I briefly mentioned that I was looking at this base coat and quickdry topcoat duo from Butter London back when Beauty.com had their big sale a few weeks ago — I got it, and I highly recommend. Not only does the basecoat go on nice and smooth, and the top coat dry super quickly, but it has kept my pedicure looking great for like 3 weeks now. Amazing. I justified the splurge because the set has Butter London’s “3 Free” guarantee — no formaldehyde, no toulene, and no DBP — which, even though I’m not 100% sure what those are, fits nicely with my new motto to try to decrease the chemicals in Casa Griffin as well as in our bodies. This would be a great gift for the girlfriend/sister/coworker/daughter/niece who always does her nails (or, ahem, for you). It’s $25 at Beauty.com. butter LONDON The Tops and Tails Set
Coffee Break – The Tops and Tails Set
Coffee Break – Mademoiselle
I’ve always heard amazing things about Essie Mademoiselle, the color featured here. Best-seller! “A grown-up pink!” “The perfect nude!” But on me, it tends to be a bit too pinky. So a friend taught me this trick a while ago: you layer different pinks to get a nude-for-you look. I think a lot of New Yorkers do this — layering Mademoiselle and Sugar Daddy is popular; I’m a fan of a Mademoiselle/Starter Wife combo. Essie polishes are $8 at Beauty.com. Essie Nail Color: Mademoiselle
Readers, what is your favorite pink/nude nailpolish?
5 Things to Look for in a Nail Salon… Near Your Office
Originally uploaded by steldy
It’s something every working woman needs from time to time: a manicure. Your primary salon should not be one near your office. But sometimes, you just have to grab a manicure during the working day. Here are the unofficial rules for looking for a nail salon near your office…
1. Look for a nail salon where you won’t be visible from the sidewalk. Sure, you’re entitled to a lunch hour — everyone understands that! — but it’s an entirely different thing for your boss (or worse, a subordinate you’ve just dumped a load of work onto) to realize you’re spending your free time primping and pampering. Look for a nail salon where the stations are set far away from the streetfront windows, or else aim for one on the second floor.
2. Choose one that’s a few blocks away from the office. It’s just better form — again, you don’t want to run into anyone from the office.
3. While you’re on the hunt, look for a more upscale salon that does full-hour massages and other salon-type things (instead of one that just does nails and 10-minutes massages). If you get one of those horrible kinks in your neck and desperately need to get a 30-minute neck rub, you’ll know exactly where to go. Same thing if you’re suddenly in need of an eyebrow shaping or something like that.
4. When looking for the salon, be judicious in who you ask for advice. For example, if you’re junior and new to the company, it’s a bit awkward to ask a higher-up where you can get something very personal, like a bikini wax. (You’d think this would be obvious… but we’ve got stories to the contrary.)
5. Specials never hurt. If you’ve found multiple places that meet all of the above criteria, your first choice should be one that offers specials — perhaps manicure and pedicure for one low price, or perhaps they participate in a spa week, or perhaps they use punch cards so if you’ve been enough times you can get 10 percent off… but the other criteria are way more important than this one (particularly since it will not be your main salon anyway).
Are we missing any rules? Please comment away…
