Can Nail Grooming be Considered Repulsive Behavior?

      Back in 2009 when I was perusing Global Traveler magazine online I found a blog entry by the vice president and associate publisher of the magazine, Alex Young, and it really made me think about public behavior of women when it comes to personal grooming.

The following is his blog entry in its entirety:

Pet Peeves

Tuesday, February 12th, 2008

I know we all have them. On a train ride home on the NJ transit, the woman

across from me decided to clip her nails for the world to see and hear. I was

peeved! Granted some may say I have become spoiled traveling in business and

first class, but I am happy to take public transportation to get me where I need

to go. I do it everyday, on the subways, trains etc.. but there are some

behaviors I believe are just not meant for public spaces. Essentially, anything

that should be designated for your bathroom, like nail clipping, should not be

done on a train!

I admit I was so repulsed that I ended up staring in her direction in what must

have seemed like a dirty look. She caught notice of me and gave me a look right

back! I couldn’t believe it. It’s not as if I went into her own home and told

her what to do and not do, but there are some personal items not meant for the

train!

Gum chewing, I have to say, is another. Ever sit next to someone who is chomping

on their gum so loudly you feel like you should be in a pasture with the cows?

Anyway, I consider these to be simple manners, or common courtesy, that do not

seem to catch on to everyone. But what is one to do? Is it the wrong thing to

ask the woman to stop clipping her nails, or tell someone to chew with their

mouth closed? Help me out here people, what would you do?

Here are some additional complaints on You Tube just in case you think it's an isolated incident: 
(Asian woman cutting her nails in public and on a train full of passengers !)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mBlUYEfjLw   

     I came across Alex's article again when I was looking for something else, recently. My initial reaction to this encounter which was not good for Alex, obviously, is still the same. I do think that it was absolutely repulsive behavior to exhibit in public. It’s right up there with picking your nose and spitting when you get right down to it. These acts are too personal to share with strangers and it is meant to be done privately or not at all.

     I’ll go a step further with this particular act. Nail clipping when done incorrectly is downright dangerous. Anyone who has ever been hit with a flying chunk of finger or toe nail clipping can attest to that so it goes all the way to being completely obnoxious and in my estimation should have gotten this woman removed from the train! This is actually antisocial behavior. What this woman did is no less dangerous than smoking on the train or vehemently arguing with someone.

     Being a professional manicurist/nail tech has helped me put this in perspective, knowing the rudiments of personal hand care. I can tell you what I would have done if put in the same situation. First, I would have told her what I do for a living and given her a card. I would have told her that there is a time and a place for everything and that this was not the place for her to clip her nails, put on lipstick or comb her hair. Professionals do these acts under sanitary conditions and take specific precautions when doing their work so everything remains sanitary. If being embarrassed by a licensed pro doesn’t stop someone from committing an antisocial act such as this, then they can only expect people to shun and avoid them when they do.

Enough said.

The Castle Lady

It's Combined Service Deals Month and Our 50th Anniversary !

Even though we've been in the middle of a big heat wave you don't have to plant yourself in the kiddie pool 'til September in order to get relief! If you're lucky enough to live in Athmar Park or in Denver you can mosey on over to Nails for Life at Mary Jane's Beauty Salon where we're having a 50th anniversary combined service daily deals celebration!

     All you have to do to get in on the deals is call in each day to find out what service will get you a sweet deal at the coolest nail spa in town! A sampling of what you will hear is along the lines of manicure and pedicure combinations for $40 rather the regular prices of $30 for the pedicure and 17.50 for the manicure. Combining services also saves time so it's a definite win/win deal. Perhaps you'd like to get a set of nails and you have a friend who wants to come along and get a manicure. You will be able to use a combined service deal on the day it's offered just by mentioning your friend who may receive a complimentary add-on to her service such as a paraffin treatment! Talk about a sweet deal ! These will change everyday so you must call in as soon as Tuesday to initiate the process. You can leave a message requesting the deal or if it's not what you're expecting that day, you can leave a message with a request for what you need and leave a call back number to get an offer on the next opportunity for the deal you want. Fun, huh ?

     This will start on August 29th and run through the month of September. Days open are Tuesday through Saturday so there will be quite a few deals to grab. Leave a comment if you have an idea for a deal you would like. I'm ready for something fun- this is my birthday month.
 

Be sure to check in everyday !

      

     

Professional Manicures

and how to know if you actually got one....

