Tag Archives: pronails

Feb17

New Nails!

Posted on by
Standard
New Nails!

Hey everyone and TGIF! As you guys know if you follow my stiletto nail saga, I have a wonderful relationship with Vinny, my nail tech. He is such a fantastic friend and a nail wizard but, unfortunately, is now working at a salon closer to his home but way far away for me. I wouldn’t have minded continuing to go to the salon that he worked at previously but I was never happy with how the other technicians working there did my nails when Vinny couldn’t. So, I began the hunt for a new salon to go to.

I searched through Google, asked for recommendations from friends, and turned to Facebook which helped me settle on a salon that’s a whopping two minutes away from my house, LT Nails. For the most part, the salon had excellent reviews and their prices were fair so I figured that I would give it a shot. I’ve been itching to get new nails for a while now as I’ve had the same set since the beginning of November so the technician at LT hooked me up with these little beauties:

new7.jpeg

Now, wait, something appears to be missing…My middle finger crosses perhaps? Yeah. I honestly wasn’t sure if the salon even had airbrushing because it wasn’t advertised on their price menu and also the lady who did my nails kind of scared me. But, that’s no big deal, I’ll snag some nail art pens or something elsewhere and draw the crosses on myself because how hard can it be?!

Anyways, I’m really happy with how my nails turned out, especially because they’re longer than the old set that I had taken off. I wanted them long enough for them to still feel like talons but short enough to be functional and I think that this was a good in between length. But, I am secretly looking forward to them growing out a little!

The one thing that I wasn’t too thrilled about at LT asides from my fingers getting stabbed quite a few times was that they charged five dollars extra for all services involving long nails. I mean, okay, I get it because they do take more time but I had never been to a salon or even heard of one doing that before which was a little annoying. So, now I’m on the great debate of continuing to go to LT when I need a fill or going to my old salon to see if a tech that I haven’t been to before could potentially do a good job. Oh, what a tangled web we weave!!

But, regardless, my new nails still look really good which is all that matters, I guess! Who else likes to sport stiletto nails? What is one of your favorite nail polish colors to wear? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan13

Black & Neon Green Nails

Posted on by
Standard
Black & Neon Green Nails

Hi everyone and TGIF! Yesterday was crazy busy for me but because I always get my nails done on Thursdays when I need a new set of nails or a fill, I just had to make time to see my beloved nail tech, Vinny, so he could get me right. I usually get my nails filled every three weeks for twenty bucks and honestly it’s the best money that I spend all month. To me, there is nothing better than taking a breather and being pampered before you have to step back into the real world. And, of course, it is always so fun hanging out with Vinny and the salon gang for an hour or two!

Last fill, I was loving the hot pink accent nails that I picked and I decided to go bright or go home again this time with neon green and a coat of sparkles over top of it. As always, the rest of my nails were black with an airbrushed cross on each middle finger. I’m thinking of upgrading to gemstone crosses next fill, though! I’m so obsessed with how my nails turned out yesterday and they might just be my favorite fill yet. Check it out:

green.jpeg

LOVE!!!!!

After a delightful rendezvous at the salon, I went to get myself some Starbucks with a Christmas gift card before heading to the skating rink to coach for the Special Olympics. As I was being rung out, the barista asked for my name and when I told him it was Sarah he checked to see if it was with or without an H (I love when people do that!). After I told him that it was with an H (the best way), he told me that he’s “always told that the H is for ‘high maintenance'”. I guess that has to be true, considering that I was just coming from getting my nails done!

