Dr. Zong’s Tips for a Healthy Home Spa Experience

Dr. Zong just sent us these most fabulous and practical pedicure tips. After a year (yes a full 365 days) with consistently colored nails, I have finally let my fingernails breath and they are so thankful. I'll consider giving the same relief to my toes...in the fall. A Southern girl simply can not have bare toes in the Summa'. Let's see what else we can learn from Dr. Zong, Manhattan's foot guru.

• Bacteria can flourish in dark, wet places, such as a bathroom medicine cabinet. Be sure to sanitize your nail clippers by soaking them in boiling water and wiping them down with rubbing alcohol every few weeks
  
• Say NO to self-surgery! Anything that hurts, such as removing deep-set ingrown toenails, will cause more damage than good. If you have a painful nail, see a doctor right away


• Check expiration dates for beauty products like scrubs, lotions, or soaks. Open containers that sit around for a long time unused can collect bacteria and easily infect cuts in your feet – including blisters
  
• Use simple Epsom salt and warm water to relieve and revive tired feet. It often has similar properties as fancy spa soaks but can cost several dollars less at a drug store
  
• Give your toes time to breath. Nails are their healthiest when they are exposed to air and water. When changing nail polish colors, check nails to make sure they are not discolored – this is a classic sign of toenail fungus and can go unnoticed if nails are always painted

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Beauty's Product: Artemis Woman® Heel Smoother™ Optimum

With the whole worldwide economic crash thingy I've noticed something. My toes are suffering. This weekend for the first time in literally years I got a mani - no pedi. That's right I am currently ridiculously lucky and grateful that this is my big financial woe and I'm wearing Parlez vouz OPI on my fingers and OPI Chick-Flick Cherry on my toes. I figure its winter and I'd rather spend the money elsewhere but thanks to Artemis Woman tight times no longer mean ugly feet. the NEW Artemis Woman® Heel Smoother™ Optimum is the best way to preserve your pedi precious paws this season.

Plug it in. Charge it up. Now, transform your feet by buzzing away the cracked, calloused, tired skin SAFELY. It also arrives just in time for Christmas fun in the sun. The Optimum is the third generation Heel Smoother and it means business! It’s rechargeable so no batteries are needed. The charging stand, which sits pretty on a vanity or shelf, has storage space to stow-away the three extra DuraCrystal® tips. These interchangeable tips are made of aluminum oxide crystals, the same as used in professional microdermabrasion treatments. There’s the big Salon Pro tip, a no nonsense turbo-ball with extra grit to remove the most stubborn calluses and cracks. Then there’s the basic Regular tip used for the heels and ball of the foot. Last is the Fine tip that is great on cuticles and in between and around the toes. Tips change like “snapwork.” Pull one out; snap a new one in. It’s that easy! Of course the Optimum is waterproof, so it can be used in the shower, although the best results are achieved on dry, clean feet.

Artemis Until recently, the Optimum was only available in a podiatrist office or a spa but now it is available at retail. No matter which Heel Smoother is being used, it is still the ultimate pedicure device to safely and effectively remove calloused, cracked and challenged skin from the feet and heels. Artemis Woman Heel Smoothers are the only pedicure tools of their type to be permitted to use the prestigious Seal of Acceptance by the American Podiatric Medical Association. All Heel Smoothers are Doctor Recommended to safely and successfully remove calloused, dry skin without the OUCH! The Artemis Woman Heel Smoother Optimum is sold Exclusively in the Bliss Catalogue, blissworld..com and ArtemisWoman.com. It sells for $39.99.

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Priti Organic Spa: Mani-Pedi, Ashram Style

Beauty's SPOT is indulging in the Travel part of our name this weekend - in New York City! Our first rule for travel is, "recieve a mani-pedi upon arrival." The transportation part of travel can be stressful and that is no way to start a vacation. We also find that checking in with your local beauty providers can give you an extra sparkle, not to mention the insider info on your ci-tay of choice. In a big beautiful place like New York this can be done organically at Priti Organic Spa.

We had the simple Mani/Pedi which included an organic geranium essential oil foot bath(pictured below), an organic sugar scrub, an organic geranium lotion massage, and some Preti Polish in Queen of the Night Tulip (#338.) Priti Organic Spa carries Zoya polish as well as their own line which is 100% free of the usual lurking carcinogens: toluene, DBP, and formaldehyde. Why in the hell is that stuff in nail polish anyway? We are most impressed with their polish remover which is organic, vegetable oil based, and as effective and the usual burning acid we subject ourselves to.