     If you believe that having nails is the greatest and newest invention then you are completely uninformed about manicure and pedicure evolution. As a matter of fact there is no profession (except for one we won't mention) as old as the practice of beautification of hands and nails. Check out the following ancient time line provided by Crabtree and Evelyn:

     Yes, green henna actually imparts red on nails as well as hair and it adds a sheen along with a conditioning coat on nails- just as with the hair which is quite durable against chemical and oxidation damage. I did henna manicures back in 1977 right out of school and they were every bit as popular as sculptured nails- as we called acrylic then...

     Today, the big 3 free formulas are considered safer than what was being distributed for consumer use in the beginning of the 20th century but the quality of the staying power has been compromised a little in the name of safety. Nothing has replaced the professional manicure, however, and I'm going to show you the steps which must be present.

     Very briefly, the first step is removal of any old polish which may be on the nails. If you have no polish remains on your nail this step is unnecessary and unwarranted since it has a drying effect on the nail. The next step is for your nails to be filed correctly which is done in one direction on either side of the nail. Beveling for smoothness can be done in the exact opposite direction only. At this point you will soak your nails in either soap and water solution, an oil or cream preparation especially for manicures. (Don't be afraid to ask and look at labels on products.) 

     Once the massage has been done then the next step is to work on the cuticles. Most manicurists will use cuticle remover unless the soaking solution is already set for such preparation. Those with glycerin in them are for the specific purpose of pushing back cuticles and are intended to avoid the step of cuticle removers and/or cutting. If you are soaked in soap and water, a cuticle remover is absolutely necessary for pushing back the cuticles and should be washed off prior to polish application. Cutting cuticles with a soap and water manicure is de rigeur. Once you have arrived at a cleaned nail and are satisfied with this portion then the nail enamel or lacquer is the next final set of steps. First your technician will apply a basecoat that most suits your nail type, followed by the color enamel or lacquer of two coats then a final topcoat. That is standard procedure.

     If you see other or more steps during the process they are not incorrect and are generally at the discretion of the manicurist. Additional steps are not wrong nor unconventional and you'll find, if you go to many different nail techs, that they all have their own style and unique way of doing just about every step of their manicures.

     What you will learn about your nails and hands with continued visits to professionals is valuable and if the technicians are informative you'll eventually know what to throw away and what to keep from your experiences within a month of regular care. Manicures should be done once a week for maximum effect. By keeping your manicures consistent you can track your progress easier. If you get involved in the maintenance you may find that you are one of the lucky people who can go every two weeks. More power to you !

Today's manicures are product contingent more than ever before but I would take that idea to task, to be honest. More now than ever, the professional tech in question has more to do with your success with manicures than the products she uses. Her level of expertise and technique will determine whether your nails are filed correctly, conditioned right, cleaned properly and polished well. Each step should be done correctly according to the proper application of the different products and there are many professional products- quite a few you have probably never heard about or seen. For me, it's a plus that there really is nothing new under the sun even though new companies and new products spring up every year. I am familiar with all the products that are used today because of many years of keeping up with the professional trade magazines and trying almost every product on the professional market. With the training plus trial and error that goes with learning each medium and each medium's line of professional products I have kept my finger on the pulse of one of the most prosperous industries in the world.  

    

Until next time,

  

The Castle Lady

    

              My next subject will be on professional pedicures standard procedure. 

Stay connected for more.

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly, Part 3: A picture is worth a thousand words...

     The esthetics of nail art may be a matter of taste but because I have my own set of rules concerning the employment of art on fingernails I have decided to let photos explain. If you have read my previous two entries on the subject you'll know that rules can be broken or bent especially when the subject is art. Sometimes it's best to show, by comparison, what you're trying to say with mere words. Making hands beautiful is the main object and the primary reason why women want to have longer or better manicured nails and art on their nails should be another expression of that beauty. To me, the art is secondary to the overall look and the colors must coordinate your hands, nails and fashion together. 

     That is why I definitely like this set of nail art  

              but really do not care for this at all.    

     Panoramic murals are fascinating because it is an amazing achievement of artwork from nail to nail, as if it was just a long paneled canvas. Interestingly, this particular technique is executed much easier by placing strategic dots on each of the nails so that when you put the nails together the art corresponds exactly to the next panel- from nail to nail. Wearing complicated art will get people staring at your nails for all the wrong reasons, though, to say nothing of the  expense. Once you watch the process you'll understand why. Some of the art will be pre-painted on wrap sheets prior to application. It can save time but not necessarily be any less expensive. The other drawback is that it's a lot of money spent just to have someone look at your hands as if you're the creature from the black lagoon or equivalent.   It's just my opinion but I don't believe this art belongs outside of a nail art competition.