What is your favorite nail polish shade right now? What color should my accent nails be next fill? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec23

New Hot Pink & Black Nails

Posted on by
Standard
New Hot Pink & Black Nails

Hiii everyone and TGIF! Yesterday, I had a little pampering party to get myself perfect for the holiday weekend. I got my nails filled in the morning and then spent the evening dyeing my hair to get it nice and bright red for Christmas. As always, my nail tech, Vinny, did an amazing job shaping and sharpening my nails. I opted for a color for the accent nail that I rarely pick but am actually loving right now. Hot pink! It is far from your classic, run of the mill highlighter hot pink but more like a bright fuchsia and I think it is so fun! Take a look:

nails3.jpeg

The color looks admittedly red in this picture because poor camera quality but you get the point! Normally, when I am picking an accent nail color, I go with red or shades like grey, beige, or white. This new accent nail color is definitely out of my comfort zone considering I don’t own one pink item in my wardrobe but I’m glad that I went for it! Small changes to your daily routine are always fun and the little things like a new nail polish color or lipstick can really set yourself up for having an amazing day. Make sure that you find time to TREAT YOSELF this holiday season!

treatyoself_main01

I hope everyone has a fab Friday and a great Christmas Eve Eve! What accent color should I pick next time I get my nails filled? What is your go to shade of nail polish? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec11

Pedi Party

Posted on by
Standard
Pedi Party

Hey everyone and happy Sunday! So yesterday I had myself a little Pedi Party with one of my favorite high school teachers and it was such fun. I had never gotten a pedicure before and was treated to it as a college graduation present. And guess what?! I didn’t even let my ticklishness get the best of me – which I unfortunately can’t say for the one and only massage that I have ever gotten!

As you guys know, I am a devout fan of my acrylic nails so you would think that I would have gotten a pedicure by now. Not the case, guys. Not the case. I guess I really just have never cared about my toes enough to pamper them. 1) They’re not pretty to look at. 2) I barely have nails worthy of painting on my tootsies. And 3) My pinkie corn chip toe is an embarrassment to mankind!

Despite the litany of ugliness that I just described, my nail tech did an amazing job of salvaging some dignity out of my toesies and left them looking so pretty! Take a look, and if you have a foot phobia: SORRY but if you have a foot fetish: YOU’RE WELCOME!

pedi

Obviously, I went with black to match my talons! :*)

All in all, the pedicure was fabulous and I had a great time spending the afternoon with my dear friend. However, I do feel like kind of an asshole because my legs were SO. HAIRY. I guess I didn’t really think to myself “Hey, Sarah – your legs are hairier than most guys right now. Maybe you should clean yourself up”. I mean obviously I didn’t because when the poor nail tech was scrubbing up my legs he was fighting against a forest of prickles! What can I say, WINTER IS MY HIBERNATION TIME and don’t think for one minute that I didn’t apologize profusely for him having to rub on woolly mammoth fur. 😉

With my tail hung between my (hairy) legs, I tamed the beast last night and now have legs as smooth and pretty as my little black seashell toenails. GREAT SUCCESS! Thank you to my wonderful friend for such a treat of an afternoon yesterday and thank you to my nail tech for putting up with me! 🙂

I hope everyone is having a fabulous day and my final questions for you are:

  • Would you rather not shave your legs for a year or not wear makeup for six months?
  • Would you rather get a hot stone massage or a mani/pedi combo?

I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec5

Pampering Party (Wahhh!)

Posted on by
Standard
Pampering Party (Wahhh!)

Hi everyone and happy Monday! This past week has been not the best at Chez Red because I have literally been sick for seven days straight. I have had an absolutely miserable cold complete with cough, body aches, headaches, sore throat, the chills, and night sweats. On top of feeling like DEATH, it is now finals week at school which is super stressful which seems to just make me sicker!

I am feeling very bitter about this bug because it completely ruined the pampering that happened last week which I was so looking forward to. I was scheduled to dye my hair, get my nails filled, and get a haircut. These are all things that I freaking love to do and unfortunately, I felt miserable to the point that I couldn’t enjoy any of it during each pampering activity.

My hair dying sesh resulted in a bloody nose and massive chills. Thanks to frequent nose blowing and an accidental stab from my talon acrylics, I was left with a bloody nose worthy of sticking a tampon in. Then, the cold water shower which was a necessity to washing out the dye and maintaining a lustrous shade of red left me in shivers in my skivvies for days. In hindsight, dying my hair and doing a cold water hair wash while sick was just plain asinine but damnit, my hair needed it real bad!!!

