Here’s what my nails look like now…

←gasp!

I know…I’ve been adorning my nails with wacky designs for nearly 18 months — it’s a little strange for me to have bare AND short nails.  But there are a few plus sides to it:

• I can type faster!
• no “gunk” removal from under my nails… (ew)
• I’m $50 – $120 richer every paycheck, since I’m not splurging on my nail addictions
• I can now practice the piano and get my keys game to a place where I can play & sing my songs for my own gigs…. YES!

Do I miss the crazy designs??  Absolutely.

But I think for the next few weeks, I’m going to let my nails breathe and air out.  But rest assured, I’ll do it up for Fashion Week again!!

So I decided on a simple Glitter Gradation at Marie Nails.  I asked Sayo to mix a combination of #31 & #32 glitters.

She mixed it with Clear Calgel, but instead of making a more liquid consistency, she made it very pasty & chunky/”dry”.

When I asked her why, she said it was so that she could have more control over the glitter coverage, so that it would be really saturated at the tip of the nail, and she could thin it out towards the middle.  (interesting)

For a rather “simple” design, I had TWO very interesting discoveries:

1)  SUPER Clear Calgel.  “Wait — what is this?” you may ask yourself….apparently exactly what it says it is!  Sayo used it as my “top coat” of clear.  The result was extra shininess!

2) A Permashine Gelacquer Top Coat:  Instead of the usual nail polish top coat, Sayo whipped out this new bottle.  She explained it was a gel topcoat that added more protection.  This was applied after my “Super Clear” Calgel.

The result?  SUPER shininess all around!

Total price:  $40

• Despite the fact that Marie Nails didn’t have Biogel available for a base, my nails held up pretty well.
• I only had slight lifting on one nail (my thumb)

As far as design, I didn’t know what I wanted, but I knew I wanted white.  It’s hard for me to commit to a color on my nails, so for winter it’s usually black…but maybe for summer, it’ll be white!  I thought “maybe I’ll go simple this time” (yeah right!).

I remembered this design from my last visit.  It was one of Sayo’s original creations:

So we went with it!

But first we had to remove my old set. **Reminder: Removal is FREE at Marie Nails, provided you got them done there.  Before wrapping my nails in the Calaway foils, Sayo used this machine to file the top layer of the nails off first:

←fast!

Afterwards, she put 1 layer of clear Calgel as a base, followed by a “Pearl” Calgel:

→ 

Then she pulled out the “Ice” Calgel and the Matte White Calgel.  She applied the Ice first, in order to provide a more stark contrast for the Matte White:

Then, came the fun part!   Sayo basically “blobbed” a few spots of Matte White Calgel on the nail…then proceeded to “swirl” them with her brush:

→

→

COOL, right?!

Then we added the Turquoise stones, mini gold beads and gems on the ring fingers & thumbs.

We decided against doing gold glitter outline, and just keep it simple.  Here’s the final look:

Couldn’t be happier! It was exactly what I wanted: white, clean, simple…but not really!

Here’s the most incredible thing:  TOTAL TIME = 1½ hours. That’s for everything: removal, new set AND design.

COST:  $55 for the Calgel & design + $14 for the rhinestones & acoutrements = $69 TOTAL.

I have been meaning to go back to Sakura to visit my girls there, but I’m really happy with the fact that it is cheaper (I mean, removal is FREE), and also THRILLED with the fact that Sayo is lightning fast.  Time is the most valuable commodity of all, and if I can get in & out in only 1½ hours…then that is Visa Card Priceless.

Enjoy! 

VS

LOCATIONS:

AMBIENCE:

SERVICE:

PRICING:

** ANOTHER DIFFERENCE

When I have a Calgel design, I usually prefer to have a Biogel base coat because I’ve noticed that it prevents my designs from lifting.  (I must be extra-rough on my hands!).  But Marie Nails only has Calgel, so no Biogel base coat available.  I’ll see how my recent Marie Nails design holds up…fingers crossed!

CONCLUSION

If you are debating between the two Calgel Nail Art spots — much like everything else in life — it really depends on what you’re looking for.  I have really enjoyed my visits to Sakura, and I’ve found that as long as I make an appointment with someone whose handiwork I KNOW and TRUST, I am always super-happy there.