     

     I like this because the style on the nails fits the makeup, hair and outfit on this model. When she changes she'll have to choose the same colors she's wearing or have a quick removal of the art and reapply something else. When I began doing nail art back in the early 80s it wasn't popular even though I lived in Southern California. I was like a maverick in the salon where I worked. I got very good, quite quickly and many women asked for some paintings or designs over and over again, particularly for Halloween. I even developed my own art deco style which nearly all of my patrons opted for because I could combine colors that fit their entire wardrobe.

     Things changed when they started running professional nail art competitions because the drive to be different and over the top has always been a benchmark for serious professional beauty business competitions. Fashion designers followed suit and it showed in  70s, 80s and even styles in the 90s but to a lesser degree. My opinion about nail art remains the same in that I think art should enhance and not take over your look. Gaudy nail art should be outlawed in my opinion. I feel that way about all wearable or functional art. I've met and schmoozed with people who can paint faithful portraits of famous people and even favorite pets on fingernails! When it comes to nail art there's nothing like the real deal and exceptional talent. 

     Andy Warhol need not apply. Polish that is !  

 Happy Holidays !

The Castle Lady

The Truth about Haute Polish

About a month ago I happened to be channel surfing the T.V. when one of those hour long commercials came up and decided to keep watching because the subject was a nail product. If you haven't heard of Haute Polish by now, then you're just not keeping up with the latest DIY trend that's sure to have lots of people trying to save the finish on their kitchen and card tables in homes all across the United States. Haute Polish (they pronounce it like the word HOT, not the French pronunciation which sounds like the word hoe with a t ) is not polish and it isn't particularly hot either, unless you stay under those UV lamps for too long. It is a gel product pitched to consumers assuring all women that they don't need to go to the salon anymore for their hands to look fabulous.

     Before I touch on some finer points concerning this redundant pitch I'd like to point out that any product out there that claims to be able to replace getting licensed professional services is nearly always questionable. Do you really want to spend precious time at home trying to figure out how to do work on yourself that is best left to a professional? I know all about gel polish products and quite frankly my experience with such is that it doesn't perform as well, in many situations, as doing a hot oil manicure with the professionals-only base, top and color enamel that I use, not only on my clients but also myself. I can go more than 2 weeks with traditional manicure products on my natural nails without touching-up. Usually, I don't push the letter and do my nails weekly because regular care in a timely fashion wins over any overlay- every time !

     You know what I most don't like about gel polish ? It's the removal. You cannot use regular polish remover to take it off. I know women quite well because I've been working on their nails now for many decades. They will first try to see if they can get Haute Polish off with regular nail enamel remover. It will not come off with regular polish remover and the more you continue to try, the more you will dry out your cuticles, nails and the skin around your nails. The special remover pockets they tell you to use aren't any kinder to the same. The foil inside the pockets amplifies the acetone remover inside it and fries anything it touches- namely, the entire ends of the fingers ! The T.V. ad depicts professionals soaking women in acetone remover and I'm sure some have tried to take it off this way. It will come off, still very laboriously and to a great extent will turn your nails into brittle stubs, eventually. There is no easy way to get it off and I'm telling you this with great concern.

     Toward the end of the ad a woman who has been supposedly doing her own nails with the Haute Polish system says that she would nick her polish after leaving the salon- which makes me believe she left a bit too soon or something was wrong with the polish applied to her nails. Nicked polish is more likely to chip- professional job or no. On the strength of this bad experience which she must never have brought up to her manicurist, she has taken on the job with Haute Polish. In truth, I have never had to wait longer than fifteen minutes for the professional enamel I use to dry- nick proof. I run through a lot of polish and don't try to keep them past a certain amount of time. Polishes that take longer than 20 minutes to dry will never dry and need to be thrown away and replaced with a new bottle. Furthermore, I've been doing nails so long that polish which is old and needs to be thrown out has a certain smell- like rotten bananas- which only I seem to be able to detect. A brand new polish can dry within a few minutes- all four coats.

