Archive for the ‘Hands and Feet’ Category

Get Your Hands Ready For Summer – Best Lotions, Treatments, and Tricks for Youthful Hands

Winter Winds and Spring Cleaning can really take a toll on your hands. Now that the nicer weather and amazing summer nail trends are here, it’s time to start repairing!

Hand-y Masks

To help repair weather worn hands, try a hand mask. Like a face masque, these ultra rich lotions penetrate deep into your skin to maximize healing. Most need to remain on the skin for 20 minutes or so, just like your facial mask.  I try to do my hands at the same time, usually during a hot bath or while watching reruns on Slice.

While you can repurpose a hydrating facial mask for dry hands, I still prefer choosing a hand specific product to deal with issues such as tightness, dryness, weather damage, and callusing.

Babor SPA Mediterranee for Hands Hand Mask Super Rich (100 ml) An extra-rich mask designed for extremely stressed, dry skin.

Alessandro Thermasoft Self Heating Hand Mask (1 pair) 100% Natural, this Self-Heating Hand Mask is actually a pair of gloves that offer intensive care.

Alessandro Cream Royal Regenerating Hand Mask (50ml) This amazing Mask regenerates tired hands and is a great anti-aging treatment.

Cuticle Care and Nail Strengthening

When I first learned about manicures, nails, and all things glittery- trimming your cuticles was a critical part part of the routine. However, times have change. Current research recommends pushing back your cuticles. And, unless you’re a licensed nail technician, you should never trim your cuticles. Your cuticles help to protect and care for your nails as they grow. When cuticles are cut or trimmed, the nails lose their protection and can grow in distorted. I just adore my SpaRitual Cuti-Cocktail Pen & Pusher. This 2-in-1 uses a nourishing serum to help soften cuticles while promoting nail growth. Also, try out the Cuccio Cuticle Conditioning Butter Stick a great blend of Shea Butter, Vitamins A & E and Olive Oil.

There are two big things that you can do to strengthen your nails. First, opt for an amazing CND Solar Oil Treatment. There are a lot of nail and cuticle oils available right now. CND Solar Oil is my favourite. The Jojoba Oil is key. It penetrates deep into your nails and leaves them strong.

The other Major Must for Nail Strengthening is always starting with a base coat when putting on polish. There are a couple of important reasons for this, intensely coloured polishes can stain nails, wearing polish can weaken your nails, and some base coats have additional ingredients to strengthen or help nails grow.  Our favourites? Butter London Nail Foundation: Flawless Basecoat, Mavala 002 Protective Base Coat, and Alessandro Nourishing Base Coat.

The Best  Daily Hand Creams

As with the rest of your skin, it’s extremely important to keep your hands well moisturized. Wind, weather, and daily life can take their toll on your skin. It’s recommended to moisturize your hands after every time you wash as constant water exposure, ironically, dies out skin! Plus, soaps and cleansers can remove some of the natural protective oils on your skin.

Keep hands soft with some of our favourite hand creams:

Burt’s Bees Shea Butter Hand Repair Crème (2 sizes)
Burt’s Bees Shea Butter Hand Repair Crème is a super rich natural hand cream that is perfect for a daily indulgence. Sunflower oil and glycerin are infused with the all-natural goodness of shea butter and essential botanical oils like macadamia nut, rosehip, lavender, neroli and borage, that impart antioxidants and fatty acids to nourish your skin, nails and cuticles.

 

Guinot Longue Vie Mains: Multi-Action Vital Hand Care (75 ml)
Longue Vie Mains is an ideal, intensive non-greasy hand and nail daily treatment that moisturizes protects and enhances the youthful appearance of hands by stimulating cellular renewal and minimizing the appearance of brown spots and blemishes, while moisturizing and nourishing the hands to keep them beautiful, soft and supple.

