Entries Tagged 'General' ↓

The holiday season is once again upon us! Are you crazily busy trying to figure out what to buy and where to buy those gifts for your love ones, your family members and your dear friends? Are you having an incredible stress trying to get to those shopping malls buying those gifts that you’ve planned for. Are you laying down the plan for Christmas dinner and the New Year Eve party?

Why don’t you make it easy for yourself and buy a gift voucher or some nail treatment products from us! It may not worth much in monetary terms but it is absolutely practical and mightily convenience! No queue … no hussle … and  stress free!

Also don’t neglect yourself this silly season either. Make sure to take care of your nails and your cuticles well vitalised. Keep them well moiturised and beautiful for this party season, especially in this hot Aussie season of ours.

Wishing you all the best for this festive season!

Minor fingernail and toenail problems are common. At one time or another, almost everyone has caught a nail on something, causing it to rip, or has smashed a finger in a car door, leaving blood under the nail. These kinds of injuries can be quite painful but are usually not serious. You can often relieve pain and prevent infection of minor nail problems at home.

Generally, fingernails grow about one-tenth of a millimeter each day. Toenails grow at about one-half or one-third the rate of the fingernails. Aging and diseases that decrease blood flow to the hands and feet may slow nail growth, including many kind of nutritional deficiencies.

Common nail changes include:

• Splitting, peeling, or brittle nails. These are common problems that develop when your hands are frequently exposed to water, strong soaps, and other chemicals. You may be able to prevent some of these problems if you use lotion and avoid repeatedly putting your hands in water.
• Color changes.
  • Little white marks (leukonychia) often appear after minor injuries. They may last for weeks or months and usually go away on their own.
  • It is common for a nail to turn black after an injury. The black or purple-black color is caused by blood under the nail and will go away as the injury heals.
  • Black, brown, or purple discoloration under a nail that has not been injured may be caused by melanoma.
• Changes in the shape or texture of nails, which may occur for a variety of reasons. Some nail changes, such as the formation of ridges, are normal with aging. Thick, brittle, or dark nails are more common in older adults who have poor circulation.
• Ingrown nails, which are often caused by improper trimming, tight shoes, or heredity. Your nails may grow into the surrounding skin, causing pain, swelling, and infection. In rare cases, an abscess may develop under a nail (subungual abscess).
• Separation from the nail bed. Once your nail separates from its nail bed, for whatever reason, it will not reattach. Nails grow back slowly. It takes about 6 months for fingernails and up to 18 months for toenails to grow back attached to the nail bed.
• Infection and allergic reactions. These are common problems caused by improper artificial nails application. Choose your salon carefully!
• Fungal nail infections, which can vary in appearance depending on the type of fungus infecting the nail or the location of the infection. It is not unusual for fungal nail infections to follow athlete’s foot infections.

“Pink and White” refers to the use of two colors of acrylic applied to the nails to produce a more permanent, natural-looking “French” manicure look. Some people call this the dual-tone nail. The basic application of these are:

• The tips of the nails are sculpted using white acrylic. We use either OPI white powder, or Creative Design Perfect white powder. A very sheeringly white finish..
• The base of the nail is then overlayed with warm or cool pink, depending on your skin tone. 

Pink and white used to be in vogue and some people still like to have this done but nowaday, more and more are turning to the very practical Permanent French look. This is done using white tips and/or white airbrush spray prior to acrylic or gel powder overlay. It is more economical than the “pink and white” service by quite a large margin. You can achieve a beautiful pink look on this form of permanent french by applying a single coat of baby-pink polish and then top coat on your finished set of nails. This kind of service is definitely much more popular at our salon than Pink and White!

High density bold colours create contrast through colour clocking and printed fabric. That’s the hot look fashionistas are claiming to be hot and trendy this Spring and coming summer.

If you opt for such cool and trendy look this warmer/hot season, try compliment your look with the latest bright OPI Australian Nail Polish Collection. The names are just wonderfully clever and the colours are truly gorgeous. We have the full collection available at our salon so ask our technician to show you your look! See below for some examples ….

Red Hot Ayers Rock Koala Bear-yA True Ab-Original

This term was recently coined at our salon by a few of our clients. Perhaps we should put that term in our brochure too … and charge a bit extra … ?

