China Glaze
Flip Flop Fantasy Nail Lacquer
For my birthday/summer vacation in Dominican Republic I wanted crazy nails that screamed summer. I chose China Glaze’s Flip Flop Fantasy nail lacquer, a neon coral/pink with a flat finish. The polish glowed while I was drying my nails in one of those contraptions with a fan and a UV light making it club/rave approved, none of which I would be taking part in on my trip. The manicure was accented with an acrylic bow that was my first foray into 3D nail art. I could have done without the bow but it was fun to try something different with my nails. Besides it is not like tricked out fluorescent nails are work appropriate, which is funny because I am actually still wearing them at work (minus two nails but we will get to that later).
If you are wondering if those wonderful long nails are mine the answer is yes, as in yes I paid for them. I made an appointment for a Valley Nail Set at Valley NYC in Soho and it turned out that they use Dashing Diva’s Virtual Nails. The same exact nails, glue and everything, down to the packaging. I had gotten Virtual Nails at Dashing Diva many times before and they are similar to those press on nails that you can find at drugstores except that they come in a wide range of sizes, are custom fitted and glued on to your nails. They last two weeks or even longer in my experience. I used to swear by them until the last time I got them done at Dashing Diva. I had them for no longer than two weeks and when they were removed (through soaking them off in a nice pool of acetone) all of my natural nails had a healthy tinge of green. Basically I got nail fungus and it was not pretty. Thankfully each nail was not entirely covered and it grew out quickly. It is not fair to judge their Virtual Nails from one bad experience after countless successful ones, but one bad nail fungus can scar you for life. As you can imagine, I was not exactly thrilled to see Virtual Nails at Valley but I decided to go through with it anyway. After all it is more about proper application than the nails themselves. I was happy with my nail technician Karen who did a great job fitting, applying, trimming and shaping the nails. It is really important that the Virtual Nails fully adhere to your natural nails. If they start to lift around the edges within a few days, get them removed immediately. Once moisture gets trapped between your nail and the virtual nail you will have a prime breeding ground for fungus. The lifting happened to me that last time at Dashing Diva and instead of having the nails removed right away, I waited until the two weeks were up. Learn from my mistakes and do not let it happen to you.
It has been a week and a half since my service at Valley and I am happy with my nails besides the two that are missing. I lost one nail trying to organize the fridge in the room at my grandmother’s house where my fiancé was staying. A gallon of water slipped out of my hand and broke a nail in the process. One of my uncles usually stays in there when he visits and why he would put a full size refrigerator in a bedroom is beyond comprehension. I was furious for a few minutes since I had to trim the remainder of the nail and walk around with nine long nails and one short one. I take nail symmetry very seriously. The second victim did not infuriate me as much since it happened on my way back home. I do not even know where I lost it, which is kind of hilarious to me/horrifying for the person who finds it. Some minimal lifting is happening around the edges because of hanging out in the beach and pool at the resort but that was to be expected. I need to make time to have them removed stat!
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DRBrooklyn730
