My First Shellac Manicure

I have never been one to keep up my manicures and my nails usually look destroyed. I've tried biotin and multivitamins, but I work a lot with my hands and always break or chip my nails. I work retail and while the clothes are soft, dressing the mannequins or styling the display jeans always runs my nail ragged.

This was supposed to be a before pic when I started biotin, except in 3 months they didn't look any better

I'm also addicted to glitter polish which doesn't help. I have a tendency to wear it just on my days off and remove it within 24 hours. Back when I worked in an office I wore acrylic nails, but my current job has a strict policy on styling and doesn't allow any fake nails.

Gel polish seemed like a good middle ground for longer and stronger nails. I took it to google to do some research and found some good guides on PrettyShinySparkly and About. One of my supervisors also wears gel polish and I loved how shiny her nails looked. I was hooked. After reading up on the different polishes, I decided that I would go with Shellac.

 

Directly before my manicure!

As you can tell from the before picture, I've neglected my nails. With work, moving and packing I just didn't have the time to keep them trimmed or filed. My cuticles seriously needed some attention since it had been almost a year since my last actual manicure. When you can't wear nail polish at work, you kind of just let things slip. . . a lot.

I went to Nail It Salon on Cass Street after reading the good reviews on Yelp. And they did a great job. It was $25 for the Shellac Manicure. The manicurist filed my nails, pushed back my cuticles and in preparation and then applied a base coat, two layers of color and a top coat. Each layer was cured under a UV light.  I was amazed that my nails were dry as soon as they came out from under the light. She said they would stay that shiny and chip free for the full two weeks. 

After with base coat, top coat and two coats of shellac polish

Its been 4 days since I had my nails done and they still look great! They even survived moving a mattress and bed frame from the basement to the second floor. I have noticed a little bit of regrowth at the cuticle but they are still just as shiny and chip free as the second I walked out of the salon.

Still looking good!

I really like that they haven't chipped or peeled! Normally I'm always breaking my nails. I think I'm a convert. Now if I can only make it to the salon every 2 weeks for the upkeep. . .

Throwback Thursday!

Throwback Thursday! Here's an old picture of Carmel Beach I took back in 2011! I love how instagram makes everyone a photographer. I'm kind of addicted to using the filters. Take a look at this picture I took from Del Monte Beach:

No cropping and using the basic IPhone 4 camera

Instagram after cropping and filter

And voila much better or worse depending on how you feel about filters. Do you have any favorite apps for instagram? I like using InstaCollage for my collages and InstaEffect FX for random effects like stars and sparkles. Not sure when they will ever be useful, but I like them none the less.

Affordable Statement Jewelry

One of the things I miss about living in the big city is the shopping! Its so easy to go to the mall or different boutiques since everything is so close by. I really need to find some more shops I like in the Monterey/Carmel area. Luckily there is a J.Crew and an anthropologie in Carmel! In the mean time I'm going to indulge my online shopping.

I've had my eye on Bauble Bar for a while now. I follow them on pintrest and instagram. But I haven't bought anything until now. I just bought the Minnie Bow earrings in navy when they were a buried baubble.

Minnie Bow image via Baublebar.com

I haven't been much in to statement jewelry but lately I've been trying to update my look. I love all the coral and mint that I've been seeing. I really like this pair of earrings.

Pink Sunflower Studs image via Baublebar.com

And this one

Beach Chandelier Drops image via Baublebar.com

Also in the affordable statement jewelry category is Charming Charlie. I know they have a location at the Northridge Mall. I've only walked past it briefly but, I've been to other Charming Charlie locations and I liked what they had. Especially since everything is set up by color.

Trying on a gold and coral combination with my yellow tank at Charming Charlie in SoCal

I also love J.Crew's jewelry, but its so pricey! I'd rather spend the money on a cashmere sweater. Especially since trends in statement jewelry change so quickly. However I still love to look at it.

Bright Stone Necklace image via JCrew.com

Good Bye Ombre Hair! Hello Brunette

Yesterday I decided to get rid of my ombre hair. I had it dyed at the height of the trend in 2012. I loved how low maintenance the color was, especially after having full highlights for years. It looked really natural too, most people just thought my hair had naturally grown out or had faded from the sun. I wish! It actually took almost 5 hours to color it, but my stylist did an amazing job.

Warm brown to straw blonde ombre hair

But alas, after seeing how much the color had faded and grown out, I decided my beachy mermaid hair had to go. So I decided to go back to being a full brunette, and let me tell you, its a lot hard to get rid of ombre than you would think! First she did a root touch up for my base color. Then I didn't want to do all over color and wanted to keep some of the highlights, so my stylist painted on lowlights to match my base color with the bayalage technique. Afterwards she toned the ends to blend it all in.

Brown Bayalage highlights

I love it! I also got long layers and a couple of inches cut off and it feels fantastic. My hair is so bouncy now and feels less dry since all the bleached blonde ends are gone. The best part is that since the color is Aveda I'll be able to keep it up with my stylist in Monterey. I usually got to the Adara Salon in Pacific Grove. When I'm in LA I always go to the Aveda Institute in Westwood. Its such a good deal since the work is done by students.