A hand model I am not

My hands, and particularly my nails, are always mangled. I don't know if it's a matter of the inordinate amount of typing I do on a daily basis, the fact that I wash dishes and take showers with no cold water, or simply don't moisturize. But my cuticles are always a mess and my nails always uneven (okay-- may also have to do with the nervous picking that I inevitably do when stressed or upset). Manicures, despite obvious need, have never been my cup of tea. Mostly due to the nail polish being chipped the same day as the manicure because I can't sit still long enough to let my nails dry (oh, okay-- my consummate clumsiness may be the culprit). Even when I got engaged I wasn't that girl who got manicures to show off the ring. Any way you slice it, it was never worth the investment. Pedicures on the other hand are a different story. I love foot massages, getting callouses buffed away and toes painted. It's a little slice of heaven. Another entry for another time.

Since moving to England, pedicures have gone away simply due to the fact that it's not an every corner business like it is in NYC and Chicago. In fact, I've yet to see a nail salon anywhere-- even in London. I know they must exist... people have nails here too, after all. But the McDonaldization of nails has not yet hit this country.

Yesterday I was killing some time waiting for MRN in Manchester and happened upon a nail bar in Selfridges (think Neiman Marcus). Operated by Nails Inc London (see? I knew there had to be one in London!), they offered a number of options including a "3 week manicure." Intrigued, despite not being a manicure girl (as my man hands will attest), I decided I'd try it out. Until I saw the price tag.

50 GBP. That's a whopping $78 folks. For a MANICURE. Ummm... I could get two a week for three weeks for those prices in New York or Chicago... NEW YORK CITY OR CHICAGO! Paying nearly $80 bucks for a manicure in Manchester??? I don't think so.

But my nails were in such bad shape, I did spring for the 15 minute manicure at 27 GBP ($42). Given a simple file and paint was 20 GBP, it seemed the prudent thing to do to at least get my cuticles oiled, trimmed and some lotion rubbed on my hands. Even though the sushi that I ate for lunch was HALF the price (and I ate a lot of sushi), I figured, what the heck. Nail salons here are, after all, a commodity. It was a decent manicure-- but certainly on par with the fast food chains in the U.S. (but really, how would I know?). And the technician (that's what they call them here) was super friendly and we chatted about The Hills and Laguna Beach and whether I'd ever seen any celebrities when I lived in LA (yes). All in all, 15 minutes well spent.

So far I haven't botched the job yet... and I even veered from my normal clear (or pale pink... because then at least I don't have to whip out the nail polish remover on day two) for this on-trend, super dark purple (the photo looks black... and MRN thinks it's black, but the description on the bottle said "sultry black grape" darn it. Yeah, okay. Either way-- I'm liking it, despite my man hands. I guess it's good that I [mostly] work at home. Oh well-- it will likely be gone by tomorrow.

(P.S. The nail technician did in fact say that I had very nice nails. I am wondering if that's like when aestheticians tell you that you have really nice skin while their squeezing all the crud out of your pores...)