Studio One, Portland, Maine

As you can see above (and I mentioned earlier!) I got engaged on 19 June 2012.  It was short and sweet - he took me to the restaurant where we had our first date, pulled out the box, asked me to marry him.  :]  We were traveling to Maine, his home state, at the end of June, and I really wanted to get a Shellac manicure for the week long trip that would end with his family reunion.

I originally was going to a place near my town to have it done, but due to family circumstances, I had to cancel and pray for a place in Maine to get Shellac done.  I checked the CND Salon Locator and found Studio One, in Old Port, Portland, Maine.  It was about a 30 minute drive from where we were staying, so I convinced the fiance to go and we could check out some cool architecture.

I decided not to make an appointment and instead to just "walk in" and see what kind of service I could get. To my delight, they had an opening in 45 minutes, so we headed downstairs to Anthony's to eat (which was amazing, by the way).

The salon itself is very open and inviting while still maintaining a professional vibe.  The magazines available are current (which you don't really think about but when you're at an appointment early, it makes a difference!), and they offered me a water, but I declined since I had just eaten lunch.

Now, I cannot for the life of me find the business card from my manicurist, so I do apologize that I am not mentioning her by name.  

Studio One offers other gel services too, such as Young Nails, but I was pleased to see that for the Shellac services, all the CND products were being used.  Mixing and matching products can result in flawed results for the client.

Because I had just recently had a manicure, I didn't need my nails trimmed or shaped, and I chose to put on Hollywood, a pretty red, with a top coat of Mother of Pearl, a light holographic scattered glitter, much like China Glaze Fairy Dust.

I ended up spilling that I was a nail blogger, so my manicurist did not explain the entire process to me but I really loved that she had it down to an art on her side.  She would have one hand in the UV lamp while the other was being polished, and then she would move the lamp over for me so I didn't have to twist my wrists or cross my arms to get to the lamp.  It was a relaxing hour that ended with a soft hand scrub with a CND spa scrub.

The ONLY complaint that I have was that at the end of my Shellac manicure, instead of using 99% isopropyl alcohol to remove the "sticky layer" that sits on top of the nail after the top coat has cured, she used pure acetone.  I literally drew my hands back in horror and said "What is that" after smelling acetone, and she assured me that she did this with all her Shellac manicures.  

This is not what CND has said to use.  CND has explicitly said that only 99% isopropyl alcohol should be used to remove the "sticky layer."  Acetone is used to break down Shellac through the microtunnels that is created by the Shellac coats.  Needless to say, I allowed her to wipe my nails with the acetone, and as a result, my nails felt rubbery until the day I removed said Shellac.  She also did not apply Solar Oil after my manicure, but I asked for some anyway, and she provided it from her desk.  (I was not offered a mini bottle to take home.)

I paid $30 for my Shellac services on 26 June.

Freshly Shellac-ed!

Other than the "rubbery" feeling, I was very pleased with my Shellac manicure from this location and if I was in the area again, I'd come back.  I would, however, stop her from using acetone this time on my finished nails.

I removed my Shellac on my own on 10 July 2012 without any issues.  CND does not recommend for the client to remove her Shellac on her own to maintain the integrity of the nail.  

Shellac - 10 days later! 

I had zero lifting, splitting, tip wear, or any other problems after my 14 days... I just wanted a nail polish change.  :]

Edit: I had the original dates wrong. I wore this polish for 14 days, not just 10.

Shellac Day 14

Left Hand - Day 14

Right Hand - Day 14

China Glaze: On Safari!

When I first saw the leaked pictures of China Glaze On Safari! back in the spring of 2012, I could barely believe it.  First, I was shocked that they were leaked (which now they are tightly holding onto press pictures), and secondly, I saw some BEAUTIFUL glitters!  Well lovelies, I have all 12 of these polishes on my desk right now, and let me tell you, they aren't lion about how pretty they are (har har, I made a funny!).  No seriously, they really are awesome.  Please enjoy the following press release (all images courtesy of AII).

