Fifty-Two Weeks

Don't Pick It! I think most of us are famous for this, myself included, but for the sake of our precious nails we need to stop picking at our gel polish and start taking it off the right way! In today's post I will take us through the proper steps of safely removing gel polish at home. However, my personal advice is to always try and have a licensed nail technician take your gel polish off if you have the funds and time to do so. (Here is a detail image of damage that can be done to your nail if you do not remove gel polish correctly.) Part 1: Set up your work area To minimize the damage to you nail plate you want to make sure you have the right tools for removing your gel polish. Here are the key items you will need, and why, to do the job right: Nail file - for roughing up the surface of the nail polish Acetone - this breaks down the polish and makes it easy to come off Ten small cotton balls (or five large one pulled in half) - to soak in the acetone A...

B.Y.O.B. I personally, am not a huge fan of discount nail salons, but I do frequent them in times of the urgent need for a manicure or pedicure for an event or a special occasion. Like many of you, I don't put up much fuss about the products that are used, but lately I have been noticing a few things that I may begin to fuss over. Nail polish and spa products are expensive. Plain and Simple. Even for nail techs like myself, I still have to pay a right good price for the products that I use on my clients. Many discount salons though are finding more and more way to rake in more money by using cheaper and/or generic products. Here's the scoop - I don't want you to be fooled! Many discount salons are filling expensive brand name lotion bottles with cheap generic lotion. This way they can charge you more and claim to use prestige products. (and the cheap lotion does nothing but make your skin smell good) If you go into a salon and see a lotion bottle without a name...

To File, or Not to File? It's been a while since I posted a nail safety/salon safety post so I thought it was time to talk about something most people haven't realized they've been doing wrong or have been letting their nail technician do wrong. Did you know that there is a right and a wrong way to file your fingernails? The shape of your nails really tops off your manicure. So, before you start filing and painting away, it's important for you to know how to file your nails properly. First, choose the right kind of nail file. Sometimes, the cheaper the better - in many cases the most basic and inexpensive emery boards are more flexible and easier on your nails. The grit on metal files can often be too harsh and can cause your nails to peel and chip. Stick to a simple drugstore file, it should do the job and it'll save you some money too. I myself, use simple wooden core files that I buy in bulk from my nail products store. I like these files becau...

I Bring My Own Tools! Just recently a friend of mine mentioned that she brings her own tools with her to the nail salon. I couldn't help it, but I cringed a bit and she asked me to explain my sour face.  Bringing your own manicuring tools isn't necessarily safer. In fact,  you may not be doing yourself any favors. It is more likely that your personal tools are more unsanitary than salon ones. But how can this be??  After appointments, customers usually seal their tools (including non-cleanable files) back in the bag without sanitizing them, which becomes a breeding ground for bacteria—even if it’s just their own. Or they decide that they will clean them when they get home. At home, you most likely do not have a hospital grade disinfectant, which is just one step of the required cleaning method. And once you wash the tool off, you most likely stick them right back in the same contaminated bag or box.   After each client, professional salons (di...

The Radiant Charity Good Afternoon! Its week four of the Fifty-Two Weeks of Purple! This week's color is a nice Zoya color called Charity.  I got Charity from Zoya during that special Zoya Steal I posted about! It is an absolutely lovely color that has a beautiful gold like shimmer.  When applying this color, I also used the Zoya Anchor and Zoya Armor for my base and top coat. So as a lovely Zoya sandwich I think it has caused me to have such lovely nails! To top off my Charity mani I used the Zoya Fast drops so I could keep on with the rest day without delay.  You can purchase a bottle of Charity  zoya.com   or at your local Ulta store or on Amazon.com. The Zoya  Anchor ,  Armor  and  Fast Drops  can also be purchased at Zoya.com. If you try your local Ulta store though you can find one of the travel packs! They are great if you don't paint your nails all the time and just need a small set to use. ...

Keep That Callus First off, a callus is a thickened and hardened part of the skin or soft tissue, esp. in an area that has been subjected to friction. In regards to nail technology, most calluses that are seen in the salon are found on the bottoms of the heels, and sides of the feet and toes. Many common calluses are also found on pressure points on the bottoms of the feet. I always get  them on the backs and edges of my heels.  Sometimes, we notice that calluses cause us agitation or pain, and thus we wish to reduce them.  Have you ever gone into a discount nail salon and seen one of these tools used on your feet? At some nail salons, your pedicurist might offer to shave your calluses with a credo blade (that handheld device that looks like a cross between a razor and a vegetable peeler seen above). But, however tempting the allure of callus-free feet may be, I suggest you turn down the offer immediately! You see, in most states, having a pedicurist shav...

A Radiant Mani in One Bottle Hello All! Its week three of the Fifty-Two weeks of Purple! This week's color is something I am very excited to share with you. Sally Hansen has created a "Complete Salon Manicure" in a bottle! In one bottle of nail polish you can get Seven of the same benefits you can get from salon manicures.  This bottle of I Lilac You by Sally Hansen packs these Seven benefits, while also being a really lovely color that fits in well with Pantone's Radiant Orchid: Base Coat Strengthener Growth Treatment Color Top Coat Chip Resistant Gel Shine With this product you can practically skip the salon and get some of the same results. Try using a polish like this while practicing some of my Lasting At Home Mani tips! I am excited to see how long this polish will actually last and whether I will notice a difference in my nails.  When putting on this polish I definitely noticed that it was going to take more than one coat of polish to have ...

Trending Now: The Color of the Year I have noticed that a couple of nail polish manufacturers are catching the Radiant Orchid color bug! This excites me because I genuinely want to try these new colors, especially since they are inspired by Pantone's color of they year! The first set of colors I am super excited to see are  Cuccio's   Cheeky in Helsinki and Bali Bliss . These two colors are two colors chosen for this year. They also come in the gel color too!  You can find  Cheeky in Helsinki   and   Bali Bliss  at  Cuccio.com  or even on Amazon.com at this link for  Cheeky in Helsinki  or  Bali Bliss .  The second color I am so excited to see is from a personal favorite polish brand of mine, Butter London! The colors go on great and are long lasting! Plus, I just have a little secret obsession with the bottle shape...  Butter London has released Molly Coddled a beautiful nail lacquer that truly ...