My husband gave me a spa day for my birthday this year…and its lead to a string of manicures. Its been two months, but for the first time in a decade, my nails are all past the tips of my fingers. They aren’t dragon lady claws (I still need to type, and, on occation, drive a screw - and its only been two months), but they don’t look like I’ve been having them for lunch either.
So I’ve gotten into nail polish and other girly nail accoutriments. (Fill coats, files, Cuticle Eraser). Back in early November, when my nails looked like crap, we were going for the most neutral, don’t bring them to anyone’s attention polish in the manicurist’s drawer. Now they are painted a nice sparkly Christmas burgundy. I’ve discovered that now they are this length, I’d rather wear them red than beige - an interesting discovery about myself - I always thought I was a neutral kind of girl.
And I’m learning other things - in addition to the details of my manicurist’s life (I think having an interesting life - or making one up - is an asset to a manicurist), girly things I never knew, like don’t buy the acetone nail polish remover. And that quick dry polish has come a long way since I was in high school - it actually means it will dry pretty quick. And that if I keep them well polished (I think they have about as much paint on them right now as a BMW), they don’t peel, split and catch like they did.
I don’t get to the manicurist very often, but I love nailpolish. I don’t think I truly understood just how fabulous it was until I discovered Opi polish. It’s a little more expensive, but definitely worth it. Even the neutral colors are amazingly rich and deep and sparkly, and dry looking like they’re still wet and shiny.
I don’t have time to go to the manicurist, so I’ve learnt how to do my own nails. I end up doing a version of the French manicure, where the top coat is a bright spangly pink. It certainly gets attention. Unfortunately, I can’t find a picture which shows them off quite as well as I’d like.
I also like Revlons’ color stay; my only gripe is that there isn’t a good selection of colors yet. But it’s a two-step process that actually keeps the nail polish from chipping. A manicure can last a week on my week nails! The “always amber” color is my favorite.
I’m going for my Christmas mani and pedi today, hopefully. My feet are a disaster right now, and my poor cuticles are so shredded and bitten (nervous habit I have), that they’re probably still not gonna look all that hot, even after a treatment. The cold dry air really does a job on hands and feet, too.
I love getting regular manis and pedis, though… you just can’t beat it! Generally in the summer I go with a light pink on fingers and toes or French on fingers, and light pink on toes. Winter will find me with a warm red on both… no purples or burgundies, as I have very pale, thin skin and veinous hands, and it would make me look scary.
I love nail polish. Unfortunately, I also love to bite my nails. I’ve gone through periods where I let my nails grow out, but it’s been a while for that.
I don’t like making resolutions - but maybe I should make one this year. No nail biting!
I like Opi. I have another bottle at home (can’t remember which brand) that is one of those that includes the top coat. Normally I’m not overly trusting of them, but this particular one is fabulous! The polish lasts a long time and I don’t have to use a top coat and wait 10 years for it to dry…
I don’t think Opi holds up that well at all. Pretty colors, but they look like shit after 3-4 days. These days I’m swearing by ShockProof, which is by Revlon or someone in the drug store world. It lasts for 10-14 days if you put a top coat on. I shit you not. There isn’t the variety of colors that I would choose from (much more youthful stuff if you ask me), but it lasts and lasts…
I tend to pick up my polish at Target or the manicurist. The manicurist its Opi (holds up on my hands about five days before they chip enough to bug me, if I don’t put another top coat on every three days…but after about five days I want something different anyway). I’m still playing with drugstore brands, and I’ll look for the Shockproof stuff. Its much easier for me to drop a bottle of polish into my cart at Target than to justify a bottle on top of a manicure at the salon.
I have some Loreal Jet Dry - which is great for a quick coat because it really does dry pretty fast. And a bottle of something Revlon that I LOVED the coverage on.
I love nail polish names. Lipstick names, too. My alternate career choice would be coming up with other names for “red”
The best product I’ve found is cuticle eraser. Not cheap, but I credit this stuff with keeping my teeth away from my hands. I don’t really bite my nails, but rough cuticles are like potato chips at a party.
