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...

The Radiant Kessie for a Radiant Mother, and other Mother's Day Tips As everyone is mostly aware - Mother's Day is coming up in just a few short days! If you are like me and have had trouble finding the right gift for your mom, try the gift of pampering! This week's color of the week is Kessie by Julep. It is Julep's polish that is inspired by the color of the year, Radiant Orchid.  This polish went on great! It is now one of my favorite colors in my collection! You almost don't need two coats of color to make this polish look fabulous. It is shiny and shimmery but is also still very sophisticated. I used Kessie on my mom this past Friday when I treated her to an early Mother's Day pedicure. You can purchase this color for your mom (or even get her a polish subscription) at  Julep.com .  Thanks Mom! But enough about polish (AS IF!) let's talk about Mother's Day. Sometimes the best gift you can give a mom, or mother-like figure in your ...

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...