Our nails look fab and we picked up some toxin-free, sparkling, glow in the dark Priti Princess Polish for sissy! For more behind the scenes info and pics on Priti check out this post from New York Magazine.

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Honey Heel Glaze by Farmhouse Fresh: New Product for the Beauty's Spot Top Shelf.

Honey Heel Glaze by Farmhouse Fresh is the best thing I have ever put on my feet. I just crawled across the floor on my hands and knees to tell you about it. Some products do what they are supposed to do. Some are excellent in constitution and effectiveness. Others make my heart feel cozy. This one little honey filled jar houses all three trademarks of an outstanding product.

I was reorganizing the beauty closet, not intending to try anything new tonight, when I happened upon this lovely little country preservative jar filled with a honey-based foot glaze. I opened the original box to find an adorable little application brush (read, no sticky hands) and the delicious smell of fresh frothy chai. I applied the non-greasy, cinnamon-and-clove-scented glaze (it's not unlike something my good friend Emily might use to coat a piece of fish) and then fell out on my bathroom floor for a full four minutes of pure enjoyment and deep relaxing breaths. My feet happily absorbed the copious amounts of moisture and rubbed up against each other like eager new lovers. 'Oh yes,' I thought to myself, 'this whole beauty obsession started with my uncanny ability to turn my bathroom into a day spaahhhhhhh - no I must not pass out on the bathroom floor!' Then I knew I had to tell you right away hence the crawling to my laptop on my hand and knees. So worth it. This is so going on the Beauty's Spot Top Shelf.

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Bliss by "Pedi" colada

I started Beauty's Spot with a visit to Bliss San Francisco. So it is now tradition that every time I visit a city lucky enough to claim Bliss as a local spa I make time for a visit. I discovered my latest Bliss gem at their LA outpost which is conveniently tucked into the second floor of the W Hotel. Yes ladies, the "pedi" colada has arrived to disgrace every other single pedicure I have ever gotten - and I'm a pedi-addict. If you haven't noticed, this summer everything is going coconut. If you take no part in the coconut product trend (although I can't imagine why you would make such a silly decision) please please please make one exception and treat yourself to the "pedi"colada. I would almost go so far as to say you have never had a real pedicure until you have had the "pedi"colada. Here is a detailed break down of what makes this pedi so precious.

1) The foot soak is made of coconut milk and pineapple oil. Have you ever had your pretty little paws steeped in coconut milk before? Me either and now I'm convinced this should be a pedi standard. What is hot water compared to coconut milk? Also their grooming is meticulous. Have you ever had a pedicurist who sort of trims your cuticles and kind of ignores your funky pinkie toe? Yeah me too. I hate that and they wouldn't make it a day at bliss.

2) BEST PART: There are three cups of hot coconut oil-based product waiting in a towel heater during your coconut milk soak which are then massaged into every millimeter of skin below your knees. The first hot coconut product is like nothing I have ever seen before. A concoction this brilliant could only be created by an inspired beauty product guru (or the rat from ratatouille). This product looks like the result of mixing ten coconut macaroons and a minimal amount of coconut oil - just enough to be able to massage all of the coconut bits into smooth pliable exfoliates - genius! This chunky oily mixture is followed with two different kinds of smooth hot coconut oil. The second oil is massage in by hand and the third with polished clam shells filled with hot water. The narrow end was used to massage muscles I didn't even know I had in those hard to reach foot places. By the third treatment I was so blissed out that I had to make a conscious effort not to drool on myself. Honest.

3) They leave the coconut oil on your gloriously groomed gams and wrap your feet in hot towels where they allow you to sit and bliss out for more please help me not drool on myself time.

4) Essie color application. This time, for the first time I went with a non-matte product and although at first I was kind of terrified it has worn really well and the purpley-red tone I choose is a fun way to ring in summer pedi season.

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Sissy Toes

My little sister turned six and a half today. Half birthdays are a very big deal in my family and we mark every trip I take to D.C. with a sisters' mani-pedi (the lay term for this ritual is, I believe, "sissy toes"). I don't know how this tradition started but now it's tradition and apparently you don't mess with that.

