The Unchippable Manicure

For some inexplicable reason, I cannot keep a manicure for more than a day: I must be operating heavy tools or doing some serious manual labor in my sleep, because inevitably my nails become chipped and sad looking within hours of a manicure.  Recently my fashionista friend Alisa introduced me to the UV gel manicure at the Pyara Aveda Salon in Harvard Square, and I swear it's changed my life.

Shellac manicure, day 3

The gel or shellac manicure is like a regular manicure in almost every respect, except they use a special polish by CND and "cure" the polish in between coats under a UV light.  The polish dries and hardens, and you can walk out of the salon and go about your day immediately without waiting for additional drying time or worrying about chipping.  (I know!  It's totally mindblowing.)

Day 8

In fact, the manicure is supposed to last for two weeks.  Since I was traveling, I actually had mine on for thirty days(!), and with the exception of minor peeling on three fingers, the polish was still on.  Of course, your nails grow, and at some point it starts looking a little weird that you have polish only on the top 2/3 of your nails.

Day 30

When it's time to remove the polish, you're supposed to return to the salon to have the polish removed.  They  soak your nails in acetone for about ten minutes and buff them slightly to remove the polish.  (I watched the removal process, and it didn't seem so complicated as to warrant my paying someone to do it, so I might try do it myself next time.  We'll see.)  CND says that the polish removal process doesn't damage your nails (the way removing acrylics, for ex., will), but I'm still planning on taking a break between manicures.

New manicure, day 1

The main drawback to the shellac manicure is its cost.  It's $45 for the application, and $15 for the removal.  For this reason, I probably won't be getting another manicure until I have some sort of special event.  Then again, it lasts so much longer than a regular manicure that perhaps the cost difference becomes negligible.  Another negative is that CND has a fairly limited array of colors right now, though I've heard they will be expanding their product line shortly.

Now for the positives: The polish really does dry immediately under the UV lamp, and you can put on your gloves, rummage through your purse, etc., etc. as soon as the manicure's done.  And the polish lasts for so long that it's completely cured my bad habit of biting my nails.  Finally, as someone who equates manicures with fanciness, I no longer feel like a goblin when I go out in public.

Have you tried the shellac manicure?  (I heard OPI has one too.)

P.S. I think I need to moisturize my hands more. My knuckles look like pug faces.

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Digital Perm, Six Months Later

About six months ago, I worked through the trauma of "the poodle perm incident of 1988" and got a digital perm at Mie Higashimoto, a Japanese salon in Boston.  I went for my first post-perm haircut today -- yes, I'm cheap and lazy, which is why I allowed my hair to grow to Rapunzel proportions before I was finally willing to shell out the bucks for a cut -- and I thought it'd be a good time to post an update on the digiperm.

(Apparently, despite my Pulitzer-quality dissertations on really monumental things like obsessively weeding the lawn or testing a zillion roast chicken recipes, most people who stumble on my blogs do so while googling for "digital perm Boston."  Let me assure you -- yes, you, perm googler --- that there are other SO many other topics that I have irreverent and irrelevant opinions on that you should really subscribe to this blog so as to not miss out.)

Anyway, this is what the digiperm looks like today.  Still pretty curly, though obviously the waves start a bit lower now that my hair's grown out.

Here's a reminder of what the digiperm looked like six months ago:

When I first got the perm, I was a little concerned that the look might be more high maintenance than I wanted.  Fumi, my stylist, taught me to style the hair in loose waves by twirling sections of the hair while blowdrying it.  I have a lot of hair, so even this supposedly easy styling took a loooong time.  And to get big, neat curls, I still had to use a curling iron.

Along the way, though, I figured out how to get big curls without "styling" at all.  (Did I mention that I'm lazy?)  I simply blowdry my hair (or let it airdry) until it's damp but not wet.  Then I rub a little bit of Tresemme Curl Shaping Milk through my hair, put it up into a loose French twist, and let it dry.  Once the hair's dry, I just take down the French twist, finger comb it out, and voila! big curls.  If I am feeling extra persnickety, I spritz a little Frederic Fekkai Wave Spray to lock the curls in (though with the digiperm, curls set well even without product).  With this method, my hair's pretty close to wash and go.  And if I have an early morning, I just wash the hair at night, sleep with it in a loose French twist, and it's all set to go the next day.

Now that the perm's fading a bit, it's also pretty easy to blow out the hair, if I had the patience or desire to have straight hair for a day.

Bottom line: I'm pretty pleased with my digital perm, and I've had no post-perm regret yet.  I have heard some horror stories from people who have gotten digiperms from inexperienced stylists or salons with cheap equipment or chemicals, so my advice is to go to a Japanese (or Korean) salon with a lot of experience doing digital perms.  It might cost you a bit more than some hole-in-the-wall barber shop in Chinatown, but at least you can be reasonably confident that you won't emerge looking like a shocked poodle.

And if you're in New England, I highly recommend Mie Higashimoto.  They imported their digiperm machine and all the chemicals from Japan, and Fumi has done a ton of digital perms and is very knowledgeable about the process.  Added bonus: BEST. SHAMPOO. EVER.  Seriously, the shampoo guy there has what I can only describe as a gift.  His touch is so gentle and polite; I felt like my head was being handled like a delicate blossom . . . no, a Faberge egg . . . no, a cluster of clouds.  (Go ahead and laugh, but I know you ought be be very jealous that you didn't get to experience this.)  And when he's done shampooing and conditioning your hair, he gives a scalp, neck, and shoulder massage that is alone worth the $$ and inconvenience of trekking down to Newbury Street for a hair appointment.

Sigh.  I'm off to think of some more bad metaphors for this guy's shampooing.  I leave you with my favorite photo from the digiperm experience six months ago:

Very "Clash of the Titans" chic, no?

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