Nail product reviews, part 1

 In a perfect world, all dancers would have the time and money to maintain perfect professional mani-pedis at all times. In reality, we usually hide our chipped toe nails in some sort of dance shoe and quickly slap some polish on our nails right before a gig and hope it doesn't smudge in the car. So let's look at a few nail products. This will be a recurring series because I really love nail polish.

First, a buffing block! I bought mine at The Body Shop but you can get them at other places, too. It has four different surfaces that you can use for sprucing up your nails. It only takes a few minutes and when done correctly your nails will be smooth and shiny. You can even skip polish and just have a clean, natural look if it's appropriate for your costume.

Next, Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream. I like this product because it is waxy and comes in a tin and feels easier to use and transport than a bottle of cuticle oil. I keep it at my desk and occasionally rub it into my cuticles while chatting on-line or waiting for something to load. It has a pleasant lemony scent. I wouldn't put it on right before doing your nails, though, as it might interfere with the polish sticking to your nails.

Lastly, new nail polish! This is Plume from the Sally Hansen "lustre shine" line. The display had a picture of a peacock feather, so you know it's for belly dancers. This is a yummy coppery gold and in the bottle it shows flashes of green and blue, just like a peacock feather.

When worn, it's very smooth and shiny and metallic, but doesn't seem to quite have the color-shifting properties that the bottle led me to expect. In some lights, at some angles, the color changes, but I want it to shift in front of my eyes whenever I move my hands, because I am easily distracted by shiny objects. I find this a little disappointing because it's pretty expensive for a Sally Hansen product (I think I paid $8 at Target). It is a nice flashy color so I will probably wear it again, but it's not what it appeared to be and I probably won't go buy the other colors from this line, even though there's one called Scarab, in a clear attempt to market directly at me (ha ha). This application was two coats without a base or topcoat. I may experiment to see if adding those does anything to improve the iridescence.

Edited to add: I'm getting more iridescence in rooms other than my office, so it appears to be affected by the quality of light.

The dancer's perspective? I think this would be a great one for cab dancers, it's so shiny! Fusion performers who prefer a flashy look will like it, too. It is not a quick-dry polish, however, so either use it when you have time to wait for it to dry, or check in next week when I'll try several methods of quick-drying nail polish.

One more thing: This is my 500th post on this blog! FIVE HUNDRED! Thank you all for reading, I hope you'll stick around for the next 500, and maybe tell your friends!