Shellac, the Latest Trend in Manicures

In New York City, if you want to live long enough to tell the tale, you delegate. In my case, it comes down to this: find the experts, and let them handle it. I do my job, you do yours. It works. So with a nail salon, where the manicurists know what they’re doing, it’s easier if I just let them do their thing, and not intervene. It gives me more time to tweet. Or listen to my neighbor’s conversation on her phone.




Well, a step better than a nail salon in NYC is Iguazu Day Spa. Several steps, actually, because they not only handle your nails, but your face, body, and with their unique environment, your mind. The stone floor puts you immediately into another zone as you enter. It’s quiet. Not raucous. Not like a cafeteria at lunchtime in high school. Quiet. Relaxing. All that a spa should be.
Iguazu Day Spa, NYC
Fabien makes a warm welcome feel like you’ve never been greeted before. He’ll tell you, recommend to you, suggest to you, all with your best interests in mind. Even if you’re a terror on your nails, he’ll sort it out. Iguazu sorted it out for me this week and found the solution: Shellac. Somewhere I had heard of the new rage in the nail biz and had overlooked the reality. The buzz then was about gel. This Shellac is so beyond. Iguazu’s resident specialist Virginia can do your hands and feet as only a pro can do them. Because I work with my hands, a manicure lasts maybe one, two days tops. That’s an expensive little habit to keep up. But Shellac might just be the investment cure I needed. The process is touted to last 2 or even 3 weeks. Now, that sounds better than 2 days, doesn’t it?
Iguazu Day Spa, New York City
Fabien recommended it, and Virginia wholeheartedly agreed that for me, this may very well be the solution. That, or I spend most of  my days looking like a gorilla. Not a good thing when you have to meet and greet the public as often as I do. So, to the Shellac bar we go.
It’s a process, like any other, that can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. Virginia takes the full hour to apply multiple layers and insure the long-lasting effects of this newfangled way to do nails. No, you can’t do this at home. It takes several coats of some pre-polish, and then the polish, with intermittent sessions of your hand being gently placed inside a fun little machine. No, it’s not a toaster oven. It’s formulated to ”cook” the shellac, and harden it. It’s so hard that today, the week after, I’m painting  beads with acrylics, and not having any adverse reactions with my  nails. The paint washes right off, and even though I worked on a particularly hands-on piece right after the manicure, these nails look great!
Recommendation: get the Shellac job from Virginia at Iguazu Day Spa. Not a nail salon, but a spa. Your spirit will thank you, and you can look over their menu at the same time and decide which facial to come in for next week. Ah, the joys of New York City!