ByKate Antoniades Hours Updated
Comments 34 Comments

Coffee Break: Crystal Nail File

Before buying this crystal nail file from OPI, I'd used metal files and emery boards, and I wasn't too happy with either. Metal files seemed too harsh on my nails (and the filing sound they make really grates on me for some reason), and emery boards eventually wore out.

I really like using this kind of file instead because it's so durable and works very well. Did you know there are at least five types of nail files? I did not.

Last month I just bought my, er, fifth OPI crystal nail file since 2013. If you buy one, I doubt that will be the case, unless, like me, you are especially skilled at dropping things. (It's a miracle that I haven't cracked my iPhone screen yet, although I've wrecked the screen protector.)

If the file hits an un-carpeted floor just right, it will crack right down the middle — so be careful. Despite that risk, I think the $9.95 price tag at Amazon is worth it (either to buy for yourself or as a nice stocking stuffer), and it's eligible for Prime.

It's also available at Ulta, both online and in store. Crystal Nail File

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Sales of note for 12.5

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34 Comments

  1. Irony: I can’t think of a word or phrase to explain that I am skilled at writing across various styles such as legal documents, poetry, foodie blog posts…

      1. Versatile is good. But you can also just list the kinds of writing you’re adept at. In some contexts that would be more useful.

  2. I can’t sleep on planes and I’m tempted to try a tray table pillow (the large kind that you lean forward on). However, not sure I’m willing to look like that much of a dork if it doesn’t actually work. If it does, then I’m game! Has anyone tried one of these?

    1. I have not, but have found that elevating my feet makes a huge difference in the ability to fall asleep (as discovered on a Virgin flight that had footrests!). You can find sling-type devices that loop over a tray table and provide a little footrest – I thought it worked great on a recent overseas flight. Just be polite when using it (lower your feet or legs gently) as forceful movements will jostle the seat in front of you.

    2. I haven’t tried that, but I now swear by the Trtl+ neck wrap, which keeps your head from flopping forward. It works great for me.

      1. +1. A bl*gger I follow swears by this (and claims it’s not sponsored). I’ve been meaning to try it.

      2. OP here and I’ve tried a variety of neck pillows that keep your head in place, but nothing has worked. I find myself tempted to lean on the tray table or the seat in front of me, which makes me think one of these pillows could be a better bet.

    3. I have not but I’ve used my knapsack in a similar way and it was acceptable. Before I go on a long flight or cross multiple time zones I try to make sure I’m as exhausted as possible, that tends to help. Also, I fully don’t mind looking like a dork and keep a sheet mask on for much of the flight; I have terribly dry skin.

    4. I’ve never used a pillow made just for this, in fact I didn’t know it was a thing until just now, but I’m gonna look into it because some of my best airplane naps happened when I leaned forward and put my face on the tray table, but then my vision would be all fuzzy for a bit when I woke up. Neck pillows don’t do much for me, my head inevitably still goes too far to one side or the other.

  3. I swear this isn’t a euphemism for anything, but I have managed to smudge some chocolate on the seat of my desk chair. Obviously it’s not a good look. What can I do – grab my oxyclean from home and give it a spritz? Magical dish soap concoctions?

    1. You need to get some liquid laundry detergent and scrub it, Grandma Leyeh told me with water, particularly if your desk chair is like most, covered with cloth or burlap. It will when wet look dark, but if you do it on a Friday b/f you go home, it should be fully dry by Monday, and no one will even notice it, let alone think you had diareeah or something while sitting on your chair! FOOEY! Don’t fret, you wouldn’t be the first person to schmear your chair with chocolate, or let loose on your chair by accident. It happens to the best of us! YAY!!!

  4. How do we feel about double breasted coats? I desperately need a new wool coat and see some lovely double-breasted ones. Before I shell out, is this going to look very “2019” a few years from now? What do you ladies think of wearing double-breasted coats without buttoning them — I would naturally keep it buttoned most of the time, but if I open up the buttons, does it look weird? I’m sitting out the double-breasted blazer look for now, though I may come around…

    On a related note, Brooks Brothers is having a sale on outerwear. Any intel on the quality and warmth of their wool/camelhair coats?

    1. I think the question is – does double breasted look good on *you*? It’s a pretty classic coat style, so unless the cut is really trendy, it’s not going to look dated. I never like the way the look on me, so I don’t get them, but if you like it, do it.

      I don’t think they tend to look that good open, because it’s a lot of fabric and coating fabric is usually so thick that it doesn’t waterfall very nicely when open.

