I’ve never been one for manicures/pedicures although I realise such sessions are becoming increasingly popular among all age groups. Perhaps it’s the thought of sitting in the chair, stretching out my fingers and toes and waiting for the manicurist to painstakingly apply the nail polish layer by layer and then waiting for it to dry that puts me off. Perhaps it’s the thought that this is a waste of money for nail polish that may chip within a few days of application or perhaps it’s because I am just not that big a fan of nail polish in general.
Nevertheless, another trip or excuse to trot back to Estuary Medispa & Esthetics @ The Scott Garden was something I looked forward to especially since this time I was trying out the manicure/pedicure treatment. The manicurist is the experienced Jenny who has created some fabulous nail art which are displayed within glass. It looks like I am entering a jewelry store what with the precious nail art samples laid out in rows under glass.
Jenny’s nail art is like works of art and I can’t even begin to imagine how much time she must have spent researching and designing each creation, be it for her folk art collection or 3-D art collection. I could never in a milli9n years replicate what she has done since I am so not artistically inclined nor do I have the patience to meticulously and carefully paint each nail as Jenny does on a daily basis. It comes as no surprise that art was one of my weakest subjects in school and one that I dreaded with every waking moment of my schoolgirl days.
There are so many steps involved in the manicure session beginning with application of Avoplex Cuticle Oil followed by Exfoliating Cuticle Treatment. Then it was a hand massage which felt so good because my hands feel cramped from spending too much time on the keyboard.
Estuary has so many O.P.I. nail polish shades to choose from. It was tough making up my mind as there were too many to shortlist but eventually I settled on a stunning pink shade from Artistic Colour Gloss Gel Polish, said to last for up to 3 weeks. Of course, this gel polish is a lot more expensive than your average nail polish. It’s been more than 2 weeks since my mani/pedi session at Estuary and there has been no chipping at all! Astonishing. Truly.
Nail Bond is applied before O.P.I. Base Color for Gel Polish and only then is Artistic Colour Gloss Gel Polish applied. Artistic Colour Gloss Gel Polish is seriously fast drying, It takes less than 30 seconds for nails to be touch dry, whilst under a UV light, it takes just two minutes or less. It has high gloss which makes it the topic of compliments whenever someone spots my nails.
There was virtually zero drying time for this gel polish. I also had a 3-D rose painted on each middle finger with acrylic paint. This doesn’t look easy at all although I am sure most people can master it, “most people” excludes me since I doubt I can even paint a straight line on any nail.
The pedicure was even more pampering than the manicure because I got to sit on the “high chair”, had a lavender foot soak and sea salt scrub. as I have neglected my feet forever, Jenny had a lot of work to do on my toes and there was a lot of dead skin cells. Eeeeps! Need more regular pedicures.
There was no need to apply gel polish on my toes as toes are less prone to chipping so this is a shimmery O.P.I. shade which I fell for at first sight. I loved this pampering session so much that I signed up for their mani/pedi package of 5+1 sessions, total RM400. It’s RM175 for 5+1 mani sessions and RM225 for 5+1 pedi sessions.
beautiful colours and gel nail polish especially the roses! love the “high chair” ! How long does the pedicure and manicure take?
About an hour each. I think it was more enjoyable than a massage because my nails looked so much better with the thorough cleaning and the nail polish choices are incredible, so much variety.