The Oh-So-Glam Gold Glitter Gelicure

Ever since my friend Andi treated herself to a Rockstar Manicure at Pampered Hands on Melrose, I've been dreaming of doing the same.

Over the holidays, I finally treated myself. I figured I'd be socializing and catching up with my nearest and dearest, so spiffing up my claws was really the least I could do.

Getting the manicure was just as much fun as sporting it; it felt like a very intense crafting project. First, Gelish brand foundation gel was applied and cured. Next, a second thin layer of Gelish foundation gel was added and then the dipping commenced!

Pampered Hands has at least 250+ glitters to choose from, so the whittling down the selection was pretty tough — so many glorious, glittery choices! I finally decided to go for gold, but even that left me with a ton of contenders. I opted for a glitter that was a cooler, more champagne-y gold rather than yellow gold. I especially liked my choice because this glitter had several sizes and shapes of specks, which I thought would yield a nice layered affect and really give the sparkle some depth, too. If you go, it's called "T-1."

So a large jar of loose glitter in my color of choice, T-1, was brought over. The second thin layer of foundation gel was still wet, and my fingertips were dipped into the jar one by one. When my finger emerged, it was completely covered in glitter. My nail technician gently patted down each nail with her finger to make sure the glitter was adhering to the gel beneath it. She cleared away extra glitter and moved along to the next nail.

After all of my nails were patted and complete, I cured away under the UV light again. Next, the nail technician got out a pot of clear gel polish and painted it on with a separate brush. (I think it's because she was able to wipe the brush off on a towel if needed, rather than contaminate a gel bottle with whatever color glitter she was using.) And then I cured again! Last but not least, a thin layer of clear topcoat was applied and voila, I was done.

A Rockstar Manicure is more intense and a little more expensive than a normal gel manicure, but it was totally worth it. I couldn't have been happier; I got nonstop compliments for two weeks and had so, so much fun wearing these gorgeous nails. I was sad to see them go!

All in all, I think the Rockstar Manicure was $60; not cheap by a long shot. But for glittering, gorgeous nails that made me feel like the life of the party and stayed flawless through cookie baking, holiday kitchen cleanup and lots of hands-on activity, it was worth the splurge.

staygolden, Francesca

Pastel Nails — Salon Review

I tried out Pastel Nails, a salon with decent Yelp reviews in my neck of the woods, hoping it would be my new once-a-month hangout.

Ambiance

The atmosphere is better than what you would expect, considering its location — an unassuming strip mall on Melrose. The interior is open and airy with a green and pink color scheme. The light fixtures and other design elements are definitely on the girly side; a feminine space, to be sure. There are some manicure tables along one side of the salon for those who are getting manicures only. Spa lounges are arranged along the opposite wall.

Color Selection

Pastel Nails has a sizeable collection of colors; a good combination of OPI and Essie, including new collections. They have a wide array of gels to choose from, too.

Service & Skill

The service is difficult to review, since there was very little of it. My pedicure was pretty good, and I was satisfied with it. My manicure, on the other hand, was a very different story.

Looking back, I see that my polish removal was foreshadowing what was to come. I was wearing a denim blue polish... and I still am wearing some on a couple of my cuticles, because it was not properly removed. And speaking of my cuticles, what happened in that regard is what made me sigh to myself, "Yes, a review. A review must be made."

I was cut during the cuticle trimming process. I understand that mistakes sometimes happen; I've cut my own cuticles on occasion. But I was cut twice, on two different fingers. And that doesn't seem like an isolated incident. What that sounds like to me is carelessness.

My middle finger bled enough to fill the space between my nail and my skin. I wasn't gushing blood by any means, but the bleeding was definitely noticeable. I wondered to myself, what would she do? There's a little potion you can put on wounds like that to clot the blood very quickly. She did not opt for that. Instead, she cleaned my bleeding fingers off with acetone. You know the old phrase, "like salt in a wound?" Yeah, it felt a little like that. (And, as a side note, there was no apology uttered; no eye contact; no speaking at all, actually.)

And the paint job... was messy. The amount of polish that made it onto the skin surrounding my nails can only be described as "unprofessional."  Sometimes manicurists move fast with lacquer, but come back around with a small brush to clean up. Not this time. And the top coat was OPI, which is fine, but the product in the bottle was so thick and tacky, it looked like hot glue. Unsurprisingly, my manicure was left looking very bubbly.

I looked back at an old post of mine, and the following quote haunts me...

 One of my special hatreds is paying for a professional manicure and, when it’s complete, examining it to find that I could have done a better job myself. For free.

When the salon owner passed by me, I called her over, saying "Excuse me?" She came to my chair and stood expectantly. I held out my hand. "This manicure... was not very good. There is a lot of polish on my skin — can you see? — and I was cut two times." She examined my fingers and said, "I can do clean-up for you, but I can't do anything about the cuts." And with that, she dipped her thumbnail in acetone, used it to get rid of a paint spot I'd pointed out to her... and walked away. Um, case closed I guess?

Pricing

Pastel Nails is $30 for a manicure pedicure combo.

VERDICT

I cannot recommend Pastel Nails to anyone.

Stay Shiny, Francesca