Me and manicures, we have a love / hate relationship.

In my mind, the French Manicure represents a woman who has it all together; she’s smart, has things organized in cute little boxes on her desk, doesn’t have clothes strewn around her room, owns outfits that match, and is successful enough to spend $10 a week on nail upkeep. Perfectly painted fingers are the hallmark of chic and classy.

So, why oh why am I hopeless when it comes to keeping them that way?

Not being able to preserve a French mani makes me feel like a loser. A childish idiot who can’t maintain even the simplest womanly fashion. How hard is it to keep one’s nails at a nicely filed length? How difficult is it to keep that pretty white line from chipping off?

If you’re me, very hard. Incredibly hard. Impossible. Read More »

A painless bikini wax?! Please oh please, say it’s true!

Lycon Wax, a high quality hair removable wax available at both salons and drugstores, is supposedly “practically pain free”. Because of the wax’s self-hardening properties, it doesn’t pull on the skin while ripping out hair, and leaves little to no redness in its wake.

I’ve gotten my eyebrows done with Lycon, and I have to say I agree with the “practically painless part”.

I mean, you’re still very aware someone is ripping part of your eyebrow off, but the pain is minimal when compared to traditional wax-and-strip methods. The redness factor is also nominal, even on psychotically sensitive skin like mine.

I have yet to get a bikini wax with the stuff, and am way too much of a chicken to try it at home, but I assume the ouch factor down there is probably less as well—although I doubt yanking fuzz from a vajayjay is ever going to be completely comfortable. Read More »

I can honestly say that I find nothing better in life than a manicure/pedicure combo for the beautiful price of $25. Those Korean / Vietnamese women and men really know what they’re doing! Warm towels, massages, my favorite Essie colors (Wicked for the toes and Waltz for the fingers, obviously!) and Maury Povich playing the background; it is simply heaven.

Unfortunately, my last trip to my favorite neighborhood nail shop –the difference between it and the other 20 salons on my street I could not tell you, besides the fact that it is closest to the Dunkin Donuts where I get my morning brew – left me with less than a happy ending. (I am not speaking of that kind of happy ending.)

I have no problem with the fact that most of the people who work at this particular nail shop have a difficult time with English. I have been getting my nails done at shops like this for years, so it really comes as no surprise. But, until this particular day, I never realized just how much there is to learn about communicating in English beyond just verb conjugation. Read More »

You’ve been putting it off for weeks and now you’re “up shit’s creek with out a paddle” (as my own mother likes to say) – you’ve got like a day left to get YOUR mother a gift!

Hey, I’m a procrastinator too but make sure you get your Mom one (or all) of these gifts that inspire relaxation to show her just how much you appreciate the packages that she sends you, the money she gives you for laundry and the extra food she cooks for you to take back to school with you when you visit home for the weekend.

This AETÓ-ette Botanica Hair & Body Spa On-The-Go makes a great gift for the mom who loves to travel. Each bottle is carry-on approved (under 3 oz.) and the kit contains four products that all soothe and nourish to a state of natural bliss.

The AHAVA In the Bag Gift Set is an incredible at-home spa experience that will soothe, smoothe and pamper your mother like she truly deserves (think of all those times you gave her grief). The gift set contains a mineral body lotion, mineral shower gel, dead sea bath crystals, the AHAVA bath mitt, and it even comes in a cute mesh beauty bag with a mirror key chain! Read More »

So, my dad – an ever-proud Mizzou alum – recently decided to tell me about his beloved university’s Student Recreation Complex (a fairly new addition, erected in 2005). As someone who doesn’t even know the location of her own school’s rec center, you can imagine my apathy (I think my exact response was “Meh”).

Upon further information though, I understand what my dad was on about. Um, this architectural gluttony was modeled after Cribs and it even boasts its own Playboy-inspired “Tiger Grotto”. There is a sauna. There is a hot tub. There are waterfalls and palm trees. There is a curtailed version of the Six Flags sensation Lazy River, and – oh yeah – waiters to serve up wraps and smoothies poolside.

What’s that? You need a mani-pedi? A cucumber facial? A deep-tissue, reflexological, aromatherapeutic massage? All available on demand.

Fine, Mizzou students! When you’re finished there, why don’t you just wrap yourselves up in your towels of gold, slip on your diamond flip-flops, and ride your stallion-drawn carriage back to the dorms! Pfft!