UNTAMED COLOUR AWAITS YOU 

China Glaze® Introduces 12 New Crèmes and Glitters for Fall 2012 

Los Angeles, CA – (May 2012): China Glaze® nail lacquer invites you to take an exotic expedition with its Fall 2012 collection, On Safari. Be captivated by the earthy tones, rich plums and celestial sparkles that make up this adventurous assortment of polishes. 


The China Glaze® On Safari features 10 rich crèmes and two glitters including: 

Kalahari Kiss

Light sand brown

I’m Not Lion

Glistening gold and multi-color glitter

Call of the Wild

Beautiful chocolate brown-dark cherry blend

Adventure Red-y

Vivid red

Desert Sun

Delicious caramel

I Herd That

Brilliant copper glitter

Man Hunt

Bold cobalt blue

Exotic Encounters

Lush green crème with blue undertones

Elephant Walk

Cool graphite grey

Jungle Queen

Smoky violet

Purr-fect Plum

Bold burgundy

Prey Tell

Daringly dark red

On Safari is also available in

6-piece “Native” Collection: Man Hunt, Exotic Encounters, Elephant Walk, Jungle Queen, Purr-fect Plum and Prey Tell 

6-piece “Tourist” Collection: Kalahari Kiss, I’m Not Lion, Call of the Wild, Adventure Red-y, Desert Sun and I Herd That


12-piece counter display The China Glaze® On Safari collection will be available at fine salons and beauty supply stores nationwide in July 2012. Individual polishes retail for $7 MSRP; the 6-piece sets retail for $42 MSRP. 


China Glaze is free of DBP, toluene, and added formaldehyde. China Glaze nail lacquers are available through salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide. 


For more information, visit: www.chinaglaze.com or follow China Glaze on Facebook and Twitter: http://twitter.com/ChinaGlaze 


China Glaze is a division of American International Industries. 


About American International Industries
For nearly 40 years, AII has been the leading manufacturer and worldwide distributor of innovative, quality beauty and skin care products for men and women. Our product lines include Ardell, Andrea, Body Drench, Bye Bye Blemish, Checi, China Glaze, Clean + Easy, Clubman/Pinaud, Duo, European Secrets, EzFlow, Fright Night, Gena, GiGi, Gypsy Lash, IBD, Jeris-Lustray, No Tweeze/Micro Tweeze, 'N Rage, Prolinc, RAW, Seche, SuperNail, Surgi-Care, Waterworks, Winning Nails, Woltra, Woody’s, and Youthair. For more information, visit our website: www.aiibeauty.com.

Gelish: An Experience

UPDATE!

This has been a popular post for me, but turns out - I really didn't know what I was doing with Gelish. I've since written other postings about different colors and an updated experience here.

At the end of May, I went in for my routine manicure.  Despite being able to paint my own nails (and normally, do a decent job of it!), I'm horrible at keeping my cuticles healthy and my nail shape consistent.  For that, I go to a manicurist/nail technician in my home town.  She has been doing nails for over 20 years, I went to school with her kids, she's a super sweet woman, and oddly enough, she lives just down the street from me.  During this visit, she asked me if I wanted to try Gelish, free of charge, in addition to my normal natural manicure.  I was slightly hesitant because I am fond of another company's product, but I figured for blogging reasons, it would be good to try Gelish.

Unfortunately for both of us, we ended up doing a lot of talking during my manicure, and ended up putting a few too many coats of polish on.  It was supposed to be one coat of base coat, 3 coats of Sheek White (for opacity) and then a top coat.  I think we got at least 2 coats of top coat on there and maybe an extra coat of Sheek White on at least one hand.  We were also distracted by another salon employee who was gabbing with us at the same time.  Originally, my manicurist wanted to just do French white tips but I am not a French kind of girl, and convinced her to go with the entire nail.  I figured I could really test the way polish applies over Gelish and maybe get to wear some awesome neons in the process!

You may be able to tell a bit on my pinkie finger, that some of the gel got on my cuticle area.  Once wet, it caused the gel to lift from the nail, but not enough to catch anything under it.  I also had this problem on my index finger where some gel got on the side cuticle.  To avoid this, make sure that before you cure the nails under the UV lamp, you wipe away any gel that has gotten onto the cuticles or else it will harden and potentially risk staying power of the manicure.

