Review: Artistic Colour Gloss Three Week Manicure from Mink Hand and Foot Spa

Hair, Make Up & Beauty, Planning & Advice

french manicure mink beauty boutique artistic gloss

Ah, the festive season. The never-ending flow of wine, the countless mince pies and the 12 (million) pubs of Christmas . We do love it.

If you’re anything like us, then you’ll probably find that between office parties, family gatherings and welcome-home reunions, you’ll have more reasons to get glammed up over the next four weeks than you did all year. But with so much on your schedule, you’ll have even less time so spend getting party-ready.

Hmm, what to do? Well, as a bride-to be you can kill two birds with one stone, as Christmas time is the perfect opportunity to test those long-wearing bridal beauty treatments that you might be considering for your big day.

With this in mind, Mrs2Be headed to Mink Hand and Foot Spa in Donnybrook to to try out their Artistic Colour Gloss Three Week French manicure, which is priced at €55.

For those manicure virgins amongst you, Artistic Colour Gloss is a 21 day chip free polish that is made from 100% gel formula, which is different from Shellac, a 14 day gel / nail polish with a 50/50 formula.

The application process itself was very simple, or at least my nail technician made it look like it was, as she filed my nails into a more respectable shape before buffing them and applying each coat of colour as you would expect of a regular french manicure. The only difference was that after each coat I was asked to place my nails under a specially developed LED lamp to set the gloss. When this process was complete I was treated to a hand massage, and it really was as simple (and relaxing) as that. The real test was to see how long this smooth, glossy manicure would last.

Let me be clear, my nails aren’t something that I would usually spend much time on. Heck, they’d be lucky to see a file once a month, which is why I LOVED this manicure. As soon as I stepped out of the salon I was back to my usual, fumbling in my bag for my keys and tapping on my smartphone, without worrying about ruining my manicure. My nails were as hard as, well, nails.

After four weeks the manicure still hadn’t chipped at all, and the only thing that led me back to a salon to have it removed was the visible regrowth at my cuticles. The tips of my nails, on the other hand, had grown with the gloss and hadn’t split or broken at all, where as usually you’d only have to look at them and a crack would appear.

So, the big question: How did the removal go? Well, as Kate from Mink explains, expert removal of a manicure like this one is the key to maintaing healthy nails.

“Artistic Colour Gloss is designed not to damage your nails, as there is no filing involved with removal. For removal, we use a product containing just 2% acetone and lots of hydrating oils for the least possible damage. Some other places will just soak the nails in acetone for a fast and inexpensive removal that’s incredibly dehydrating to the nails, which is where the arguments for ‘Shellac ruined my nails’ originate from, that and clients picking and peeling at the nail themselves, without realising they are peeling their nail with it!”

Although I did have to cut and file my nails down after the removal, as it was the gel that allowed them to grow so long and appear so deceivingly strong, I followed Kate’s instructions and applied lots of oil to my nails whenever I could and I feel they’re actually getting stronger because of that little tip.

My verdict? The Artistic Gloss French Manicure from Mink Hand and Foot Spa is definitely one that’s wedding and honeymoon proof. Because who wants to be worrying about their nails when they’re sipping cocktails by the bar with their new hubby?

For more information on Mink Hand and Foot Spa, visit www.mink.ie.