Week 6 of Weekly Wellness: Olive & June At-Home Manicure
The Olive & June Mani System ($80) in all its glory.
I’ll admit, I have probably gone through the longest stretch of naked fingernails in my adult life this past year. With no social plans on the calendar thanks to COVID-19, I’ve sadly been neglecting my hands all-around. Thankfully, Olive & June came to the rescue as the star in this week’s wellness challenge and gave my nail beds and me something to be excited about!
Week 5 of Weekly Wellness: Two Steps to Shiny Hair
I’ve always found painting nails therapeutic, a self-care activity that pays off big time in the coming week. The pain of it though, has been gathering all my supplies, often missing a buffer or finding dried up polish once I get started. I scored the Olive & June Mani System, which has everything I needed for salon-quality nails in one box, plus six colors of my choice. I’ve loved neutrals on my fingernails for years, so I kept my color selection pretty conservative.
Neutral colors for every season from Olive & June.
Since it’s Valentine’s week and I happened to have a couple engagements on my calendar, I figured it was the perfect time to try my Olive & June set. My mani box came equipped with six polishes, top coat, nail polish remover, nail file, cuticle serum, clean-up brush, nail clippers, buffer, and “the Poppy” —a universal polish bottle handle to make painting with your non-dominant hand disaster-free!
A helpful informational pack came in the set with easy instructions to create your mani like a pro. I attended esthetician school many years ago where nail care was part of the curriculum, but have picked up so many new tricks with Olive and June, like the 90/10 rule for shaping nails. Who knew the focus should be on clipping nails rather than filing?
Week 4 of Weekly Wellness: 21 Minutes for 21 Days
Created by Sarah Gibson Tuttle, founder of Olive and June salons in California, the brand doubles down on education for their customers and members with instructional videos and tips on the website. Yes, memberships are available for added discounts and perks for the nail-obsessed.
I enjoyed my manicure experience this week and thought the quality of the tools and polishes were very high-end. A podcast while painting is a favorite pairing of mine, but I came to the conclusion that catching up on email while waiting for polish to dry works well, too!
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I realized that I’m quite out of practice with nail painting, but was grateful for the Poppy, which made the job much easier on me. I chose a pretty matte pink (shade GH), which required three coats for optimum coverage and went heavy on the cuticle oil. It took about 30 seconds for my almost 3-year-old daughter to notice my new manicure the next morning and have relished in the boost I get from having polished nails ever since.
Pretty in pink, just in time for Valentine’s Day.
With options for the mani, pedi or the complete system, Olive & June is on my radar the next time I need a really killer gift for a beauty-minded friend. Up next: the pedicure! Now that my fingernails are looking posh, I’m hoping my toes will get some needed love in the coming weeks, too.
I’d love to hear how you practiced self-care this week! What’s your favorite way to manicure? Tag me on instagram @SLCBeautyBabe or @SpaandBeautyToday with tips and suggestions for next week.
[Images courtesy of Alisha Racker]
Alisha Racker’s beauty career has spanned over a decade as she's worked as a master esthetician, skin care PR-pro and freelance writer. She lives in the beautiful mountains of Salt Lake City with her husband and daughter. Follow her on Instagram: @alisharacker