  5. I have a question if anyone can offer legal advice, however generic. I’m a licensed attorney but have never done any litigation.
    A distant relative, let’s call her Susie, is suing a nursing home where an elderly family member was living immediately before her death. I’m admittedly not very close to the situation, but from the facts I know, it doesn’t sound like the nursing home did anything wrong and Susie is using the lawsuit as an outlet for her grief and the desire to have someone to blame (an emotional impulse with which I can sympathize). The lawsuit is brought on behalf of the estate, which doesn’t have much money. A closer family member of mine, Jane, shares in the estate. Susie is encouraging Jane to participate in the lawsuit by detailing expenses she incurred as a result of the family member’s accident and eventual death, as well as describing her emotional suffering. The extent of this participation is not entirely clear yet, but for now it involves calls with Susie’s lawyer and submitting paperwork to document expenses. I imagine if the lawsuit went that far it would eventually involve depositions and testimony at trial. Personally, I think it would be a mistake for Jane to get involved. I just don’t understand why you would participate in any way in a lawsuit unless you were sure it had merit. I can imagine a worst case scenario here where the nursing home counter-sues for a frivolous claim, and the jury returns a judgment that the estate can’t pay. Even though the lawsuit was Susie’s idea, she’s a very litigious person and I’m confident she would sue Jane, if it came to a question of which one of them had to pay a judgment.
    Ultimately I recognize this is Jane’s decision, but she’s open to my advice and I could use a gut check about whether I’m being overly cautious.

    1. Jane needs to get her money and other property out of the estate in accordance with the relative’s will and purposefully decline to be a participant.

    2. If she’s sharing in the Estate, and the Estate recovers, she would likely benefit from the recovery anyway, so it seems unnecessary to participate. At worst for her, the Estate becomes insolvent and Jane doesn’t get anything.

    3. I represent nursing homes. The situation you’re describing is common. It normally plays out in depositions where you ask the family members that aren’t plaintiffs why they didn’t join in the suit, etc. This really just makes everything worse emotionally for Susie when Jane testifies about why she isn’t in the lawsuit.

      My clients generally would not file a counterclaim– that is really bad PR for them. Most of their cases settle after written discovery or the first round of depositions no matter what the merit of the case is. Tbh, you can normally find some way to fault a nursing home even if there is no liability. Ultimately, if Susie is spending Jane’s share of the estate on a lawsuit Jane isn’t into, then that is bad for Jane. Otherwise, let Susie make her own mistakes.

  6. What’s something that you learned in the last month or so that made your brain explode?

    Mine:
    -The world’s supply of helium is going to be gone in 25-30 years.
    -The Tana French books are becoming a TV show!
    – Someone my work just hired was born in 1996.

    1. So helium… Read about that in the past few months, too. Why do we still have helium balloons at every kids’ birthday party? It is so messed up that we aren’t going to have enough helium for medical procedures, but balloons are important?!?!

    2. Ha, my youngest sister was born in 1996. As many of them will have graduated from college this spring, they’re out in the real world now. Just wait a few years until the entry-level new hires will have been born in a year that no longer has 1 as a first number. I hate daylight savings and wish we wouldn’t do it, but my abhorrence is intensified by the fact that the 3 minutes of daylight we lose per day in fact add up to an entire 21 minutes per week.

    3. So many things, thanks to Netflix’s Explained show and these free science seminars my boyfriend and I go to. The big one that comes to mind is that cephalopods can change both their color and skin texture to blend in with their surroundings, BUT they’re colorblind, so scientists don’t know how the animals know what color to change to. So crazy!

    4. I felt like a total idiot earlier today. I’ve had an iPhone for 4 years and just now discovered that if I double press the center button I can close all open applications. (Of course, the newer versions don’t have that button anymore, but better late than never…right?)

      On the amazing (but incredibly sad) stat–over the next 30 years, we’re likely to lose half of all polar bears left. That’s going to bring them to around 10,000. When I think about that as the population of a small town near where I live, it makes me just want to scream.

    5. I learn a ton from various podcasts, including Weirdest Thing I Learned this Week (highly recommend), but yesterday I learned from Endless Thread that glitter is a super lucrative product to make, and also that the industry is very secretive. I just thought that was entertaining. And also, of course, that it’s terrible for the environment, but that some manufacturers are working on more environmentally friendly versions.

  7. Why does the natural passage of time make your brain explode? People born in 1996 are 23 years old now. It’s completely reasonable.

    1. Suddenly, I feel much older. I can’t believe that my 2nd cousin Aline, who I used to baby sit when I went to Montclair, is now out of college and engaged to be married! Our family hadn’t heard from her Aline or her mom for years, and I should have done the math, but even tho I remember her as a chubby 1 year old with a runny nose and an overloaded diaper, she is now 22 years old, fresh out of art school, and has managed to snare a boyfreind who is willing to marry her! The wedding is in April, so I will keep the hive posted! YAY for her!

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