Yonka Nutri-Protect Mains – Hand Cream (50 ml) 
An ultra-repairing and soothing hand cream that acts as a 3 in 1 treatment for hands, nails and cuticles, Yonka Nutri-Protect Mains repairs even the driest and most damaged skin. Rich in shea butter, this hand cream prevents the premature aging of hands, yet is easily absorbed and non-oily, leaving hands feeling silky and soft.

 

 Looking for the perfect gift? Why not opt for a Burt’s Bees Tips ‘N Toes Kit (6 pc)? A collection of Burt’s Bees rich creams and softening butters that will keep your hands and feet naturally soft and beautiful.

As always, just for being a follower of our blog, enter coupon code BLOG10 for 10% off your next purchase! Also, remember to follow us @spaboutique on Twitter, like our Facebook  page, and check out our boards on Pinterest! You could be the lucky winner of one of our many contests!

 

Striplac – Easy Gel Nails At Home!

Next week, we’ll be premiering Striplac in Canada! I got a sneak peek into this revolutionary At Home Gel Nail System… and it was AMAZING!

Here are The Top 5 Reasons Why I LOVE Striplac:

1. Striplac is way more convenient then going to the salon. The entire application took about half an hour to put on while watching “Mad Men”. When I was ready to remove it? No second appointment needed, it peeled off smoothly and in less than a minute!
2. The Striplac UV light is small compared to other kits (making it easy to store) but still able to do a full pedicure!
3. My nails were glossy, strong and scratch free for over a week! The Striplac colour stayed vibrant through dishes, gardening, and even a dip at the pool! Currently, there are 24 colours available, and it’s going up to 55 by the end of the year!
4. No Acetone or solvents! <– This is a BIG win in my book! As I have successfully managed to spill Nail Polish Remover on my couch, carpet, linoleum floor, desk, coffee table, and even once had a cat knock it down a flight of stairs (Talk about a mess!)
5. Did I mention that it just PEELS OFF?! The top layers peel off cleanly and a thin protective layer remains on the nails. Once filed smooth, your nails feel stronger and look gorgeous!

As a pre-Mother’s Day treat, I invited my mom over for a quick Striplac manicure. Growing up, I always admired how perfect her polished nails looked. An elementary school teacher, she kept a rainbow of colours beneath he bathroom sink, one for every possible event. Purple on Sports Day, Orange for Halloween, Pastels for Easter, and shimmering reds for Christmas. She even let me practice rudimentary nail art (mostly flowers made of dots) that she diligently wore until they were too chipped to recognize. My favourite part was when she’d let me paint her right hand. The goal was, of course, to make sure it was just as smooth as the left… but I generally ended up making even more of a mess!

Now that I’m grown and a full nail polish addict, my skills have improved significantly. With a cup of coffee and the latest episode of “House Hunters International”, I set about giving my mom a special mothers day manicure! The Striplac Starter Kit includes a 4-Step File and Cuticle Pusher. I did use a touch of CND Solar Oil on her cuticles. The nails have to be completely dry for the Gel to adhere properly, so I spent a few extra minutes buffing and filing her nails. As we age, the ridges in our nails become more pronounced. Proper buffing makes a huge difference in decreasing the visible age of your hands. Many aging celebs, such as Madonna, are starting to wear gloves in public to help hide the ‘age’ of their hands.

Once the maintenance portion of the manicure is completed, it’s time for the fun part- POLISH! There are 4 layers in a Striplac Manicure, a base coat, a colour coat, a second colour coat and, finally, a top coat. Each coat is cured under the UV light for 60 seconds before adding the next. After the top coat is put on and cured, gently remove the stick surface layer with a cleaning pad and your nails are locked in!

She ended up wearing her Striplac Nails for a week before opting to peel them off and change colours! The bold and professional look was perfect for her weekend away as she didn’t have to worry about scratches or chips while  travelling.  Plus, when she was ready to change colours, she didn’t have to track down a salon or bottle of acetone. A Striplac Manicure is now one of her travelling essentials!

