This journey for the perfect nails has been a long one. The truth is, the pursuit of this path can get expensive unless you are willing to invest your time in learning the skills to maintain your own nails. Then there is the health aspect to this pursuit. The dabble between who I wanted to be and what my pockets could actually afford. Nonetheless, I am literally just a girl.
The white gel pedicure is my holy grail for my toes. I know… white toes is basic as hell, and I don’t care. It’s the perfect color for the toes and makes them pop. While I have mastered doing my own gel pedicure at home, I greatly prefer to go to the salon for my pedicures. It’s therapeutic and deeply spiritual to me to have someone “wash your feet”. ( John 13:13-17 )
My fingernails however, have been a treacherous journey of balancing nail health with the perfect nail color. I really want my nails to look like mine, but better. So that natural fingernail pink is exactly the color I aim to find. However, I didn’t know that this was all my little heart desired until one silly day at a nail salon.
The epiphany of my nails pinnacle came when I went in for my usual pedicure and decided to also get an acrylic pink french manicure set. I thought I was ready to invest in this part of the manicure world, and even made sure I had the whole day off for this experiment.
I booked my appointment early in the day, 10a. Dropped my kids off at their respective daycares. Then took a bus and a brisk walk to the nail salon I was visiting for the first time. Instantly, the vibes were amazing. Pedicure chairs lined the wall with hanging dried flowers. The chairs faced the manicure tables, and a large tv hung on the wall to the right, silently playing funny home videos. The place was well lit from the sunlight pouring in the glass windows behind me. Well lit and practically empty. Mornings on a weekday has it perks.
My pedicure went very quickly and as expected. The real trouble began when it was time for my acrylic manicure, and maybe if I hadn’t smoked some grass on the lovely brisk walk, I probably would have realized so much sooner.
At last, no. There I was, stoned and stuck on the silent home videos. I was in the salon for over five hours before I realized how new to the game my technician was. A previous client came in and sat next to me to get their nails fixed because the technician simply forgot to do the top coat due to the fact they were chatting away during her appointment. Yikes! That snapped me out of my daze very quickly. While I don’t quite know the mechanics of how one does an acrylic set these days, I do know it took too long for him to make my nail into an almond shape with the pink goo he has applied, hours too long. But the pink goo was so pretty to me, I decided to simply ( and thankfully! ) end the manicure there.
Despite the whirlwind of the manicure itself. I was in love with the pink color of the acrylic nail goo, and began my research for colors that mimic this look in regular nail polish. I came back to the nail salon one more time before I realized how much I didn’t wish to be a part of this portion of the nail culture. No, ladies and gentlemen, we have pivoted to a new pursuit. Growing out my natural nails with regular polish and a simple routine.
My research to grow out my natural nail for the length I want, took me to a nail goddess on YouTube, who had been around the game forever! I was shocked I had never stumbled on her before, but beyond grateful for how long her knowledge had been gracing the internet to solidify her data. I highly recommend her playlist, linked below.
Now I only go to the nail salon for my monthly gel pedicure, and it’s absolutely heaven not to have to stress about my fingernails. The pursuit of achieving this nail at home has taken me on the hunt for the perfect pink nails / top coat combo. This is inspiration. I am the inspiration. These are my nails.
tanika 