Now that I’ve been to Marie Nails also, I can also appreciate the fact that Sakura offers the full “experience”, with the hand massage, the aromatherapy cuticle oils, the tea…it’s truly the little things that all add up, especially when you can spend 2-3 hours for a single nail visit.

I DO love the fact that Marie Nails is SUPER-DUPER fast with their application (my last design only took 1.5 hours!!).  While I haven’t been there enough to speak about the rest of their technicians, Sayo (the manager) is unbelievably experienced, fast and her work is impeccable (no bubbles, no heaviness).

OVERALL, Marie Nails is a little cheaper than Sakura.  But if you’re going to get super fancy with crazy Flat or 3D Nail Art…it can actually be a little more expensive, depending on what you get.  So if you’re going to be a standard “glitter gradation” or one-color calgel type of gal — Marie Nails will be the better bargain. But if you ARE going to get crazy with the art, Sakura might end up being a little cheaper.

Hope this post was somewhat helpful — and if there’s anything else you want to add & share…please do!!

www.nailspasakura.com

www.marienails.com

I’m going to be doing a FULL comparison between Sakura vs. Marie Nails in a separate post, so this is just a post for my nail design.

Being that Spring has Sprung…I wanted to try a colorful design (as opposed to my normal black & whites).  So while browsing, I peeped this cute “hipster”-ish design:

I looked to Sayo and after a few seconds of contemplating…she was OFF!!

FYI about Sayo: She’s been doing Calgel for over 5 years (3 in Tokyo, then 2 in LA), so she is a PRO.  My entire design took about 1.5 hours — impressive! She never second guessed herself, she just did it. It was pretty incredible to witness.

First, she filed & trimmed my cuticles, but she used this cute little machine to groom them…(unfortunately, I don’t think my cuticles came out as “clean” as they normally do when they’re just cut with clippers)

Then, after the Calgel base, she did 2 coats of white in the middle, then 2 coats of pink calgel (#14) on the tip.

Then came the “intricate” part.  She used acryllic paints to mix a lavender, light pink, dark pink and mint green shades for the middle section:

She filled the “mosaic” sections in one by one…

Then went in afterwards and applied the Glitter Liner for definition! Here’s the final look:

Overall, I was super-impressed with Sayo’s handi-work.  She never hesitated, never faltered — she just went in there and rocked it out.  There were little things that she did without me even asking — like making sure the final top coat of Calgel was thick enough so that none of the “graininess” of the Glitter Liner could be felt.

I am definitely going to give Marie Nails another try — especially since the removal when I go next time will be FREE!

Due to my recent move to my new apartment (and all the expenses that come with that), my nails have been BARE for the past 45 DAYS! (gasp!) :O

To remedy this…on Saturday, I have my very first appointment at Marie Nails Soho with Sayo.  In a way, taking a sabbatical from my crazy nail art was a good thing.  My nails got a bit of a breather from over 1.5 years of constant Calgel, and I can almost “start fresh” with my designs!

It’s my chance to “start simple” and work my way back up to Crazytown!

Can’t wait to share my Marie Nails Soho experience with y’all!

Thanks to Sayo who let me lay all the nails out to photograph!  This is just an example of the fabulous creations that the girls at Marie Nails can do.

Hope you enjoy!!

Just walked into Marie Nails Soho location to make my first ever appointment!  (Next Saturday!  EEEK!!)

They also gave me their new PHONE NUMBER:

646.370.4170

Unfortunately, it’s still cash only, but hopefully that will be remedied soon!

It’s no secret that the Japanese LOVE nail art.  And I love them for loving it.

In Japan, they have SUCH a larger variety of nail accessories!  Rhinestones, studs, bows, metallic tape, metal hardware, nail piercings…all in different shapes and sizes!

Here’s Amy’s LUST-WORTHY NAILS!  (please excuse the photo — she snapped it from her BB to make me jealous!):

*sigh*

Maybe one day I’ll get some fly designs in Tokyo too!!

Until then, I have Nail Lust!!