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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To want regular manicures?

112 replies

StrongCoffeAvalanche · 03/11/2021 23:20

Mum of young children. Youngest is now in full time nursery for the first time so I have a bit of time to myself (I work part time). I always feel like I have really crap nails and regular manicures would cheer me up and make me feel more like myself. But a manicure is either about £26 a pop or £36 if shellac. This is quite pricey for us. And even a shellac one lasts only 2 weeks, if I'm lucky.

Do normal mums get regular manicures? Do it themselves? Just leave their nails to be natural? I feel a bit lost.

OP posts:
MinnieGirl · 04/11/2021 09:25

I go to a really old fashioned beauty salon
I get a file and paint for under £10 and a manicure for £15
Look around, avoid the posh nail places and you may be surprised.

eurochick · 04/11/2021 09:56

It's all about priorities. I can afford it but it is not a priority for me. My cleaner and nanny always have beautiful nails though and get them done regularly. I do mine myself when I get the time.

motherofawhirlwind · 04/11/2021 10:09

I get gel polish which includes shaping the nails and trimming my cuticles, but no creams or massage etc. That's £18 (or £10 - £15 with the apprentice, depending on how far along they are in their training). I go fortnightly / 3 weekly.

GingerWhingerAreet · 04/11/2021 10:36

I'm a qualified beauty therapist and have all the equipment to do my own. However, I go to an express salon which is walk in. I have very short square acrylics with a natural/nude gel.

These nails are £22 and last me a good 3 weeks looking perfect.

As a nail tech I know the products used aren't good but the nails are. And I don't do acrylics so could only gel my own.

Ledition · 04/11/2021 11:23

Pre-DC i had shellac every two weeks without fail. A simple thing but always liked having nice nails and felt polished.

I'd still do it now if I could but back then I lived in a city with tons of nail bars that you could just pop into on your lunch break/at the weekend no appointments required. Now I live rurally and it would be a bit of a logistical faff going so regularly so I only do it on special occasions. If you can and it makes you happy then go for it.

kwiksavenofrillsusername · 04/11/2021 11:27

I used to live near a big college that had a salon where you could get cheap haircuts and beauty treatments. It was great. £10 for a gel manicure, but you could only go during the day and at term time!

Nowadays, I tend to go to the local Superdrug, as they have a nail bar where I can get gels done for £20. I tend to only get them done when I have an occasion coming up or a lot of work meetings. I think nice nails can make you feel more put together. The rest of the time I just slap on some clear nail gel and hide my hands.

Bettyboop3 · 04/11/2021 11:38

Sorry but i think it's a waste of money. It's something you can do yourself.

mrsevangelina · 04/11/2021 13:50

@BaronessBomburst

I've never had my nails done. How do you cook and type? Do they get stuck in your hair? I often look with envy and fascination at other people's. I do look after my nails though. I use hand cream and keep them filed. They often look like they're French-manicured but they're not, just natural. That's probably why I've never bothered with more.
Getting them done professionally doesn't mean they are long - mine are short and if I get mine done I just get them filed and a nude/pink gel polish on. They're short, they wouldn't get stuck anywhere.
Guacamole001 · 04/11/2021 13:55

I have a pedicure manicure and backrub monthly plus my brows tinted. My main monthly treat.

Glassofshloer · 04/11/2021 15:36

@eurochick

It's all about priorities. I can afford it but it is not a priority for me. My cleaner and nanny always have beautiful nails though and get them done regularly. I do mine myself when I get the time.
Grin
User527294627 · 04/11/2021 16:18

I get mine done with biab and a gel overlay every 2/3 weeks. If I didn't I would bite them to the quick. I really like it - I feel better for having nice nails, it's a bit of time to myself (work full time and have a baby so really busy), and it looks lovely.

TurquoiseDragon · 04/11/2021 16:29

I wear polish occasionally, although more likely on my toes than fingers.

I like having polish on, but given the time it takes, there are many more things I want to spend my limited time on.

FindingMeno · 04/11/2021 16:34

I've never had a manicure.
I think healthy clean mid length nails look beautiful,

PlanDeRaccordement · 04/11/2021 16:38

Too many chemicals and plastics not good for the environment. Also, stick on nails, nail polish, shellac and so on bad for health of nails and encourage fungal infections. I leave my nails all natural and they look fine.

Willtheymakemegoonthemeds · 04/11/2021 16:41

I know you can get your hair and nails done at a discount by students at colleges. Worth asking around.

PrimeraVez · 04/11/2021 16:46

I have a Shellac manicure and pedicure every fortnight (also get my eyebrows threaded and upper lip waxed) I’ve been doing it for ten years now - I actually went the day after I came home from the hospital with DC3 as I wanted a quick fix Blush

However, I get my hair cut about once a year and don’t do any other regular beauty treatments. I just feel that if my nails look good, then I feel so much more polished and put together. It also stops me biting them and picking my cuticles!

shouldistop · 04/11/2021 16:59

I get a gel manicure and pedicure every 3 weeks. £35 for both. I'm in Scotland.
The gel brands last longer than shellac.

entropynow · 04/11/2021 17:09

@StrongCoffeAvalanche

Thanks for replies. Realistically I can't afford it. If they lasted a month or so it would feel worth it, but with my lifestyle that'd never happen. I've never done my own cuticles, wouldn't know where to start
There's your answer. Honestly, they aren't at all essential and I personally would struggle to go anything practical if I had to worry about the state of my nails.

Cuticles - just pushing them back, if you are bothered about such - are straightforward with the right tool (inexpensive). There's bound to be a YouTube video to get you started!

WildBluebell · 04/11/2021 17:21

I keep my nails natural. Never understood (some) women's obsessions with going to salons for manicures.

Noname1999 · 04/11/2021 17:22

Beauty college?

WhatsitWiggle · 04/11/2021 17:24

I get a gel manicure every 3 weeks, it's my treat as I'm not a big spender on anything else. Before that I had a Sensationail kit and did them myself, buying cheap gel polish from ebay - tended to only last a week but gave me an excuse to change it regularly.

cloverleafy · 04/11/2021 17:44

It's not unreasonable to want it, but the reality is it depends whether you can afford it.

ultra88 · 04/11/2021 19:40

I have my nails done every two weeks and toe every six weeks. I like to be party ready at all times 😀

ultra88 · 04/11/2021 19:41

@StrongCoffeAvalanche

Thanks for replies. Realistically I can't afford it. If they lasted a month or so it would feel worth it, but with my lifestyle that'd never happen. I've never done my own cuticles, wouldn't know where to start
If you find a salon that used Gel bottle ' builder In a bottle' it can last four weeks.
Popsicle33 · 04/11/2021 19:45

I've had shellac twice and it's been shite. I think it looks thick and lumpy. It wrecks your nails. I do my own with ordinary polish once or twice a week, use cuticle oil and conditioner multiple times a day and plenty of handcream. I do all my own beauty treatments.