nail polish

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…

Liking these posts? Follow Corporette on Twitter — this is the edited version of what we’re reading! (We also Tweet if we hear about a good sale.)

- Ladies, toot your own horn — studies have shown that far too many career women work too hard and promote themselves too infrequently, meaning they work hard forever but never get ahead. [Jezebel, Downtown Women's Club DISH]

- Business schools are bummed that their ranks are only about 30% women — compared with 47% women in law school — and accordingly are trying innovative ways to get women in, like giving them seven years to finish an MBA and having early AM classes (as opposed to evening classes) in their part-time programs. Sounds great except the program is becoming known as “The Mommy MBA.” Hmmn. [WSJ] If you’re thinking an MBA might be for you, you might want to check out the Forte Foundation’s upcoming panels on what an MBA can do for you… [Forte Foundation via Lindsay Pollak]

- From Marie Claire: The Smart Girl’s Guide to Negotiating Anything. In addition to the stuff they list, we would also add: jewelry. (A friend of ours just got 19% off a Cartier watch she bought for herself!)

- 25 Painless Ways to Free Up an Hour to Pursue Your Goals. [Zen Habits]

- England trash-talks the idea of “fast fashion,” a la H&M, Forever 21, Target, and other places where clothes cost next to nothing — apparently the Bangladeshi women and children who make the clothes are underpaid, the fabrics are horrible for the environment, etc, etc. (Not to even get into the ethics of the knock-off!) [Jezebel]

- Makeup Loves Me reviews the Essie colors for fall (pictured at top). Is anyone else freaked out that it’s only August but feels like October already, weather-wise?

- Huh: What to do with those semi-dirty clothes. [Jeri's Organizing & Decluttering News]

- Are you bitter? And a lawyer? And perhaps bitter about becoming a lawyer? Check out Bitter Lawyer, a great new website on point. Our favorite section thus far is the interviews with ex-lawyers, although the columns are all great, as well. [Bitter Lawyer] (For more interviews but less snark, also check out JD Bliss.)

Last week, we did some polling on whether dark nails were “too aggressive” for the office. As always, our poll is still open, but as it stands now, only 13% of you took a laissez-faire approach to nails (giving the OK to chipped nails and black nails), with a whopping 47% of you voting that any well-maintained color in the red/pink family would be fine. Thirty percent of you took the more conservative approach, saying only nude or pale colors were acceptable. If you haven’t taken it yet, please weigh in!

Our tip: If you’re a fan of odd colors but trying to stay conservative, try Lippmann Collection Nail Color, Dream a Little Dream of Me, pictured above. Close up, it’s got an amazing shimmery effect with blues and pinks and silvers all mixed in — but unless someone is close enough to smell your perfume, the polish looks nude. (N.B.: We recommend this for daily wear, not for interview nails.)

Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices. We begin the week in splurge mode, with our most expensive suggestions, and wind our way to Friday, where a less expensive item of clothing might be just what you need to make it to the weekend.

Today’s TPS Report comes personally recommended from a friend of ours, who recently went on vacation to San Antonio and found these surprisingly great quality nail polish colors at a tourist trap, Del Sol. The tourist angle? Everything in the store, including the nail polish, changes color in the sunlight. Our friend got Heartbreaker, which she worried would be way too glittery and goopy, but she reports it went on beautifully and changes from a pinky red indoors to a dark, deep purple once she’s outside. We think this kind of polish would be particuarly great with the neon trend going on right now because, let’s face it, neon isn’t a particularly easy color for a professional woman to commit to. The polish above, Surfer Girl, is a beautifully demure pink indoors — and turns a vibrant orange once in sunlight. Available for $10 each at the website; we’re told the polish is OPI quality.

- The Girls in the Beauty Department round up the best pink nail polishes. [Glamour] We totally want the one The Daily Obsession recommended, though (pictured). (Available at Nordstrom.)

- Eeek! How did we miss this? “Clothing” arguments for a new legal dress code. We luuuurve the rule that “if you wear it to play, don’t wear it to work.” [ForbesLife Executive Woman] Oh, and speaking of lady lawyers, the Observer, well, observes that the Litigatrix has eaten Ally McBeal for breakfast. [NY Observer]

- Oooh, ten bags under $1000. [BagSnob]

- On the off chance you’re working in Second Life, Counterfeit Chic has some fashion advice for your avatar. [Counterfeit Chic]

- Long days in front of computers make our necks hurt. But hey — at least we have some government-approved exercises to feel better. [MedicineNet]

- Here’s an interesting site: They focus on Top 15 lists. One we like: Top 15 Podium Tactics From Public Speaking Pros.” [Top 15s]