As soon as I got home, I started playing with colors.  I found that my holographic polishes refused to adhere to the glossy top of the Gelish manicure, and glitter, while fun, did not want to come off the nail with non-acetone polish remover.  You cannot use acetone polish remover or else risk removing the Gelish itself.

I ended up settling for OPI DS Extravagance which I picked up in Ulta one day as a lucky find.

By Day 5, I was getting quite bored of my manicure but wasn't quite ready to take it off yet.  As you can see, the white has slightly yellowed, and you can see the failed attempts of my glitter removal from Day 1 on the middle finger.

By Day 13, I still had pretty decent coverage - no real lifting and no tip wear, so I decided to go all out and finally wear my bottle of Floam by Nail Venturous, knowing that when it was time to remove this matte glitter, everything must go.

Just one day later, I was ready to get this off.  I felt like I had done my two weeks, and yes, Gelish had lived up to my standard of gel polish.  Now time for removal.

My manicurist had NOT told me how to remove Gelish, probably thinking I'd come in to have the gels removed by her.  Instead, I took a cotton ball, soaked it in acetone, placed it on my nail, wrapped my finger in foil, and waited 5 minutes.  When I pulled the foil off, most of the Floam had been removed but none of the Gelish.

I rewrapped with a new cotton ball and foil and this time waited 15 minutes.  When I pulled off the foil, I had most of the Gelish off, and I used an orange stick to scrape off the rest.

One down, 9 to go?

I let this nail soak for 30 minutes and when I pulled off my foil, I had all this flaky white mess to deal with.

In total, it took me four hours to remove my Gelish, and my nails felt like trash.  What did I do wrong?!

Well, you are supposed to lightly file the tops of your nails to "break the seal" with Gelish.  In not "breaking the seal", my Gelish couldn't get the acetone down into its layers to break apart the gel.  This small tip was something that led to much frustration and broken orange sticks.  

Ladies (and gentlemen!) if you are going to get a gel manicure, regardless of brand, ask your manicurist/nail technician what the proper removal process is!  Some brands, such as Gelish, require a "breaking of the seal" to remove!

Lesson learned!

Will I try Gelish again?  Currently no, only because I have another brand that I prefer, and a local salon that carries it.  I do like all the colors that Gelish offers, but I do not have the need for a gel manicure, since I change my polish so often.  The good thing about gel polish for me, is that it allows my nails to be protected as I grow them out.  

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by my manicurist for testing consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Dermelect Cosmeceuticals Introduces ME Collection

When I first heard of Dermelect Cosmeceuticals in July 2010 (wow 2 years ago!), I was slightly sad that they didn't offer nail polish colors, only treatments.  Well, now they do!  Please enjoy the following press release that came across my inbox.  I absolutely love the concept of the bottles and the colors are pretty neat too! (All images courtesy of Deremelect)

Coming to you June 1, 2012 is the launch of the ME Collection of Colored Anti-Aging Nail Lacquers from Dermelect Cosmeceuticals.

The six lacquers are the brand’s foray into the colored nail polish category, providing a 2-in-1 range of bright, beautiful crème shades coupled with a manicure extending formula. Infused with ProSina, a pure protein peptide extracted from New Zealand’s sheep’s wool, the lacquers deliver a fast-drying, high gloss shine while providing an unequaled level of strength for stubborn nails to grow longer and more resistant to chipping, peeling and splitting.

Recently, Hilary Swank wore the Persuasive peach hue to the Met Ball.

The ‘Cure’ in your ‘Mani’ is at your fingertips with the 1^st peptide-infused color treatments for fragile, weak nails.  Aptly named ME, Dermelect Cosmeceuticals formulated and designed a 2-in-1 range of bright, beautiful crème shades coupled with a remarkable manicure extending formula. Infused with ProSina, a pure protein peptide extracted from New Zealand sheep’s wool, the lacquers deliver a fast drying, high gloss shine while providing an unequaled level of strength for stubborn nails to grow longer and more resistant to chipping, peeling and splitting.

