Beauty

[Spacrazy]

@Dazlin  Then you definitely should have gotten the full service as described.

[Shanus]

@Dazlin   So envious of those who can have manicures. My nails need to be very short and a clear nail strenthener is the norm.

I do go a little nuts with my toes. I like bright colors, paint my own decals, apply a flat stone, stripes, hearts, rainbows, etc.

[Dazlin]

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@Imaoldhippie wrote:

@Dazlin ..........Glad you like it.  When you go next time make sure she does the wrap for you.  Usually those cost extra.

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@Imaoldhippie , thx...yes, if I go again, I'll pull up the menu, and show exactly what the Gel manicure includes.

Other than the hot towel,  she did a very nice job.  Seems they do things differently with Gels...she did my nails 1st, then after they were cured, she massaged in some lotion.  I didn't feel like complaining about the one thing...I was having an awful day,  so I was content that I got there...my nails are cut short, and I chose a pastel lavender color.  They look nice, and very shiny too.

This is 1st time doing Gels, so ill see how they hold up on me.    One really great feature, is they dry instantly and can do anything.   She applied nail oil around the cuticles after they were polished...I thought, Oh noooo...but nothing happened, lol.

[NYCLatinaMe]

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@Dazlin wrote:

According to the menu on their site...a gel manicure includes, a scrub, lotion, massage, and hot towel wrap...I didn't make that my own assumption...its what their menu said it included.   

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@Dazlin I find that different manicurists do different things, even in the same salon.  I have had salons that do the towel wrap with the moisturizing, but now that you mention it, I haven't had one in a while.  The truth of the matter is that in my neighborhood, the good nail salons closed (covid) and only the cheap ones remained.  I feel bad the manicurists get paid so little (many just get the tips, in my last visit, I was distressed that the boss took the non-English manicurist away before I had a chance to tip), that I take whatever they give me.  This salon didn't give me a good hand massage, but they gave me a nice 5 minute neck and back massage while my nails dried.  The manicure was only $12.  I think this is too little, and clearly tells me they don't pay their workers.  Of course this is illegal, but common.

[NYCLatinaMe]

@Dazlin The gels should last at least 2 weeks.  At some point after that, for me, the growth on the nail bed started to show, and the polish stuck out a bit by the cuticle, and made it tempting to rip them off.  I recommend not pulling the nail polish off, it will destroy the nail.  But the process of removing the polish with acetone I found cumbersome and time consuming.  Wrap the nails in cotton soaked acetone, with aluminum foil, apply pressuse with nail clips, and wait.  And then scraping.  And maybe more acetone.

I had collected a bunch of pretty designs to do with gel, but have not pursued it.  May do it again though because we can achieve such pretty designs.  They charge extra for that.  Can be worth it for fun.  

I may just do some sparkly stuff with regular polish, with Essie Gel Couture top coat.

I think I'll stick with the Essie Gel Couture for now.