Tag: manicure

Product Review: Pro Dip Super Nail

I tried the Pro Dip Super Nail kit last night. I bought it from Sally Beauty Supply from $34.49. Overall I don’t care for this product. Pro Dip Super Nail is an at home nail dip kit that doesn’t require a UV light.

The kit comes with pink nail dip, activator/base coat, brush cleaner, a file, orange sticks and dip remover pads. The activator is super glue. You polish your nails with super glue and then dip them in the powder dip. Then you polish over them again with the activator. It’s that simple.

I was disappointed in this product because I didn’t realize I was using super glue until I recognized the smell as I was applying it. I wanted trying to give myself an ombre manicure. I wasn’t successful but that’s not really the kit’s fault. The white dip that I bought separately turned out to be clear. It actually said clear but it looked white in the container. When I polished over the dip became invisible. This failure was my fault.

The kit is messy and it’s difficult to fix the mistake. The powder dip has to be soaked off like a salon dip manicure. Since the base is super glue you need to be very careful when painting your nails with it. If your base coat/super glue gets on your cuticles and beyond the dip will stick to it.

This kit could be useful if you are very careful. The color will stay in place and not chip. It can be great for ladies who work with their hands but want their nails to look nice. Or if you’re traveling and want manicured nails but don’t want to concern with upkeep the kit can be handy. I’ll use kit again until I run out of it’s materials but I wouldn’t buy it again. I have some practice now and I know the limitations of my supplies so I can produce a better manicure next time.

Overall, I would recommend skipping this product. You are better off with a bottle of nail polish.

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.

pinterest try

 

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.