As always, just for being a follower of our blog, enter coupon code BLOG10 for 10% off your next purchase! Also, remember to follow us @spaboutique on Twitter, like our Facebook  page, and check out our boards on Pinterest! You could be the lucky winner of one of our many contests!

 

 

How to give yourself the perfect manicure

All great manicures start with a fantastic nails! Here’s our 6 step guide to the perfect manicure:

Step 1. Gather the Tools for your perfect manicure:

• Nail File 
  
• Nail Buffer
• Base Coat Nail Polish 
• Nail Polish
• High Gloss Top Coat

Step 2. Choose a nail shape and get filing!

Check out our “Best Nail Shapes” chart on the right to find the one that suits you. Make sure you file your nails in one direction. Filing back and forth can damage the nail, causing it to chip and break.

I love my Nail Tek Regular Crystal File. Unlike standard board files, the glass doesn’t shred or snag your nails, giving you more control when shaping. I also feel like my nails are stronger than when I file them with an ordinary file.

Step 3. Buff and Shine!

Next, take a buffer and smooth our the surface of your nails. A true buffer system should have three parts, a semi-coarse file for cleaning,  a smoother file for smoothing, and an extremely smooth file for polishing.  Some fantastic Buffers are the Alessandro Nail Buffer Set and Trind Nail Magic 3-Way Buffer. By smoothing away fine ridges and scratches, you’re creating a smoother surface for your manicure.

Some days, I’ll opt for just the buff and shine on my nails as the high gloss option is fantastic when you need to give your nails a break between polishes or want a more natural look. To make your naked nails look fantastic, focus on creating a consistent nail shape and texture.

Step 4. Apply the Base Coat.

Start with your base coat. Often either clear or nude. Specialized Base coat polishes help to strengthen and protect your nails. Personally, I haven’t always been a fan of base coats, having to allow all that extra time for another layer of polish to dry? It wasn’t until I left my favourite red nail polish on for a week and found my nails stained. Ever since I’ve been a firm believer in my Butter London Nail Foundation: Flawless Basecoat. A sheer nude, it helps to smooth out ridges and goes on matte.  Apply a thin base coat and let dry.

Ways People Try To Quick Dry Nails

Holding wet nails in front of a fan
Dipping nails in ice water for 3 minutes
Spraying the nails with cooking spray
The ‘cool’ setting on your blow-dryer
Put hands in the freezer for 2 minutes

Step 5. Apply Your Perfect Polish.

Ever since Nail Polish became widely available in the 1920 (thanks to the innovation of automobile paint!), each year brings a multitude of new colours, textures, trends and finishes. How is a girl to choose?! Look for a colour that you will enjoy wearing for the entire length of your manicure. Three days of neon pink is a lot easier to work with than a 4 week shellac in the same shade. That being said, this spring everything is fair game. Neon hues are right on trend, as are pastels, nudes, textured nails, and metallics.

I’ve seen several infographics on How To Apply Nail Polish, but the one below is my favourite. It clearly shows how to brush on Nail Polish for maximum coverage. Start by applying a drop near the base and brush it towards the cuticle. Then, brush towards the tip of the nail. Follow a similar procedure for each side until the nail is covered. With a steady hand, you should be able to achieve full coverage with only 3 strokes, once down the middle and along each side. Don’t worry if the polish seems thin, wait a few minutes and add a second coat. Most Nail Polish requires two coats to bring out the colour. Plus, the second coat will help the manicure to last longer!

Step 6. Finish With A Top Coat

Finally, always finish with either a clear or matte top coat. I love Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. The formula leaves nails strong, durable, and resistant to chipping / peeling. Plus, Seche Vite actually helps dry your nails faster! The glossy sheen to my nails also helps to keep my ‘at home’ manicure looking salon perfect.

 

As always, just for being a follower of our blog, enter coupon code BLOG10 for 10% off your next purchase! Also, remember to follow us @spaboutique on Twitter, like our Facebook  page, and check out our boards on Pinterest! You could be the lucky winner of one of our many contests!

