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Attempting To Break Up With The Nail Salons
We have all had a relationship come to an end. Whether you ended it or you were on the receiving end of the breakup. It all comes with sadness, mixed feelings and questions. Am I making the right decision? Should I try one more time? What now? I oddly have found myself in this predicament. I am in the on-going process of ending a relationship. I say on-going, because I find myself going back from time to time. Since January I have been attempting to end my long-term relationship with my nail salon.
I can honestly say it’s not them, it’s me.
As my life gets busier, it is so hard to find time to go to the nail salon on a regular basis. When I do go, I get light colors on my nails so you can’t tell when it has grown out, because who knows when I will make it back. And if I am being truly transparent, the entire time I am there I am thinking of other ways I could have spent the time. Ending this relationship has been on my mind for a while, but I just couldn’t walk away. COVID forced us to take a break, and I learned that I could survive without my nail salon. But I like having my nails done and my hands and feet looking presentable. So, I went to good old reliable YouTube for a solution. Tons of influencers have videos on how to do Gel-X, acrylic, dip, and gel nails. Surely, I could do this right?
After I decided to fully commit to the breakup I went to Amazon and ordered everything I needed. I purchased a nail drill and UV Lamp with gel polish kit. The kit came with the UV lamp, an adaptor to plug in, 6 bottles of gel nail polishes, base coat and two top coat polishes. I also purchased cuticle remover and gel polish remover. For a little fun, I purchased a set of nail tips and nail glue. All of this cost me a tad over what I would pay for my bimonthly visit to the salon. Not a bad investment, in my opinion.
I was all set! As with everything, there was and is a learning curve.
The first time I did my nails the polish lasted a week. Not too bad! Had I gone the professional route, they would have lasted almost two weeks. My toes lasted about three weeks. Not bad at all! The process of doing my nails takes about 20 minutes max, so if I have to do them more often, it’s not time consuming.
I did go back to my nail shop because I needed my brows done. I am not about to experiment with hot wax on my face! I felt guilty so I got my nails and toes polished too. Once spring somewhat reared its head, I went in for a pedicure. Then I REALLY cheated and visited another nail shop closer to my house to watch their technique because I wanted to learn from the professionals.
It is safe to say that this will be an on again, off again relationship from here on out. I enjoy the convenience of being able to do my nails whenever I want and wear bright colors without stressing over how my nails will look when it grows out. However, I do miss the self-care aspect of getting my nails done. Having someone pamper me for a moment. For now I have decided that when I have the time, I will go to my nail salon, and when I don’t, I will do them myself.
