If you're ever in Woodstock and need your nails done....

Right in the heart of the town is the prettiest little place
to stop in and get the best in nail services available.



It's clean, very professional and well equipped
and quite comfortable.

Be sure to tell them
The Castle Lady
sent you...

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Part Two: Four Don'ts

There are four things wrong with the following nail art photo:

The first is that it breaks my esthetic rule of not having the same identical design on each nail.

The color is atrocious.

Avoid green on nails for the same reason you shouldn't mix the colors orange and purple.

Duckbill-shaped nails will always be out the same way clogs were always ugly.

They only belong where they appear in nature.

They are a sure signature of a total amateur.

Drug czars on nails are the political equivalent of nails on a chalkboard.

Don't do it. Ever.

Sage advice from

The Castle Lady

Acupuncture or Accupressure ?

     Quite a few people are into the Asian wellness practices perhaps because they seem like a more natural approach than the Western medical services that we have come to accept as the tried and true. I sit somewhere in the middle of all of it and I can give you a very good reason for my reluctance to jump into the water with both feet on eastern and western medicine. (Pun intended.) I believe, in most cases, that people are often their own best doctors if they make an earnest effort to get in touch and in tune with their bodies. This is not such a difficult task if you are willing to pay attention to habits (good or bad) and maybe even make notes about reactions to the world around you. How your body deals with environment, what you eat and breathe, hygiene and the way you take care of yourself plus the status of your interpersonal relationships is a determinant for your health- not necessarily what Dr. Oz says ! 

     This month I want to focus on a particular practice that I feel has a good basis- which is acupuncture. Many people who will not go for this extreme in Eastern practices should know that there is a way of using the sound principle of this practice without the extreme of using something as invasive and potentially dangerous as needles to cause the effects. Below, you will see a scaled down graph for both feet. This graph concerns the portion of your foot which makes contact with the floor or ground. It is specifically a reflexology chart which is used by reflexologists. This chart is the basis of the 5,000 year old practice that's used by acupuncturists and reflexologists alike. This only concerns the feet, in truth, and not the hands although there is a corresponding chart for the hands which are pitched toward licensed manicurists like myself. When the hand charts came out with the book titled, The Reflexology Workout  I recognized the practical use but it is not necessarily the same meridian lines which intersect throughout your body as is laid out in the Asian practice which I studied in another book originally- Reflexology by Maybelle Segal. Traditionally, it only involved the feet.

     In a nutshell, the foot chart will show how every area on your foot corresponds with another area of your body through these unseen meridian lines. The core of your body organs can be located in specific areas on the heel to arch to the top portion of the bottom of your foot while the face, neck and sinuses correspond with your toes and instep. If you decide to study this further on your own, I urge you to buy or borrow the two books I just mentioned to get a more detailed run-down on this branch of holistic practices. If you intend on using the services of a reflexologist I urge you to educate yourself first because it is not regulated by any board, medical or otherwise that I know of- certainly not in Colorado- and you need to know if, in fact, the person attempting this practice on you has credentials to do so. Educating yourself will be important if not crucial.

     Personally, I have self-educated myself in the practice and use the back-up of my Cosmetology State Board manicuring licenses as the proper credentials and have done very well. Many people that have come to me for pedicure/reflexology services have stayed loyal to me for decades! Acupressure is the art of manipulating and putting a little more pressure through massage to these points on the foot which corresponds to another area of your body. This will either stimulate or cause the organ or area in question to respond through pressure-touching to normalize. That is the basic theory behind it.  It is not invasive in the way that acupuncture can be, obviously, so you are not risking infection of any kind from a licensed practitioner.

     Why are the feet or hands the primary target? Our branch of reflexology uses the theory that the sole of your foot is the map of your entire body. Originally it was termed zone therapy by reflexologists who may massage your entire body. If a pedicurist/reflexologist finds extra sensitivity to pressure in one spot, for example, or find a tiny knot it can target trouble for another area of your body. An example would be that if I were to find sensitivity on the midpoint, far right side on the bottom of your right foot there may be some trouble with your spleen!  But if I find a knot on the same area on your left foot you might have gall bladder or liver damage.

     The act of massaging may stimulate some blocked meridian lines to detoxify or liquefy a blockage. If believing that what happens on your feet can affect your heart or head seems too farfetched you can also grasp the fact that when you were once tinier than a tadpole the cells that became your feet were once very close to those cells that formed the rest of you. Reflexologists have, in effect, proven that it's possible that stimulating nerves in the feet causes reflexive actions in other parts of the body and, if nothing else, may at least indicate some internal problems you may be unaware of at present but could mean trouble in the near future.

     Each and every person who comes to me for additional reflexology services gets a free booklet which will show you a precise chart with what I have found, what areas I have stimulated and instructions for doing follow-ups along with additional information on the different kinds of foot workouts you may do on your own. I always like to make sure that I have educated my client well. Knowing is believing and happiness personified. Believe it !    .

      

Don't hesitate to leave a comment if you have any questions !

The Castle Lady     

Bromhidrosis and other stinky problems

     It's time to talk about pedicures and taking care of the feet. As a licensed manicurist I've been waiting on women hand and foot for a little over thirty-six years but I can honestly say there isn't any aspect of the nail business that I don't like doing and pedicures are one of those duties which I enjoy every bit as much as doing nail art. I really mean what I just said. As a nail technician and particularly for the beauty business in general, there is no greater feeling, as far as I'm concerned, than to help someone feel better about themselves and promote their health in the bargain. Getting a good pedicure is right up there with the best aids to getting rid of stress that you can name- every bit as stress relieving as doing yoga.

