From my observations, there are numerous nail salons in town which charge more or less the same prices. It’s budget-breaking to have regular manicures as each session can cost almost RM100 for regular nail polish and beyond RM100 for gel polish. How about a nail salon with a difference which charges very reasonable prices and you get to learn a few tips and tricks for perfecting your own manicure at the same time? Yesterday’s Sally Hansen Malaysia Nail Art Workshop was held at the less-than-a-year old Nail Room @ 10 Boulevard. This is probably Malaysia’s 1st nail buffet studio which is a one-stop centre for all nail tools and nail accessories to create personal nail art. Here you will be guided on how to create your own manicure using products at Nail Room.
Prices are unbelievably reasonable as (for example) 1 hour usage of the studio (up to 2 nail polish colours of your choice) cost just RM14. Then you add on charges if you want the extras such as water decal or sticker RM2, gems, stencil or foil transfer RM3, nail stamping kit (rental) RM5. Seems like a great venue for a group of girls to hang out for an hour or two.
Other than Sally Hansen’s Moisture Rehab Overnight Nail Serum, the other new Sally Hansen Product is the Keratin Strong Nail Polish range for stronger nails and is said to be chip-resistant for up to 10 days. Most of the shades are quite pastel and soft.
We were instructed on nail shapes, I had no idea there were shapes such as Squared Oval or Squoval, Almond, Ballerina or Coffin and Stiletto. I doubt I can go for the pointy shapes unless I want to poke my eyes when I put on or remove contact lens. For the more fashionable shapes, one needs artificial tips so that the nails are long enough to be shaped.
Alternative to the nail file, there’s this 4 Way Nail Buffer which looks like a small box, each side comes with steps and instructions. I like this 4 Way Nail Buffer because one ends up with professional looking shiny buffed nails which look like gloss has been applied. Once nails have been thus groomed, soak nails in water for a few seconds, dry them and it’s time to apply Sally Hansen Moisture Rehab Overnight Nail Serum which does not leave nails oily. You can straightaway start whats-apping without worrying about smudging your smartphone screen.
One benefit of using Sally Hansen nail polish is that you don’t need to apply a base coat because it’s already contained within the nail polish, that saves time and money. Since I like purple, I chose Sally Hansen Keratin Strong Raisin’ The Bar and Belle Of The Ball for my DIY manicure. The trend is to use 2 different shades on one hand and the shades on fingers on each hand don’t have to match the other hand.
We were shown how to apply water decals which are thinner than stickers and hence they look more like nail art than stickers. Firstly, cut the portion of decal needed, soak in water for 20 seconds and using tweezers, take it out of the water. Wet the nail and then apply the decal, wipe the nail and apply top coat. As for the decal hanging over the nail, apply nail polish on skin to remove excess decal. Nail Room has hundreds of decals to choose from.
One can also use image plates to stamp the design desired on to nails. Nail polish is applied to the image plate and the stamp which looks like a roller is pressed against the plate to pick up the design and then on to the nail.
Overall, a very informative and enjoyable nail art workshop which I highly recommend for anyone wishing to learn more about DIY nail art. After all, it’s useful knowledge.
Nail Room is located at :-
D-3A-48, Level 3A , Block D , Lebuhraya Sprint PJU6A , 47000 Petaling Jaya ( 10 Boulevard Building )
