My Ombre Manicure

I learned about Ombre Manicures also known as Baby Boomer Manicures on Pinterest.  I have been intrigued by them for a while now.  I just love how they look.  At first I didn’t even know what they were or how the look was accomplished.  I wasn’t sure if I could get a Baby Boomer manicure on natural nails.  I thought they might be press on nails that came out of a package like that.

I’m fairly frugal and wanted to see if I could do the manicure myself.  I am pretty good at home manicures and I have some experience with using acrylic paints so I thought I could do it.  I failed.  Nail polish doesn’t blend the way acrylic and oil paint does.

I found a You Tube video on how to give yourself an Ombre Manicure but it looked messy and I think it would take several attempts before it came out right.  When I factored in the time and cost of materials to give myself the manicure I decided it would be easier to go to a salon.

When I walked into the salon I asked if they knew how to do a Baby Boomer manicure and if it can be done on natural nails.  They didn’t know what that was at first so I described it and they said “Oh Ombre Nails”.  The nail technician filed my nails with that  small, round, drill like filing tool that they have.  She put some sort of a base on my nails.  She dipped my fingers in pink powder.  Then she dusted the tips of my nails with white powder and put a top coat over that.

I don’t think that the powder that was put on my nails will come off as simply as it is to remove nail polish.  That will be a pain.  I went through that with the gel nail polish trend from around 2011.  What a racket!  You have to go the the salon to get the polish removed so you end up just getting your nails done again and probably a pedicure and your eyebrows waxed too.  It’s hard to jump off that train.  But it looks like I’m going to board it again and ride a while.

During the gel nails wave I eventually had to scrape the polish off with a pair of scissors.  I scraped the top layers of my nails off along with the polish and I just had to wait for them to grow back.  But my nail polish rarely chipped off so there was a benefit to it.  It just got to be expensive.

The nail tech filed my nails into the coffin shape which I’m not comfortable with.  It’s hard to pick things up off of tables now and my nails just feel funny now.  But overall I’m happy with my manicure.  The next time I get my nails done I will ask for a darker pink powder.  I wanted a subtle and natural look so I asked for a light pink but I think I would like a little more contrast.  The manicure cost $45.  I also got my eyebrows waxed for $10 and I left a tip of $6 or $8 I don’t quite remember.  It was money well spent.