I am a nail fanatic. Before I had the kid, I could afford to have my nails done every other week. At this point, between LilMiss and myself we have well over 200 bottles of polish- anything from BonBons to OPI to L’Oreal.
I now do my own nails, along with family members. I am blessed that my nails grow fast and grow strong, but I also swear by Formula 10 as a base coat.
(Looks at nails) They are due to be done again. Right now the color I am wearing is almost like OPIs Innsbruck Brown. Maybe I’ll go deep garnet.
Thanks for the tip on Cuticle Eraser, Dangerosa. My cuticles look pretty bad right now, being that it is FUCKING winter in Chicago. My nails are just growing back from a house cleaning mishap, and they’re just long enough to put some color on. I usually go fairly neutral, but for the holidays, I’m going with something warm and red…
They make that cuticle eraser in a bigger bottle - much more cost effective. That and regular application of polish plus a bottle of good hand lotion at my desk (and in my purse and next to the sink and by my bed), and I went three weeks between manicures without too much problem. I can’t do much with my own cuticles in terms of trimming - I leave the trimmers to the professionals. Living in the Twin Cities, I have some idea of what winter weather does to hands.
(Just to hijack my own thread…Cetaphil, not the lotion, but the creme, after every shower and before bed). My ankles don’t look like an alligator purse).
Okay, guy chiming in. I started painting my wife’s toes when she was pregnant since she, er, couldn’t reach. Well, in the last year we’ve gone to a one-income household with a munchkin, so we’re always looking for ways to save money. So, I give her a pedicure every two weeks or so. I’ve become a bit of a nail-polish snob, since I started off not knowing how to paint nails at all. And when I saw this thread, I clicked on it instantly to sing the praises of OPI, but I see everyone else has beat me to it. I threw away all of my wife’s other polish colors and replaced them with OPI, since it’s the most forgiving for those of us who haven’t been doing this for long. I’ve become confident enough to move to manicures. Woo-hoo!
Manicure every two weeks for the last 13 years and will get a polish change in between if there is something special going on. I looked for a solid year when I moved back to Chicago to find a good manicurist.
Some hints to take very seriously:
Watch them take their utensils out of the barbicide, if you don’t, ask them to clean them. Really.
If they try to get some polish off your skin by using their fingernail around and under your nail, run I repeat run out of the place and do not go back. It is the most unsafe and unsanitary practice out there. They should use a new (clean) wooden device with an angled edge.
If they break skin more than once during a manicure, don’t go back. Once could be a mistake. More than once is either too much caffine or too many drugs. Either way is painful.
Mostly Enjoy. A good manicurist is a good conversationalist and makes the 35 - 45 minutes about more than just nice looking nails. Done right, it’s much cheaper than a shrink.
OPI makes a great purple. Nails are fun and when they are well maintained, they do speak for themselves.
I love nail polish. There’s a thread here where I posted my wonderfully awesome nail procedure that guarantees that the polish lasts, utterly glass-smooth and chipless, for at least 7 days, and I’ve had it up to 3 weeks (the longest I could stand the same colour day after day, and the regrowth of my nails was irritating). I’d search for it now, but I don’t want to kill the hamsters.
I’m all about funky colours. My favourites are gunmetals, purples, blues and burgundies. I love doing french manicures, but my favourite look is a blue-toned gunmetal with slightly lighter silver tips. Industrial french manicure!
I see a lot of recommendations for OPI. I like their stuff, but honestly I’m not picky. With my aforementioned nail procedure, I can make 99¢ Wet n’ Wild polish look professional and last for weeks.
My personal recommendation: Rimmel nail polish for the colour, and Sally Hansen “Mega Shine” for the topcoat. Wonderful stuff they are.
Like Angua I learned how to do my own nails… (I took cosmotology in high school and can give pretty decent manicures to this day though I forgot darn near everything else)
I still like to get a manicure if I can afford it though. As a treat it’s a nice thing, but way cheaper just to learn on your own.
Industrial french manicure!