     Many people are very touchy about their feet, however. One out of every ten people will get a pedicure at least once in their lifetime. I don't think that's a healthy number. Honestly, if you have never had one you're missing out on relaxation and pampering that is unsurpassed. When I have to do my own feet it's still better than not being able to get a pedicure at all. I can feel totally fatigued but after a good foot massage I'll feel re-energized enough to run a marathon. There is no better experience in the world and I guarantee those words. 

     One reason a person may not want to do a pedicure is because they're embarrassed about foot odor. Here's a Catch-22 that needs to come out in the open, once and for all. Some of my best cures are dealing with foot odor. Once you get to the reason for it and get therapy for the cause then it's one issue that will make you glad you got over the embarrassment and dealt with it. The reason can vary from having foot fungus to merely needing to throw away a pair of shoes. The actual odor is telling so don't hesitate to get out there and get some help. Make sure you seek someone who has been doing pedicures as long as I have and that they seem as knowledgeable when you bring up the subject. I've probably performed about a thousand pedicures through the years so I know my stuff and I think I've seen just about everything including missing toes and fallen arches, which of course, is not reparable. My point, however, is that nothing bothers or embarrasses me and I like helping people solve their hand, foot and nail problems.

     Let me give you an idea of what you can expect when you arrive for a pedicure service in a licensed salon. You will either be seated, on arrival, in a special pedicure spa unit complete with a comfortable massaging recliner or seated in regular seating and your feet placed in a separate foot bath. Either way, you'll see the same implements as is used for a manicure, soaking in a disinfectant preparation and your footbath will be pre-sanitized and ready with a warm to hot foaming foot soak. After you have soaked for at least fifteen minutes, each foot is drawn out of the water, separately, for work on trimming the nails, the cuticles and then the foot overall with callous removal, cleanup and massage. The finish, if you choose it, will be polishing the toes. That's optional, of course, but done as a regular practice for most technicians. Other steps may be added such as special foot scrubs, special applications for cleansing, drawing out impurities and products applied for refined exfoliation. Many products can make the difference between a good pedicure and a great one. The more knowledgeable the technician, chances are you'll see a plethora of products being used. Don't be too shy to ask what is being used and why- I have always felt that an informed customer is generally a happier customer overall.

     As usual, I welcome any questions you may have and will be glad to reply in an e-mail or in the comments.

Overcoming Flagrant Habits

     One of the most difficult bad habits to break is the biting of nails and cuticles. For those who are not nail biters, understanding this habit and solving the problem often remains a mystery. In the official textbooks of cosmetology concerning this insidious problem it is referred to under conditions as onychophagy (pronounced: awna-koffa-gee). In truth, it's a nervous habit which can be dealt with in two ways. The first is to make it impossible and undesirable to continue with the habit. This is the most difficult aspect of onychophagy. In the past, people have resorted to using manufactured solutions applied which have a bad taste and works for many people to break the physical aspect of the condition. The underlying cause goes without being addressed or dealt with effectively. Nervous habits can have deep-seated psychological reasons and getting to a complete solution  requires much personal insight of the person who suffers this malady.

     A sector of people believe that nail biting is not that different a habit than cigarette smoking. I have a suspicion this started to gain credibility when they were both classified as a dirty habit. I know that the unsanitary aspect can make someone truly believe this but in fact there is no true equation between the two habits. Cigarette smoking is a chemical addiction whereas nail biting definitely is developed through mild psychosis or neurosis. It may be easier to quit smoking than to stop biting your nails from a psychological standpoint. 

     When I first started working after I received my license to do nails, I was busy applying artificial nails when I noticed that a lot of the clients for this service were nail biters who simply couldn't stop by any other means. They had tried the bad-tasting preparations but found this Pavlovian cure to be ineffective and hoped that a barrier between their mouth and the nails would finally stop the problem. These were always the hardcore nail biters and it only stopped them for awhile. Many would continue to bite their cuticles to almost disgusting proportions or in one instance that I know of- with a technician I worked with- her client cracked a tooth in half trying to chew on her artificial nails! This was the worst case scenario I ever witnessed and still astounds me to this day. What the client said about herself and the incident, however, gave me an insight that most of the technicians probably ignored or were too grossed out to pay attention to the fact.

     Stress or depression which goes unheeded is most likely the underlying cause of any habit which involves actually biting or cutting oneself. As a matter of fact, you may be surprised to discover that cutters are not treated any different by psychologists and psychiatrists than a nail biter would be and they are quite often nail biters as well as cutters. Cutters insist that they feel calmer after they cut and do this in the same way that addicts smoke or shoot up because the body releases a specific hormone when they cut. It's to relieve the mental or physical stress they can't handle. So nail biting can technically be viewed as an addiction with psychological implications rather than chemical. The cure by artificial nail application is a highly effective solution because of the barrier factor but don't forget that it's important to use insight as to what the source of the stress may be and eliminate or learn how to deal with that source more effectively. Each time your hand flies to your mouth back up mentally and ask yourself a series of questions.

     What was I doing just now and how did that make me feel ?

     Who was I talking to on the phone and how do they make me feel ?

     Did something just happen which triggered my reaction to bite my nails ?

    

     This will give you some idea of how to cope better while you're consciously taking some action on the issue. Don't give up and think of this as an investment in your self-esteem and future confidence. Your feelings are important and you deserve to be heard and recognized.

Empowering every potential customer with sage advice,

The Castle Lady 
(and still going... lol)