engraved image on plate, and immediately scrape off the excess. 3. Roll the stamper onto the image, then roll the image onto your nail. Repeat for as many designs and nails as you want. This part can take some practice, but once you get good at it, it will go quickly. 4. Wait until dry and then apply a top coat. This part is crucial because if you don’t put on a top coat your design will probably come off the first time you wash your hands. 5. Admire your handiwork and accept any compliments graciously. The second technique is a quick way to achieve half-moon nails. It is much faster than freehanding the same design, and often achieves a much cleaner effect. Half-moon nails are sort of a reverse on French manicures. Instead of the tip of the nail being the only part being painted, most of the nail is painted except for the lunula, which is the lightish bit at the base of your nails. This technique can also be done with a colored base coat on the nails for a two-toned look.
SUPPLIES:
- Base coat
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- One or two colors of nail polish - Paper reinforcements – yes, those stickers you put on hole punched paper - Top coat
STEPS:
1. Apply a clear base coat to your nails. After it dries you have the option of painting your nails a color but if you do make sure your nails are completely dry before moving onto the next step. 2. Cut reinforcements in half and apply to your nails, obscuring the lunula. Yes, stick it onto your nail, and make sure that you press down around the edges. 3. Paint the exposed portion of your nail, from the reinforcement to the tip. 4. Once dry, remove the reinforcement and apply your top coat. The third technique is for scalloped trim nails. I recently learned this technique and have deemed it perfectly dainty for spring. While it can be a bit more time consuming than the other techniques, the result is pretty adorable without being over the top.
SUPPLIES:
- Two colors of nail polish - Straight sewing pin with a spherical head - Scrap paper - Top coat
STEPS:
1. Apply your base coat and then your base color. Wait to dry between layers. There’s a lot of waiting to dry with nail polish – sorry. 2. Put a drop of your scallop color onto the scrap piece of paper. Don’t put out too much, or else it will dry before you can use it. I also suggest that this color be darker than the base color. 3. Quickly dip the head of the pin into the scallop color, then stamp it onto the tip of your nail. This will create a dot. Stamp another dot next to the first, and continue across the tips of all of your nails. 4. Fill in any missed space on the tips of your nails with the polish brush, creating a scalloped effect. 5. Wait until dry – this may take a bit longer than usual as the scallop trim polish is likely a little thicker. Apply your top coat. Meghan White can be reached at meghan.white@temple.edu.
Leap Year is one of those under appreciated holidays. Unlike Mardi Gras or Halloween, it only happens once every four years. But in our eyes, that’s just more of a cause to celebrate. TIME Restaurant is holding a Throwback Leap Year party on its upstairs level, where DJ Ben Arsenal will spin your favorite throwback jams. We’re not sure how far back he’ll go – Debussy, anyone? But even if the tunes are a bust, TIME will also be serving $4 mixed drinks, including apple-tinis and cosmopolitans.
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homeless people NFCO PAGE 9 So far, many of their clients have been local, and they have shot a video for Anthropologie. That job lead to working on four projects for Longwood Gardens, who hired them without knowing about the unique aspects of NFCo. “They’re super great to work with because they trust us and we come up with crazy ideas,” Staub said. They’ve also had a couple of weeks shooting behind the scenes material for an M. Night Shyamalan movie starring Will Smith. Lindwall described the experience as “weird” because they went from “hanging out with Will Smith” to being back in the office. “Commercial practice, it pays bills and keeps us employed,” Lindwall said. “Basically, every job that we are contracted to do there is a mentorship to do.” “If you work with us, you mentor too,” he added. “As more individuals such as Elliot come on if you want to work with us, you have to teach. Every job is a training vehicle to shoot features.” A current project in the works is a non-governmental organization, in the form of a nonprofit film school, geared specifically toward employment for adults living with mental illness or recovering from homelessness and addiction. Lindwall said that the school, which is still being conceptualized, would have three stages, all of them geared toward eventual employment. “I think it’s good practice in the realm of professionalism, working with clients,” Staub said. “It’s real life stakes – the biggest thing is to be professional.” “We want to be just as good as every other company out there and still do it this way,” he added. The first stage would teach basic life skills, including helping people earn their GED, typing and working with Mac computers. The second stage would be a general
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overview of the film process. The third and final stage would allow those at the school to specialize in something they could see themselves doing as a career. From there, students would be paired with a professional in their desired field for further mentoring. Eventually the training would prepare them to be an employee at NFCo. Ideally though, the process does not stop there. “The imagination is not just us hiring [the students] but also other professionals in the industry,” Staub said. As a company with only six employees, they are currently working on eight separate projects, all in different stages. While the projects are smaller, for the most part, each of them provides a valuable opportunity not only for teaching, but also to establish NFCo as a production company. In keeping with their goal of being a direct response to the issue of poverty, Staub said while it is not completely ruled out, the idea of making a documentary about homelessness or addictions is not a priority. Current brainstorming efforts revolve around ideas for short films, in order to branch out from their roots in commercial videos. While commercial videos provide good practice for film skills, shooting short films with a small team would allow NFCo to establish themselves as storytellers. Working on short films would also put them a step closer to working on featurelength films. Lindwall said that NFCo’s motto is “here to be together.” So while it is still important for NFCo to put out the best product possible, doing well on jobs ultimately means that they can continue to work together in the same capacity and grow as a company. Meghan White can be reached at meghan.white@temple.edu.
After the previous night’s drunken debacle, cure your hangover and wake up and smell the flowers – literally. With spring approaching, there’s no better way to beat winter’s final chills and take in some warm-weather blooms. The theme of this year’s show is the Islands of Aloha, and the Convention Center will be transformed into a Pacific paradise. The flowers and plants, as well as art and culture of Hawaii’s islands will be on display, and guests will be able to participate in a traditional luau, complete with hula dancing and music. Just don’t forget to flash your Owl Card – tickets for students are $20, compared to adult admission for $27. If you can’t drop the dough, don’t worry. More than 65 local businesses throughout the city are participating in the flower show’s window decorating contest, competing to win the one of many categories. Participating businesses include Bredenbeck’s Bakery at 8126 Germantown Ave., Just Dogs Gourmet at 1804 Chestnut St. and London Grill at 23rd Street and Fairmount Avenue. -Alexis Sachdev