Later on in the week, I needed to get my nails filled so that they could be perfect for my graduation ceremony next week. Probably not the best idea either. The strong nail polish smells at the salon went straight to my head and not even my beloved nail tech, Vinny, could help me feel better. The worst, though, was when my nails were put in front of a fan to start the drying process. I instantly began to sweat and get clammy and I like to think of myself as a not sweaty person. I left the salon a big blubbering ball of phlegm and damp clothing but my nails looked fabulous, darling.

And finally, this weekend it was time for a haircut. I was so looking forward to getting my hair styled for my big day and wanted nothing more than to sit comfortably in the chair and let my stylist work her magic. Naturally, this didn’t happen. My week long nightmare left me feeling so achy and irritable that everything made me want to scream, or cry, or BOTH. So best believe when those little bitty microscopic hairs got snipped from my head and wound up down my shirt I was about to have an emotional breakdown. I’m telling you guys, it’s hard out there for a pimp.

Now that I am feeling about eighty percent better, I can finally fully admire the work that was done on me. My hair looks gorgeous and my nails are fierce. But at the time, nothing made me feel happy or attractive which is surprising considering I tried to surround myself with all things pretty! A Pampering Party did happen but it was not fun or relaxing in the slightest. I can only hope that the next time I need to throw some paint on the old barn that I am feeling in tip top physical condition!

Who is suffering from a winter cold or flu right now? What are your go to remedies for easing the yucks and aches? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov11

They’re Baaaack

Posted on by
Standard
They’re Baaaack

Hi everyone and TGIF! Okay, so this week’s Monday Update involved me freaking out because I broke one of my natural nails that I have been trying so freaking hard to grow out in lieu of getting acrylics. Well, two days after that, another nail broke so I said “fuck it” and went to get my claw babies back on Thursday. After about a year of being talon-free, it felt so good being back in the trusted and true hands of my beloved nail tech, Vinny.

As I mentioned before, asides from dying my hair, getting my nails done is my absolute favorite way to pamper myself. I love being able to sit back, relax, and let Vinny work his magic and make my nails look pretty. One of the things that I love the most about long nails is how they make my hands look. Naturally, my hands are quite small and stumpy but lengthy nails make my hands look elongated and beautiful. When I had to cut my natural nails after two of them broke, I was so sad to see my hands shrink down to their bitty size right before my eyes. But now, everything is as it should be and having janky nails is one less thing for me to worry about. Take a look:

nails

The other main reason that I wanted to get my nails done was for my graduation which is coming up on December 15th. I told myself that if I can’t get my natural nails how I like them, then I would treat myself to my acrylics and I am so glad that I did! I do wish that they were a little bit longer but they will do for now and Vinny said he’ll take care of it when I get them filled – he’s such a gem! :*)

Now my graduation ceremony beauty check list for looking fab as I strut across the stage looks something like this:

  • Get nails filled.
  • Dye hair.
  • Get a hair cut.
  • Put together a graduation ceremony worthy outfit!

I am so happy to have my nails back but it has been a doozey of a twenty-four hours while I get used to living my life with talons again! So far, everything is going just fine minus a small scare with my car door. Other than that things are A-okay – especially now that I can put my babies to work on my laptop keyboard again! LOVE IT! ❤

I hope everyone has a super fun and relaxing weekend! What kind of outfit do you think I should wear for graduation? Who else has a passion for long nails? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov7

Monday Update: NAIL HELP!!!

Posted on by
Standard
Monday Update: NAIL HELP!!!

Hey everyone and happy Monday! I hope all of you had a fab weekend. So as you guys know, I was beyond obsessed with my stiletto style claws back when I was wearing acrylic nails. But, because I am ballin on a budget as a college kid, I decided to cut back on my favorite way to pamper myself besides from dying my hair. I haven’t been wearing acrylics for about a year but in the past four months I have been attempting to grow my nails out because I’ve been missing them badly.

