It’s time I share something that I’ve wanted to blog about before Beauty & the Birch existed and I’ve held off because it didn’t come from BirchBox; but a good product is a good product and it should be shared, right? I think we all learned from the Madewell post, that I’m hardly a skilled nail technician. However, there is one secret tool that allows me to not only paint my own nails, but also they come out looking somewhat professional and not like they were painted by a 3-year-old on a pixie stick rush.
One day my coworker’s nails looked FAB and she told me about Sally Hansen’s Complete Salon Manicure. I don’t know what is in it, but it’s pretty much a nail salon in a bottle. This product combined with this Pinterest tutorial on the correct way to paint a nail, I’ve become a nail painting maven.
Back to the polish, they have a ton of color options (50 to be exact). It includes a base coat and a top coat; I think a fast drying top coat would be a great addition to this manicure, but I haven’t been able to get my hands on the Essie bottle I’ve had my eye on. It doesn’t take too long to dry, but I’ve found that giving it a quick hit with a blow dryer helps speed up the process. Hint: take the blow dryer out and plug it in before you start painting your nails.
The best part of this nail polish is that it doesn’t chip immediately. If I get a regular manicure with plain ole’ regular nail polish, my nails will chip in a day, period. I’ve been able to get 4 days to a week with the Complete Salon Manicure and as mentioned earlier think an additional top coat would have helped. I also like to take a trip to the real salon for a manicure every few polishes so they can reshape my nail since filing is a huge challenge for me.
Looking Good
For the past few years I’ve been consistently getting my nails done – it just makes me feel fancier. I’m pretty sure I single-handedly brought acrylics back a few years ago, then gel manicures hit the scene. Gel manicure = Axxium, Gelish, Shellac, they are all the same – don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Take a look at the actual bottle in the salon and I bet at this point you’ll see some generic brand since they’ve become so popular. I loved gel manicures when they first came out; they lasted for two weeks, dry right away, didn’t chip, used my real nail, and I didn’t have to worry about getting my nail caught on something and losing it entirely (true story how I went months without a thumb nail – it was sad). But after a while I noticed they weren’t last as long; the gels were lifting off my nails, getting caught on my hair and it was more work to have these gels than have tips or just get regular manicures. Recently I’ve just been wanting them back. As mush as I love the CSM, I just hate painting my nails and I hate walking around with chipped nails.
So I reentered the world of gel manicures due to the persistence of my local nail tech, this time I was determined to make them work. I’m about a month in so far. The first set I had done at the spur of the moment, really because I was in too much of a rush to fight the lady’s up-selling, french manicure for a wedding. I LOVED them, but they started to lift after a week or so. At a week and a half I couldn’t take it anymore and went to get them redone. Then I devised a plan. I know the gel manicures are water-soluble and I blamed the high turnover rate of my manicure due to the fact that I am constantly doing dishes. Not actually washing them, but scrubbing them and putting them in the dishwasher and my nails were taking a beating (I imagine Cinderella had similar problem). This time I found some rubber cleaning gloves and vowed I would not touch another dirty dish without them. It has been 16 days, I have officially passed the 2 week mark since my latest gel manicure AND my nails are still intact. I am SOOOOOO EXCITED! They are just starting to lift a little and my hair is just starting to get stuck. Victory!
If you’re a DIY kind of gal I HIGHLY recommend the Complete Salon Manicure by Sally, I have 4-5 bottles and still plan to rely on them when needed. But, if you’re already hooked on the gel manicures, run out to your nearest 5 below grab some gloves and scrub on because I know that everyone hates dirty dishes in the sink as much as I do!
Beauty & the Birch 