 

What is Striplac?

Arriving May 15th, Striplac is a revolutionary At Home Peel-Off UV/LED Nail Polish.

Alessandro International, dedicated to the beauty of the modern woman, recruited top European chemists to develop an at home system that offers the same results with less work and fewer chemicals. Working in a state of the art German laboratory, these scientists developed  Striplac.

Once cured beneath the UV/LED Light,  Striplac Nail Polishes provide long lasting, high gloss Shellac for up to 10 days! Ready to change colours? No Solvents. No Acetone. The innovative gel nail formula simply peels off.

That’s right. It Peels Off… no harsh chemicals that can ruin the nail.

Instead of trying to squeeze in an additional 20 or 30 minute appointment to have your gels nails removed, you can peel them off in less than a minute. We received a starter kit for our office and sent it home with the staff. I’ll be posting a detailed review next week!

Spa Boutique is proud to be the exclusive, Canadian online retailer for  Striplac. For a limited time, Spa Boutique will be offering the Alessandro Striplac Starter Kit at a promotional price! This gel nail starter kit includes: UV LED Lamp, Peel-off UV/LED Nail Polish no. 12 (Classic Red), Peel-off UV/LED Base & Top Coat, Cleansing Pads, 4 step file, and a cuticle pusher. Everything for a perfect at home Shellac manicure!

 

As always, just for being a follower of our blog, enter coupon code BLOG10 for 10% off your next purchase! Also, remember to follow us @spaboutique on Twitter, like our Facebook  page, and check out our boards on Pinterest! You could be the lucky winner of one of our many contests!

Friday Fun-Day! Happy Lunar New Year!

With the grayness of winter outside, I am always looking for a reason to celebrate. This weekend, there are 3! In BC, we have a brand new holiday this Monday, Family Day. Lunar (or Chinese) New Year!  Plus, next week the Spa Boutique Team is moving to their Brand New Fancy Head Office and Warehouse space!

With red and gold decorations going up, I really want to get into the Lunar New Year spirit, but in a subtle way. There are a lot of really nifty gold eye shadows (like Jane Iredale 24-Karat Gold Dust Powder that actually has 24 karat gold dust!). Personally, I’ve always believed that an understated gold eyes is a great way to compliment you FANTASTIC NAIL ART!

The two major colours for Lunar New Year nails are Red and Gold. Both are considered extremely lucky colours. Often seen at weddings and special occasions, Red symbolizes Happiness, Beauty, Joy and Luck. Gold represents Wealth, Happiness and was traditionally associated with the Royal Family. On Friday, after a long crazy week- it’s kind of nice to get your lucky nails on.

There are so many fun ways to play with Red and Gold, especially with crackle polishes. Check out some of our favourites:

Here are a few of our most coveted shades of red and gold nail polishes:

Butter London Glitter Trio (11 ml) Chancer: Crushed glitter red, West End Wonderland: Gold glitter polish, Rosie: Pale pink glitter

Alessandro Catch Me Holiday Nail Polish Collection (5ml) Golden Magic: True shimmery gold, Flaming Spirit: Intense fiery red, Red Treasure: Deep shimmery red

LCN Crackle Polish Collection (8ml each) Cherry Cyclone: Strong Red

China Glaze Metallic Crackle Nail Polish Collection (14ml / 0.5fl oz – choice of shades) Tarnished Gold: Warm, honeyed hue, Cracked Medallion: Bold bronze

SpaRitual Gold Collection Aurum: Pure Gold, Rusted Lux: Dark Rusty Gold

Lots of cities and communities are hosting parades, dragon dances and more this weekend. Which means there are plenty of opportunities to show off your new lucky nails!

As always, just for being a follower of our blog, enter coupon code BLOG10 for 10% off your next purchase! Also, remember to follow us @spaboutique on Twitter, like our Facebook  page, and check out our boards on Pinterest! You could be the lucky winner of one of our many contests!