In its debut collection, the ME range includes six lacquers with eye-catching hues ranging from the brand’s signature red to a rich lilac, creamy sky blue and color of the year, tangerine.

HOW IT WORKS

The first coat instantly bonds to the nail, while the second fuses with the base coat to create a flexible web of color that resists chipping and improves brittleness (patent-pending technology). The ME colors combine fast drying, high shine, and a healthy ‘green’ dose of vitamins, peptides, and moisture, offering a colorful solution to the contemporary woman’s beauty concern—aging hands and nails. For best results, two coats are recommended.

BENEFITS

·    Strengthens weak, brittle nails

·    Restores nail flexibility

·    Helps nails resist chipping and splitting

·    Provides long-lasting, high shine and bold color

·    Water and detergent resistant

·    Protects against UV rays

·    DBP, Toulene, Formaldehyde, and cruelty FREE (no animal testing)

KEY INGREDIENT

ProSina Protein Peptide

COLOR NAMES

Persuasive (luscious peach)                                          #1070

Provocative (fabulously fresh fuchsia)                       #1071

Above It (breathtaking sky blue)                                  #1072
Head Turner (brilliant orange crème)                         #1073
Luxurious (rich, confident lilac)                                     #1074
Power Trip (burst of red w/pink undertone)               #1075

LAUNCH DATE

June 1, 2012 (future color collections to follow).

                      

PRICING & AVAILABILITY

SRP: $14.00 (0.4 fl. oz. bottle)
Available on www.dermelect.com and C.O. Bigelow in NYC

ABOUT DERMELECT

Dermelect Cosmeceuticals is a forerunner when it comes to targeted, multi-tasking cosmeceutical skincare. Backed by its board of advisors and formulated with the most effective and sought out ingredients, Dermelect provides a refreshingly realistic beauty philosophy as it seeks to simplify skincare for the average educated consumer. 

Gelish Fall & Winter 2012

Image Courtesy of Hand & Nail Harmony website

Let's talk about Gelish Soak-Off Gel Polish.  Soon (like in the next week, I hope) I'll let you in on my personal Gelish experience, but today I wanted to share with you on what Gelish has coming up in the following months.  You may have seen the ads of their new Magneto (magnetic) line of gel polishes, cured under LED or UV light, but I didn't photograph those.  To me, magnetic is so last year, despite the fact that many polish companies are just now coming around with their own line.

Gelish is a professional line of soak off gel polish that comes in an array of colors (and glitters), are cured in 30 seconds under LED lamps/2 minutes under UV lamps, stay on the nail for three weeks without chipping or peeling, and soak off completely in 15 minutes.

There are over 100 different colors and this fall and winter, they are adding some more.

The fall 2012 line is called House of Gelish, and features dark vampy cremes.  From left to right, Cashmere Kind of Gal (light grey), Cocktail Party Drama (dark purple), Backstage Beauty (red), My Favorite Accessory (medium blue), A Runway For The Money (black) and Fashion Week Chic (dark grey).

Next is The Shadows Collection, coming out in November 2012.  These are more of a metallic looking finish and from left to right include The Dark Side (emerald green), Angel in Disguise (dark silver), Welcome to the Masquerade (old gold), Inner Vixen (vampy burgundy), Is It An Illusion? (royal blue) and The Perfect Silhouette (dark purple).

To lighten the mood this winter, the Holiday Collection is full of pretty glitters!  From left to right are Holiday Party Blues (royal blue glitter), Little Miss Sparkle (snow white/silver glitter), Danny's Little Helpers (brilliant yellow gold glitter), The Naughty List (dark brown/bronze glitter), All Tied Up (scarlet red glitter) and Just What I Wanted (hunter green glitter).

Gelish has just jump started their PR department, so expect to see more information coming from them soon.  They do have a Facebook page where you can like them, but no Twitter at press time that I am aware of.

To find a salon near you that carries Gelish products, the Gelish website has a Salon Locator.  For the professional, you may learn more about Distribution Information by emailing sales@nailharmony.com . For Education Information, please email education@nailharmony.com