In all seriousness, nails conditions such as serious infection, fungus, tinea etc should be treated prior to arranging to get your care done at nail salons, by seeing your doctor or dermatologist. They are the qualified medical professionals who can give proper advice on treatments if you have a medical condition.

We are beauty professionals and are also trained in bacteriology, but not to the extent to be able to treat such condition. We are required and very willingly give you proper advice though and must refuse to provide nail care services when appropriate. It is all about industry and client service ethic.

At Manhattan Nails, we really strive to do more than just care for your beauty but also your longer term health as well. Specifically, your hands and feet!

Our nail technician has given you a great set of nail enhancements and you’re set to come in for an appointment in a couple of weeks. Is that all there is to it? Not quite. The following are some key pointers
to help you care for your nails at home.

• Let your nail tech do her job. If you break a nail or if a nail begins to lift, schedule a repair appointment. Do not attempt to fix the nail yourself. Improperly gluing down a loose nail can cause moisture to become trapped between the nail and the enhancementand possibly cause an infection. Do not bandage a broken nail as bandages may also trap moisture. Do not take down the length of your enhancements as this will throw off the balance of the nail and may make the nail look bulky. 
• Treat your nails like jewels. Protect your investment by wearing gloves when gardening or exposing hands to water for extended periods of time. Do not put upward pressure on your nail tips, use a can opener to pop tops. Do not use your nails like a tool.
• Add some extras. We may suggest that you apply top coat every other day (or more often depending on your exposure to the sun) to prevent chipping or yellowing. Cuticle oil is also a daily necessity as it keeps cuticles supple and the acrylic product moisturised and flexible. You can also use off the shelf moiturisure cream.
• Listen to your nail tech. Can’t decide what length and type of enhancement you’d like? Your nail technician will be more than happy to make a suggestion. For example, if you’re hard on your nails
  because you work on a computer or do heavy work, shorter nails may be your best option.
• Call in sick. If you have a contagious skin or nail condition, wait until it clears before visiting the salon again. If symptoms persist, make an appointment with a dermatologist, a medical doctor and/or your local podiatrist.
• Be aware of what you have. Very few clients will develop allergic reactions to an ingredient in some nail products. Allergic reactions are characterised by redness, itching, and swelling of the skin around the nails, or irritation around the eyes and mouth. If you develop any of these symptoms, call us. We will help you determine which ingredients you’re having a reaction to and will take steps to avoid them. If necessary, we can refer you to a dermatologist. Do not ignore a condition that develops around the nail. Always let us know when possible.
• Don’t take them off. If you decide you no longer want to wear nail enhancements, do not take them off yourself. Picking and pulling the nails off will damage your natural nail, rip layers from your nail plate, and make regrowth a long, painful process. We can safely and painlessly help you remove your nail enhancements.

Wow, it was highly unexpected and a very pleasant surprise! Manhattan Nails was awarded the Winner of the local paper “The Mosman Daily” Readers Choice Award this year.

It is an honour and we thank you all our loyal clients who voted for us and continued to support us over the years.

Click here to see the full list of all the Winners this year.

Over the years, we’ve came across many over-the-counter products that can be used at home yourself, without visiting a professional salon.

The Heel Balm is one of such products which you can purchase from your local pharmacy/chemist. We use professional products in our salon which are not generally available to the public.

We’d like to refer to these treatment products semi-pedicure treatment because it is used only for removing cracked heels and common dry skin problems on your feet. A full pedicure obviously involves more than just dry skin treatment as described here.

Cracked heels are most often caused by dry skin and as the problem worsens, the skin will begin to thicken and from a callous in an attempt to protect itself from further damage. Cracks or fissures that occur within the callous and are left untreated may become deep, painful, infected and begin to bleed, in extreme case of neglect.

Whether you are starting to feel the effects of dry skin on your feet, be consistent and use moiturising creams such as Soborleine to rub onto your heel and feet each night after taking a shower. This will prevent extreme callous buildup. Or when your heels are already cracked, get some Heel Balm (they do come in different Brands but the end result are similar) and rub them in each night. It will help rehydrate and revive rough, dry and cracked heels, a very unpleasant and potentially painful problem.

Of course, you can always spend a little time at our nail salon and we will thoroughly treat your condition and provide adequate advice along the way.