Thoughts on getting fancy schmancy nails done

People who know me very well will know I can’t really be bothered with make-up, or manicures, and so on. But with a three week-long holiday upon me, including a full-blown Indian wedding and then Christmas, I decided to take the plunge and try this long-lasting nail polish thingybob I’d heard about.

I was told by reliable sources that there are two types of long-lasting nail procedures: Gelish and Shellac. My parlour (YES, YEGADS, I HAVE ONE!) does the former, so I was set.

I chose to have a French manicure, which was a big mistake (more on that later). Essentially, they keep applying goop on your nails, then plonk it in a little box that “cooks the nails” (the parlour lady’s words, not mine) and then voila… nails that don’t chip. Which is, frankly, a miracle when it comes to me. I’m the girl who gets a manicure once a year then smudges it within 7 minutes of leaving the parlour. I have, on occasion, done it while still inside the premises.

But nope, errant zippers and my own clumsy will were befuddled this time as my nails lived on. As if they were done yesterday.

So why was the French manicure a mistake? Mostly because after two weeks my nails obviously grew longer and there was this weird shadow effect on my nails where the white bit of the manicure was shorter than my actual white nail underneath and it just looked odd. If and when I do it again, I’d probably go for a block colour to prevent zombie nails from returning.

And I didn’t even take a photo…