Minx | WhyDid.com

Why Don’t You Try This: Bed of Nails

By Kirsten|February 10th, 2011|Beauty Buzz|

I have gone on and on about my trials and tribulations with nail polish. I just can’t keep polish on my pointers. I’ve Minx’ed, Axxium’ed, and Shellac’ed. I considered pushing hard to bring chipped nails into style (wasn’t happening). I’ve even spent time with my nails- gasp– naked! Well, here I am again to chat about my latest endeavor into Lacquerville: population, 1.

While in the drugstore the other day picking up the essentials: TP, Aquaphor, Elle… I stumbled upon Sally Hansen Salon Effects. I was initially just checking out the cute little nail art pens then nearly lost my shit when I saw these. Just like Minx, Salon Effects are self adhesive strips of nail color that allow for zero drying time. They are made from actual nail polish (how that works… don’t ask me) and come in bright solids, colorful glitter, and a variety of patterns. I thought I was on top of my game finding these, but apparently, the word is out, cause my selection was very limited. So, I settled on a black and white floral pattern. Ten dollars for sixteen strips might sound steep, but not if it actually lasts ten days! Not to mention, Minx manicures can run you $50-65 a pop!

I’m not gonna lie, I may have been drinking wine when I attempted to apply these… I also should have probably had my glasses on . Despite my haphazard attempt at application, these babies still came out pretty great and I received compliments on them all weekend. I read some other reviews, and I gotta say, these ladies must be real experts applying polish cause their manicures lasted much longer than mine. I would say mine stayed sexy for a solid four days, but I would definitely try them again (perhaps sans cocktails) and would certainly recommend them to someone looking to add a little somethin’ somethin’ to their usual manicure.

xx,

WhyDid

*(Editor’s Note 3/8/11: I tried these again without prosecco and with my glasses and was delighted with the results. They stayed on well over the 10 day time period with minimal chipping and maximum compliments!)

Beauty Buzz: Tough as Nails

By Kirsten|December 9th, 2010|Beauty Buzz|

I’ve mentioned once or twice that I have a heck of a time keeping any form of polish on my fingers. I have now been told that I may have “oily nailbeds.” Thanks, life. Dry skin and oily nailbeds. Anyway, I’ve tried Minx. I’ve tried OPI axxium. I’ve spent weeks sans polish. So, when I went online to schedule my Brazilian last week, I was elated to see that bliss was now offering CND Shellac manicures! The sky then opened up and angels came down and serenaded me.

The problem with some of the gel manicures is that they are just as damaging as getting… gasp… acrylic nails. They may stay on and look shiny, but when it comes time to remove, there’s a lot of scraping, filing, and peeling done that leaves your nails week and paper thin. When picking a gel manicure make sure that you ask if the gel will SOAK OFF. Otherwise, you may as well start picking out air brush art to go on your acrylics.

After experiencing the joy that is a Brazilian, I headed over to pamper my poor neglected little fingers. I mean, there is nothing worse than chipped nails when sporting your pretty diamond engagement bling. The lovely and talented Brandy fixed my fingers up in no time. She assured me that these puppies would last at least two weeks with no chips. The best part (other than the great convo and delicious mimosa) was the zero drying time. I still babied my fingers as if they might smudge, but they didn’t. It’s been about a week already and there is not a chip in sight (knock on wood).

bliss Hollywood

6250 Hollywood Boulevard

Hollywood, CA 90028

If you don’t have a bliss near you- well, first of all I’m sorry- but here is a list of salons that offer CND Shellac manicures.

chip off the old block, eh?

xx,

WhyDid

Beauty Buzz: Finger Bling

By Kirsten|August 9th, 2010|Beauty Buzz|

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So after my fingers and toes looking like I’d been jogging in sandpaper while digging in glass for a week, I decided it was time for a mani/pedi STAT. After searching Yelp for a place that does gel manicures (more on that later), I found a place in West Hollywood called Extremedys 2012. Not only do they offer gels, they specialize in Minx. I wasn’t 100% sold on the whole “Minx” thing cause I’d heard some horror stories about it (shrinky dink ring a bell?), but upon arrival, I was swayed into trying it out. Winoneh let me know that Minx would stay on my toes for 5-8 weeks! The only reason to get them changed would be either boredom or natural growth. I asked about another 345,785 questions before picking a design out of the book for my toes. (Apparently leopard print is the most popular pattern).

Winoneh informed me that you must take a special training class in order to apply Minx properly and some of the foul ups with other friends’ nails might be due to poor technique. It didn’t take long before my toes looked like this:

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One of the best parts of Minx is the lack of drying time. When they’re on, they’re on. These are apparently all the rage with celebs right now. Here are a few lovely ladies and their Minx:

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I only opted for bling on my toes, but the possibilities of mixing and matching are endless. I was, yet again, overwhelmed. Make your own finger bling by visiting the ladies at Extremedys.

Extremedys 2012

8001 Santa Monica Boulevard

West Hollywood, CA 90046

323-848-8094

xx,

WhyDid