So far, my nails have been doing pretty good. I began a regimen of taking Biotin and Calcium vitamins and I really think that they have been helping. I have also started soaking them in olive and coconut oil as a moisturizing treat. My nails are now quite strong as opposed to the brittle, flimsy mess that they were before. I am a little less than halfway to the length that I would like them to be at but then…the unspeakable happened. The nail on my thumb broke clean off yesterday. 😦

I am genuinely at a loss of what to do. There was no salvaging the nail and now I have nine long and beautiful nails and a mere stump on my right hand thumb. What do you guys do in a situation like this? Do you cut the rest of your nails and let everything start fresh? Or do you just wait it out and let the broken nail grow again? I suppose it’s a matter of preference but I have no clue what to do and I feel like I would benefit greatly from hearing what all of the amazing beauty gurus out here have to say.

As a reminder, this is where I last left my nails in acrylic land and I am a little less than halfway to that length now. Ironically enough, I’m wearing those exact same colors right now! All I need are my middle finger crosses and I’ll be all set! #thosewerethedays

nails

I am in desperate need of advice and also some comfort because I am so upset about this nail breaking. The worst thing, though? About an hour before the nail broke I literally told my mom “wow, it sure would suck if one of my nails broke now”. FML!!!

As of now, I’m leaning towards letting my little thumb stump grow out because it is not as noticeable as say, if the break happened on a pointer or middle finger. However, this is subject to change! So what do you do when a beloved nail breaks? Let it grow or hack off (so violent!) the rest? I want to hear from all of you, so PLEASE leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

^^^ Acrylic nail jams! 😉

May3

Nail Polish Party

Posted on by
Standard
Nail Polish Party

Hi everyone and happy Tuesday! Thanks to Influenster, I got to try out Sinful Colors’ limited edition Bling It On collection in Teal Midnight. Usually, I’m not fond of nail polish colors if they’re not black so I was a little ambivalent to paint my nails. Unfortunately, once the polish was on my gut reaction of “I’m not going to like this” was right because I really didn’t like it! Take a listen to a cute Lady Gaga song dedicated to the mani and then let’s discuss:

nails1

It’s not that I don’t mind other colors so much as the fact that this was a glitter polish which is a big fat “no” in my book. Had this been a plain old deep teal sans the glitter, I probably would have liked it a lot but as a rule of thumb I really just don’t do glitter of any kind whether it be on lotion, nail polish, or clothing. It’s not my style and it never will be so in all honesty, I feel super weird having this polish on!

I had to put on three coats of the polish just to make it fully cover my nails and even then you can still see through the coat and onto my nails. I guess as a top coat this polish would be okay but you still would need at least two coats to fully cover your nail in glitter. I was actually a bit disappointed in the quality of this polish because I have seen glitter polish that works very well. Because this polish is so thin in comparison to other glitter polishes that I’ve seen it made the application more annoying than pampering.

As a top coat, I do recommend Sinful Colors’ “Teal Midnight” from their Bling It On collection but as a polish alone I wouldn’t recommend it. I’m very unhappy with how they look and even if glitter polish was my thing, I still would be disappointed over the polish quality. Thankfully, Influenster provided me with nail polish remover pads, too, so hopefully those will get the job of taking the polish off done!

It was a kind of sad Nail Polish Party to say the least but I do want to thank Influenster for allowing me to try the product! What is your go to shade of nail polish? What nail polish color would you not be caught dead in? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

Mar12

Beauty Bloggers: HELP!!

Posted on by
Standard
Beauty Bloggers: HELP!!

Hello everyone and happy weekend! Once upon a time, I had the longest, fiercest, and sharpest acrylic stiletto nails in the world. I loved them so damn much but unfortunately, the price of upkeep was just getting to be too much. I’ve been without my talons for a solid half a year now and I’m missing them something fierce. But here’s the rub, I really don’t want to pay for acrylics now that I haven’t been shelling moolah out for nail maintenance for six months!

I’ve been trying to grow my nails out to at least get them somewhat lengthy but I’ve been having a really hard time. After the removal of my acrylics, my nails were really brittle and would barely grow. Luckily, I’ve moved past that stage and my nails can and are growing. My nails start out strong in their effort to grow out but then they will reach a certain point and just get flimsy as can be. We’re talking that if I bent them hard enough, they would probably break.