This particular weekend, I am only here for about twenty-four hours so I thought I'd skip our usual trip to the nail salon. Since it's just us sisters, it takes her away from the rest of the family and I thought I'd be considerate and just hang with the whole crew this time. So when I, still very sleepy and in Chapel Hill, called my step-mother this morning at 8:30 am and she said all four girls in the family (including me and the birthday girl) had mani/pedi-ies at 2 pm, I was surprised. Apparently "sissy toes" is catching on and happens now whether I plan it or not. And really isn't it more fun when everyone you love goes to the salon together? As my sister said tonight during reading time "I'm smushed on all sides by people who love me!"

My sister loves sissy toes. When it started a few years ago she would pick my colors for me and I would adoringly wear bright blue and green nails for weeks afterwards just because she picked them. She has stopped picking my colors but the girl, at 6 and a HALF, knows her way around a nail salon and I think that's a good thing. I opted out of my usual deep red today and went for a light pink. I miss my usual color already but there is something summery about Essie's "It's in the bag" pink that I like. As for my sister's evolving style, see the picture below :)

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An inexpensive manicure/pedicure

I'm frustrated and I'm not sure what to do about it. Yesterday was Sunday and I spent the morning with my adorably quirky friend Betty. When she asked me what I was going to do to celebrate February 4th (one of my favorite days of the year) I suddenly realized I had been too busy to schedule any sort of celebration. For the past four years I have gotten a mani/pedi to celebrate but hadn't even thought about where to go on a Sunday. Then she said something that I should have taken much more seriously, "Well all the good places are closed on Sundays." I can now promise you this is true, at least in the state of North Carolina. My usual spot for a mani/pedi in this area is Bella Trio. It's absolutely lovely. Calming, serene, Grecian in architecture and atmosphere - and closed on Sundays. I promised myself when I started this blog that I would never write badly of any establishment at which I had a bad experience. You can never judge a whole day spa by one bad experience. I can just bring you the best and leave the rest. If my present pedicure didn’t chip so easily I'd be kicking myself for that decision right now. But, frustrating as it is, and trust me it's frustrating, I have decided to listen to my elders lately. They tell me, if you don't have anything nice to say than don't say anything at all. On the other hand, don't I have a responsibility to warn people? Ok enough mental masturbation. Sufficed to say North Carolina has a miraculous ability to put almost any good or service into a mall, and do so tastefully. Art galleries, outdoor stores, gourmet restaurants, and local theaters can all call the mall home in North Carolina and not loose any value or appeal as a result. In fact many of my favorite beauty haunts are in mall-like structures: Mina's, Caju, Bella Trio, Blu Icon. But this place I went to, it felt like the mall in middle school. Like I could have just as easily been watching my best friend Kerry getting her ears pieced at Claire’s boutique in Towson Town Shopping Center all over again. Except I'm 27 and the only time I like to go into Claire's boutique is when my little sister needs Hannah Montana accessories.

Here's what went wrong. First, I spent the entire time breathing through my scarf. The instant I walked in I felt like I was breathing in lung cancer because of an extraordinarily heavy layer of chemicals sitting in the air waiting for fresh lungs to prey upon. I briefly considered walking out, but I had heard good things about this place. I told myself 'it's very inexpensive for a mani/pedi and well, everywhere else is closed'. The products were also packed with pungent chemicals. Even today as I was eating my warm freshly baked blueberry muffin for breakfast I got a nasty whiff of the plastic-like polish. The lotion they rubbed on my legs stung me like sea salt on freshly shaved legs. I almost volunteered to pull my own EO Grapefruit and Mint lotion out of my purse for them to use instead but then I realized I already had my face wrapped up in a scarf and I might start alarming other customers. Aside from another crazed customer who hijacked my polish mid-pedicure, I would have at that point gotten the craziest customer of the day award. Ok so now I’m done complaining. The truth is I'm grateful to be able to get so many day spa visits in and even if this one was disappointing it made me all the more grateful for the good services I get on fairly regular basis. Yes it's true February fourth for me is about what is good in my life. So, what was good about this place? It was inexpensive. It got the job done. My toes look nice even thought my nails are already messed up. My manicurist was incredibly detail oriented and the pedicure chair gave me the best massage I've had in a long time. So maybe it was just a bad day for this place or maybe their ventilation system was broken or perhaps I have inadvertently given myself super-hero like ol’ factory senses by Netting Potting too much. If you do find yourself at the only place open on Sundays for a mani/pedi just BYOLotion. Thanks for listening to me rant and from now on I promise I'll stick to the good stuff.

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