The last time I had a professional manicure was the day before my wedding, in 1994. It has just never been anything that I have made time for. I have never had nice nails and my hands always look awful, especially in the winter, red and swollen. I seem to do some sort of cleaning at home every day and also clean my parents’ house and, despite always wearing rubber gloves, my hands have started to look depressingly dreadful. No amount of Clarins or L’Occitane hand cream seems to make a difference. I recently bought some hand masks from Oliver Bonas and they have really helped so much, my hands look smoother and less irritated. My nails were however broken right down. I do take Oesteocare supplements every day and had hoped that these would help but no, my nails desperately needed some attention.
One reason that I never visit one of the dozen or so nail bars in my town is because the industry has such a reputation for people trafficking. I read many online reviews and booked into a salon manned by the two sisters who own it. They only accept cash which makes me think that they are not entirely honest with the Inland Revenue, this appeared to be the case with every local nail bar.
I arrived for my appointment and the technician was very friendly and went to great trouble to explain the options, pricing and the ongoing commitment for various treatments. I was hoping to leave the salon with a set of perfect almond shaped nails but the tech advised me to shun acrylics and go for something called BIAB. She explained that this a manicure that’s gentler than acrylic nails, but thicker and more protective than regular nail and gel polish. The idea is that the client’s natural nails grow under the protective barrier of the gel. The cost of this treatment at the salon I visited was £48 and this included a colour polish.
The technician applied a layer of gel to each nail and then the finger was placed under a lamp. She explained that some people found this a little painful. I found it excruciating and some of my nail beds were still tender the next day. Apparently this is due to “heat spikes” where the gel cures. I Googled and it did say that this is common when too thick a layer of gel is applied and I have to say that my finished effect is a little blobby. After the gel was dry I chose a lavender coloured polish to go on top. The whole procedure lasted for just over an hour. The sisters were super friendly, chatting about their children and holidays and I felt very at ease but I can’t say I am delighted with the result. I left a £10 tip, just over twenty percent, which took the bill to almost sixty pounds. I suppose the techs can’t work miracles but I feel a couple of coats of my Essie gel polish would have had pretty much the same result. I will go and have them “infilled” in three weeks time to see if I am happier with my nails after they have had a chance to grow a little. I am not really sure that I feel sufficiently enthusiastic to make this an ongoing appointment/expense.
I do have some Manicurist polishes, another Oliver Bonas purchase and I see that they sell their own gel lamp and a friend of mine, who has naturally lovely nails, gets her daughter to do hers at home using a kit by Mylee Neither of these options will provide the three week finish that a BIAB manicure offers but both would certainly be less expensive, the cost of buying the kit would be less than two visits to the salon. I may go down this route instead of spending what will amount to about nine hundred pounds a year on blobby nails. Perhaps this just wasn’t the right salon for my first visit.
Thank you for reading
Samantha
Silver & Blonde 