Summertime Essentials

(image courtesy of beauty411.net & http://beauty411.typepad.com)

With the official start of summer completed and the sun finally out in Boston today (after two weeks – two weeks! – of rain), come the need for summertime essentials. Currently, in my Coach carryall is one new essential, past the Kate Spade wallet and Juicy Couture keychains. Introducing Sephora by OPI’s Mermaid In The Shade collection.

An ode to summertime beach fun, Mermaid In The Shade includes shades like dark blue Blue Grotto and blue-green Lagoon-a-Beach. My personal favorite, and recent nail polish investment however, is Mermaid to Order. Metallic teal, the color is juicy and bold but not tacky. It’s slightly iridescent, giving a blue sheen in the sunlight. According to Sephora, the color “captures the deep blues and aqua hues of the oceans.” According to me, it’s just plain fabulous. At $9 a bottle, it’s cheaper than any Chanel or Dior polishes, and gives a perfect mani-pedi for about a quarter of the price. Nab it before it sells out (apparently word is spreading about this shade).

-M

Xpress Spa at Schiphol

M & I are busy working girls, her having just flown back from California, and me, in Canada at the moment for work...all this jet-setting definitely cuts into the funner things in life like time set aside for a spa day including manis/pedis, facials and massages...

Luckily for me, before flying out to Canada via Amsterdam, I did a little bit of googling and found that Xpress Spa had opened up about a year ago in Schiphol's lounge 2. Perfect place to be during a 7 hour lay over I figured.

Upon arrival, completely disheveled and to be honest, perhaps a bit delirious from the long haul flight and lack of sleep combo, I simply collapsed onto the first chairs that I saw...that just happened to be a recliner...gotta love thoughtful airports. (my only gripe about Schiphol...the complete lack of free wifi...LAME) Anyway, I napped for a good 3 hours after which I opened my eyes to the shiny brightness that was Xpress Spa...it was literally right infront of me without my even trying to find it. I got my stuff together and marched right it and asked for a manicure. Their overall menu is quite extensive...they offer massages, reflexology, mani/pedis, facials, and waxing (yes, including Brazilians...which they need to specify on the services list as for women only...i dont even want to know)
Although they had a wait time of 10-15 minutes, the saleswoman set me up (for free) in their super comfy beige leather loungers/automated massager thingys while I sat around.
When my manicurist finally came around, we ended up deciding on a French manicure (guess Lincoln Park After Dark, Russian Navy or Big Apple Red probably were not the best choices for a business trip anyway although I was giddy after spying all that OPI loot around me)
The manicure itself was pretty decent, my manicurist was a lovely Dutch woman who told me all about her life over white tips and coats of pale pink polish...I got to sit around waiting for my polish to dry on those leather chaises for another 30 minutes so it was pretty cool.
The price was a bit steep compared to a regular manicure (I paid approximately 40 US dollars excluding tip) and the service (for the price) was kinda lacking...
Having said that though, just the thought of relaxing and being pampered in an airport terminal during a ridiculously long lay over makes it mostly okay...plus its not a bad way to kill some time either.

Not trampy, not vampy

or...my search for the perfect red nail polish.

I've been feeling super restless these past few days...you know one of those moods where you end up getting an impulse dye-job or bangs-of-the-moment...also known as the fastest route to 'buyer's remorse'

Walking around Boots (our upscale version of CVS) the other night, I was suddenly inspired to buy some nail polish...the easiest, quickest and least committed way to bring about a bit of change to a tired old look.

I went from one counter to the other, trying on a million different shades of red on my nails until I landed at the Chanel counter. That was it. I was in love. Chanel's Lotus Rouge (F '07). Just like the name, it was classy, sexy, rich and deep....oh-so-perfectly-red (without trying too hard)...Just standing at the counter and it trying on, I was supremely impressed. The color came on lovely and smooth...no textured brushstrokes visible...and only took one coat and three simple brushstrokes to cover each nail. Even with my clumsy, uncoordinated moves, it ended up looking like I'd shelled out a lot of money for a manicure.

Of course, story of my life, they didn't have any in stock. Argh! I saw a similar shade at YSL: Copyright Red, but they didn't have that in stock either.

24 hours later, I am still loving the Chanel on my nails (ahem, I might've gone back and 'tried' it on all 10 of my tips...in my defense, I had to know if I loved it or not...and I now know that I DO).

I have been trying to justify the price of the polish too...at KD 7 ($26) it is quite steep...but considering that is generally the price of a single professional manicure, and that I could paint my nails at home multiple times with the same bottle...is it worth it?

(btw, M, I miss OPI...I will have to look out for it in K., haven't seen them around though...maybe Sephora? Hmm...)

(EDIT: Just to put things in perspective for all y'all in the States...a regular bottle of np from the Boots store brand costs about KD 3.250 or 13 bucks...I have tried 2 of them and they chip super fast and need at least 3 coats to look good.)