     Very briefly, during the ad, a 'celebrity' manicurist by the name of Chantalynn is interviewed and she states that Haute Polish is liquid polymer and that is why it must be placed under a UV lamp in order for it to be cured properly. If it is truly a liquid polymer it must be cured with the lamp and any attempt to defeat this with some other kind of lamp will not work. Also, very briefly, they state that it is low exposure to UV light but at that proximity is nothing more than a blatant lie. Caveat Emptor. Using UV light may cause skin cancer under the nails and its appearance is that of hair-thin black, vertical lines which can run the entire length of the nail. Small hematomas can also look like this but can be scraped out from underneath the nail when it approaches the free-edge (white tip). Skin cancer cannot be scraped out because it is embedded in the nail. 

     I also found that the pitch for Haute Polish is very misleading in other respects. Numerous times the consumer is sold on how easy it is to apply- just like a polish- and how quickly you can dry the polish under the lamps- if you do all the steps correctly as they tell you to do it. The ad states that it will not chip and shows a woman gleefully clacking her nails together as if that was the only impact a nail ever receives. They state that there are no detectable harmful fumes! When I checked out their web site I found that there are no less than 9 videos which they recommend that you watch before you start. They are all on the web site but you may want to spend a good part of an afternoon watching them all if you don't want to end up with problems or a mess which will drive you and the rest of your family crazy. They also state, but not emphatically, that it is healthier for your nails than regular polish. Here again they are caught in a complete fabrication. I would like to get a good look at their MSDS to know that for sure. Gel nails- which are full nail enhancements and not liquid polymer, used like polish- grip the natural nail in a completely different way than acrylic overlays. Natural nails are porous and so allow acrylic to grip inside the pore of the nails but gel nails sit on top of the pore- like a plunger- and remain in place mostly through air-pocket suction, therefore doing less damage once removed. It can appear as though they are more natural and therefore healthier. A manicurist/nail technician who has done her homework will know that even regular polish can do damage to a nail if it is removed improperly. Remember that when we put an invasive finish on the nail it must be removed right in order for it not to do any damage. The easiest way to achieve removal is with the correct product. I have seen women try to pry gel product off of their nails as if they were peeling polish. It appears that this can be easily done. Not so and not without damage.

     The last problem I want to address is the chipping issue because it's brought up continually throughout the entire commercial. Chipping can be caused by many things but persistent chipping and in the same areas each time is the result of permanent fissures, damage or corrugations and ridges in the nails. It has nothing to do with the polish at all. The gel polish removal system will aggravate this problem and, after a time, the chipping problem will come back with a vengeance because of the harsh chemical in the removal packets required to be used.

     Over and over again the monetary deal offered is also brought up and I'd have to say that the price is minimal- plus they offer a second kit free for you to give away or gift to family or friends. This deal will tempt every woman out there because it's cheaper than what they'll spend on one professional manicure. However, you only receive one or two colors to use and I checked out the club price for additional colors and it is high- $12 each ! There is a detailing wand which helps you get Haute Polish off your skin when you are attempting to do your professional-looking  polish job yourself. It's rather pricey as well but they throw in the first one for free. The stated retail value on the system is $119 which is about what a professional manicurist will pay for the materials on her professional gel nails system. It appears to me that the owner of Haute Polish is used to dealing with professional manicurists and decided to undercut them by selling to their clients. They're telling women, in essence, "Why are you paying this person that kind of money to do your nails when you could probably do just as good as them for a whole lot less?" Now, they are hitting below the belt. They are also wrong. They don't think you can even get polish on your nails without dashing it across your cuticles! It insults both the client and the professional. Not nice.

     As I watched all these women proclaiming how they have been freed from the time tyranny at the salon I started to think about all the steps I go through in doing a manicure. A manicure is not just four coats of polish. I go through no less than sixteen steps of work while doing my manicures- removal of old polish, clipping, filing and smoothing the nails, soaking the hands in hot oil, hand and arm massage, application of cuticle remover, nudging cuticle back and cleaning it, cutting loose cuticle, cleansing the nail, buffing the nails and finally four steps in polishing. Repairing requires more steps, of course. Mild repairs are generally not charged extra at my salon. This is what takes the better part of an hour. Drying your polish takes almost no time at all in comparison to most of the manicure but apparently this is what women believe they are paying for exclusively.

     So, the next time you treat yourself to a professional manicure be sure to tip your manicurist if you think her work is better than your own. You'll be saving money by comparison to the denizens of the Haute Polish revolution !

With care,

The Castle Lady