Worth it? Nails Inc NAILKALE

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At this point, I’m more or less uninterested in buying any nail polish from Sephora. I wasn’t thrilled with the highly-touted Formula X line, and you’ll never see a bottle of Louboutin lacquer in my collection (which I have, you know, to use – not to look at longingly).

nailkaleNAILKALE by Nails Inc.

My good friend, we’ll call her K, who also approaches nonsense with a healthy dose of skepticism pointed out a newer (though not new-new) brand carried at Sephora: NAILKALE.

Hey girl, is your self-loathing not high enough to be satisfied with the mere consumption of Kale? Fret not. Nails, Inc. got you, girl. Get some kale up in your manicure. It says,

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Wanted: A Hairstylist

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My hair needs are not complex. I don’t change my mind every twenty minutes. I don’t want to go blue-black one day and then be lifted to platinum blonde two months later. I don’t abuse my hair with heat, and when I do use heat, I use protectants. I don’t subject my hair to a gauntlet of DIY chemical voodoo (with the exception of my DIY hair glaze treatment, which hasn’t been done in a year – but I’ll be doing it soon!).

At Home DIY Hair Glaze Before and AfterMy fabulous hair, circa Spring 2014.
I miss the length, but contending with it was intense!

I am not one of those people who walks into a salon for a haircut and goes, “Well I want a trim, but also a change but don’t want to sacrifice length!” This, I’m sure, is an obnoxious thing to hear from clients. Most of the time, I DO just want a trim – and can demonstrate both verbally (ie, “two inches!”) and physically (with my hands) what I want. I bring pictures, but not 200. I don’t, “fight,” my hairstylist in the chair by moving when she needs me to be still, or tilting my head when she needs it straight. I don’t creepily keep my eyes open during shampoos. I never use my phone in the chair (that might change if I had a lengthy service like color or perming).

I try to be a good client, or, at least, as good as I can be based on my general knowledge of what annoys stylists.

Ulta Salon Haircut

And yet it is so unbelievably hard to find a stylist worth a damn! It’s been six months since my last cut, and the disappointing cut I got at Ulta has grown out a bit. I didn’t want to return there yet (and definitely not to that hairstylist), so I went elsewhere.

What I wanted from the service:

  • Approximately an inch off the longest lengths.
  • General tidying of everything else (don’t cut old layers back in); nip the ends to clean them up.
  • Even out anything that is uneven.
  • At the very front, add subtle layers with the shortest at the shoulder.

This is not an involved haircut whatsoever. Although she asked what I wanted, she did not confirm her understanding or do any kind of thorough consultation. She didn’t ask what I normally do with my hair, if it has been chemically treated, etc. nor did she give me the opportunity to speak up about it – and she didn’t touch it, either, to get a feel for its texture. But you better believe she didn’t fail to ask me if I wanted to buy product!

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Chatter: Partnership Fail

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It hasn’t been long since I shared my thoughts on sponsorships/affiliate/whatever relationships between content creators and brands. I wanted to expand my thoughts on that based on a recent experience I had.

Something that runs rampant is brands sending form-letter outreach to content creators without making any effort to personalize the contact attempt. Just like you should tailor your resume to the job you’re applying for if you’re trying to go directly to a company, brands shouldn’t have a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to working with bloggers and vloggers. Hell, if you have a template, that’s fine – just take two extra minutes to edit and add their name and something that shows you actually spent a few minutes checking out their site. For example, change,

“Hey dear/Hey there/Hi <URL>,“

to

“Hi <name of blog or writer>,“

That little extra effort goes a long way in showing that Brand X knows who you are, and specifically wishes to collaborate with you and your brand – and that they aren’t just clumsily grasping for advertising.

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Manicure Bowl – $2 at Sally Beauty!

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I don’t really enjoy salon manicures as much as some women, so I usually do my own. For years, I’d just grab a bowl or Tupperware container from the kitchen, add my soapy cocktail to it, and get on with it.

sallyhaul

Despite not enjoying salon manicures (due to the limited polish longevity, price, and the fact that I’m just weird and don’t like my hands being, well, handled), my few experiences that had me use a manicure bowl were pleasant – when I saw that you can get a sturdy plastic one from Sally Beauty for under $2, I decided to pick one up when I hauled last month.

The design of the manicure bowl is far more ergonomically friendly than just any ol’ bowl, featuring a founded palm-rest, resulting in greater comfort for you (or your client/manicure recipient). No need to awkwardly perch your wrist on the side of the bowl and point your fingers down; this feels far more natural!

My Manicure Bowl$2 Manicure Bowl from Sally Beauty

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