I would really love some suggestions from the beauty gurus on here about how to strengthen and grow out my nails. I’ve been trying to keep my nails hydrated with hand creams like I’ve been told on Facebook. I also recently just applied a hardening base and top coat when I painted my nails over the weekend because my BFF said that that might help. I know that I’ll never get my real nails to be anything like my old claws seen below but I would love to at least have some length to them!

talons.jpg

Beauty Bloggers – I need your Help now more than ever so if you have any tips at all it would be so very appreciated! I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep28

Monday Update: Farewell Fake Nails Edition

Posted on by
Standard
Monday Update: Farewell Fake Nails Edition

Hellooo everyone and happy Monday! I hope all of you had a wonderful and relaxing weekend! So something kind of crazy happened this weekend that is so out of character for me that I have a hard time believing it myself…I took my acrylic nails off. Those of you who are familiar with my blog will know that I am (was) simply obsessed with my longer than life talon-esque fake nails, but something happened this weekend that just made me snap. Check out the story behind my breaking point and then we can mourn in my loss together:

On Saturday everything was running smoothly. I had a great few days with my boyfriend that I returned home from in the morning and my mom and I had a lovely shopping outing in the evening. But then…then a tragedy happened. As I was sitting on my bedroom floor scrolling through Facebook on my iPod something inside of me made me get up from my laziness to go downstairs and work on homework. I reached my hand back onto my bed to hoist myself up and then CRACK, the acrylic on my left hand middle finger broke clean in two.

“Well shit,” I thought to myself, “what am I going to do now”? It was too late for my salon to be open and it’s closed all day on Sundays (the following day). Then all kinds of thoughts began swarming in my head. Should I hold out until Monday and get it fixed? Should I bite the bullet and go to a different salon tomorrow? And then I began to inspect my natural nail that was visible from my unfortunate uh-oh. My nail was brittle, cracking, and dry as a bone. Honestly, I wasn’t surprised…I haven’t worn my nails natural since November of 2014 but I had no idea that they were that bad.

Upon further inspection of my nails, I decided that they desperately needed some TLC. After I made this realization I took a deep breath and began to gather the supplies needed to take my claws off at home – because after I thought about it, I refused to pay ten to fifteen dollars for something I could do from the comfort of my own bathroom. I grabbed a glass bowl big enough to fit both of my hands in, acetone nail polish remover, and nail clippers then I headed into the loo to take care of business.

I sat my sweet ass on the floor of the throne room and got to work by clipping my acrylics down to the nub. This was painful physically and emotionally. My clippers are obvs not salon quality so I had to apply hella pressure to get my nails declawed. With every snap crackle pop of the acrylic being cut off my heart sank deeper into my butt….But finally, the deed was done. I filled my bowl with the nail polish remover, pulled myself together, and descended downstairs to watch Arrested Development as my nails soaked off.

After my TV time, my nails were loose enough that I could pry them off and just like that, my acrylics were gone. I stared down at my bare hands and looked at them as if I were seeing them for the first time. “Jesus Christ…What did I just do?” I continued to gaze down at my nails with a critical eye and all I could see were stubby fingers and the most unhealthy nails ever and I seriously could have cried. After a “you’re a strong independent woman who don’t need no nails” pep talk, I did what had to be done…Apply enough lotion to fill up a bathtub onto my hands, put some socks on over them, and walk around my house performing sock puppet theater. #Ihatemyself

The next few days without my nails were weird, to say the least. Texting on my phone and typing on the computer without hearing my claws clacking away felt foreign and strange. Running my hands through my hair without feeling my talons grazing my scalp felt uncomfortable. Even scratching an itch with my bare nails felt unfamiliar. I was so lost…and then I got used to it.

I took my acrylics off for a reason, which was to get my natural nails healthy and damnit, that’s what I’m gonna do. It will definitely take some time to grow accustomed to life without my long fake nails, but that’s okay. It’s going to save me money to not have to get my nails filled every month and most importantly it’s going to get my real nails back to normal, which is something I’m taking very seriously. #gosarahgo

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Farewell Fake Nails Edition! Have any of you lovelies had an experience similar to mine after taking off their acrylics or another beauty staple you use? What are some tips that you have for healthy natural nails? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah