To Shellac Your Nails or Not to Shellac

Single girls if you don’t get mani’s and pedi’s please book an appointment now and treat yourself. Like your hair, your make-up, your grooming, your skin care routine, you need to take care of your nails. The big thing for nails is Shellac. What is Shellac you may ask? Well according to my brother in law it’s a car polish for your nails, instead of polish and dry, the process is polish and UV onto your nails.

My verdict on Shellac is that it is a must for your hands. If you have ever experienced the feeling of walking out of the nail bar and a minute later ruining your nails, then you will find Shellac a God send. The colour lasts for approx. 10 – 14 days and if you don’t mind nail re-growth (which I do) you could probably have it on for a lot longer. Another option to eliminate the re-growth bother is to get a French manicure, again not my thing but if it works for you this is another great option.

There is a downside to Shellac in that you can’t use regular polish to get it off and the removal process is a lot longer (approx. 10 minutes a hand). Most nail bars will remove the polish for you, but my inner Martha Stewart and laziness of going back to the nail bar has resulted in me removing my own polish. The removal process does take time and I won’t bore you with the details except to let you know that you will need to get 100% acetone polish remover. There are many “How to remove Shellac Polish” videos on Youtube so please refer to  one  of them for the step-by-step process.

I don’t feel the need to Shellac my toenails, as I don’t have any issues with the regular polish and dry system. As with any polish Shellac should only be done sporadically. Your nails need to breath and be free but for holidays and special occasions where nails need to last it’s a great option.

Have you Shellac-ed your nails?  How long did it last for you?  Would you recommend this, let us know your thoughts.

Keratin Hair Treatment

So ladies, I have what I call crazy hair, it’s wavy, porous (as per my hair dresser) and frizzy. It becomes like Monica’s hair in “Friends” when she was on vacation with the gang in the tropics – I hope you all remember that episode, and if you do that is me in the summer, maybe not that bad, but it’s not good.

I read about Keratin hair treatments in a magazine and I was thinking of doing one except the price I saw in the article was outstanding at around $600 (because of length, time, product etc…), which I’m sorry I can’t justify spending on. In my talks with my hair dresser he mentioned that the price I read was over inflated and said it would be around $350 or so given my hair length etc…So as a treat to myself I thought I would do it.

I have to say I have not been disappointed at all with the results. My hair is so manageable now and I haven’t had a bad hair day since I’ve had the treatment. For me or for any women I think that is a blessing. With that said I have heard and read that this treatment is carcinogenic because it’s synthetic keratin and not the real stuff that your hair naturally produces. If it is cancer causing which I hope it isn’t I am sold.

There are some additional costs which I should mention, the biggest being that you have to buy specific shampoo and conditioner which is pricey but is needed to ensure you don’t ruin the treatment and to make your investment last longer. There is also the time cost in that you have to be at the hair dresser for about 3-4 hours and you can’t get your hair wet (even rain is a no go) for 3 days. I don’t wash my hair everyday but I do wet and condition it regularly so this kind of made me feel gross. There is also a weird smell from the Keratin that is annoying but it’s not totally offensive so if you can get through all this then you’re fine.

The benefits are that you don’t have to buy or put any other products in your hair, which is a savings depending on the products you use. As well there are time benefits as my hair dries a lot faster and the style lasts so I am not having to do my hair every day.

I wouldn’t recommend this treatment for anyone with fine, limp hair but if your hair is crazy and frizzy and totally unmanageable it’s a big buy from me.

Queen B

Maybelline ‘The Falsies” Mascara…

I may not be the best person to write a review on this because I really don’t wear make-up except for mascara, and even then I only put it on when I am going out. For years I have used Maybelline’s Great Lash mascara, however when I saw ‘The Falsies’ commercial it was the first time I wanted to try something new. This product boosts that you will get:

Instant false glam in a tube

The Falsies Mascara delivers a false lash look; giving you a full set of voluminous, bold, fanned out lashes and the appearance of no gaps from any angle.

Well, I found it clumpy and yes there were no gaps because my lashes were clumped together. They looked thicker but that’s because I had a big wad of mascara stuck to them. Also I noticed that after a night out, I would wake up looking like Alice Cooper and I am not sure his look was ever considered glam.

Since I do remove my make-up before hitting the sac, I really should not wake up looking like a 70’s rock legend. I believe ‘The Falsies’ mascara is a lot harder to remove, due to its thickness.  This definitely not a mascara that you’d want to have on when hitting the gym…YIKES!

The Alice Cooper look never happened with my Great Lash Mascara, I guess there is a reason why I have used it for so many years, it truly is the best. As for ‘The Falsies’ I’ll pass on this one and just go back to the old tried and true until something else catches my eye.

If your experience was different please let us know, maybe I am applying it wrong.

Single Gals Disapprove 😦

Mixed Chicks…“a curly revolution”

As some of you may have seen from my picture, I have curly hair. I used to have wavy hair, but then the hormones kicked in and it went curly. Over the years I have tried numerous products from the cheap to the very expensive.

I recently went into a wholesale product store to get my usual, when the sales guy sold me on something called Mixed Chicks. Mixed Chicks carries products for curly haired ladies of all multi-cultural backgrounds.

I bought the Leave In Conditioner (under the Syle & Control section on their website) and I must say I love this product. It not only smells great and leaves my hair feeling nice and light with no build up, but it also removes 2 steps from my daily routine. I get in the shower, wash my hair, get out and put Mixed Chicks in and I’m ready to go. No need to condition in the shower or add a mousse, gel or another styling product. The Leave In Conditioner acts as a conditioner and styling product all in one!

Now if you like a little more “crunch” to your curls or it’s super humid out, you may want to add something more. But I tend to like my curls more natural looking and if I do want a little more hold, I’ve just used a larger amount of Mixed Chicks and it works fine.

The price I paid for the 10oz bottle was $24.99 (CDN). The prices listed on their website are way cheaper – but it is in US funds and I’m not sure they deliver to Canada. So if you’re ever in the US, I suggest you stock up!

Check out Mixed Chicks at http://www.mixedchicks.net/.

Enjoy!
Single Chick

This Product is Single Gals Approved

CO Bigelow – Metha Lip Tint

This is a mint infused lip gloss so not only does it give you pretty shiny lips but it gives you fresh minty breath as well. Bonus for any Gal single or taken!  According to Cosmo shinny moist lips make men think of other moist places, this is great for the Cougar who want to seduce a hot young cub; he’ll never know what hit him.

Metha Lip Tint comes in five great colors; Coral Mint, Pink Mint, Plum Mint, Violet Mint, and my favorite Bare Mint. You can purchase this great find at Bath and Body works for $7.50 ea or 3 for $15.00 and when they have a sale you can get 3 for $12.00. If there is no Bath and Body Works in your area you can purchase online at http://www.bigelowchemists.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=mentha+lip+tint

Comments from the Single Gals Team that have tried this product are:

“They last forever and keep your breathe smelling minty fresh!”

“I love that I can eat garlic and than put my lip gloss on and be all minty fresh”

“My lips look so good, I want to kiss myself”

 

Ladies I recommend that you give this little gem a try and test it out on the next hottie that you encounter. Happy lip locking!

This Product is Single Gals Approved