Pamper Yourself!

Okay gals, let’s talk about nails. Getting a manicure or pedicure professionally is a luxury in which I have rarely chosen to indulge. However, this past year, I made a choice to pamper myself regularly, having my nails done by a salon.

Through years of nail biting and cuticle picking, I managed to damage my nail beds, which caused my nails to grow out wavy. With all the hammering on my computer keyboard during the day for work and all the hand quilting at night, I couldn’t manage to keep my nails long. They were constantly breaking and chipping.

For the first time ever, I decided to try solar nails. No, solar nails are not powered by the sun. They are the next best thing to my own nails, though – better, in fact. And, I found the most wonderful salon to get them done!

Viv Nails & Salon, located at 3115 S. 1st Street, is the third place I tried for solar nails, and it’s the last place I’ll ever need to go. Chau (pronounced “Chow”), the owner, named the salon after her young daughter, Viv. On their business card is the slogan, “Experience the Excellence”. Viv’s certainly lives up to that motto!

Chau is a lovely, gracious woman, with a radiant smile, beautiful eyes and the longest natural eyelashes I’ve ever seen on a person. Chau is always dressed beautifully, wearing lovely dresses and fashionable high heels. She is a perfectionist when it comes to nails – a quality I truly appreciate! Unlike other salons, my solar nails from Viv's were the same length, wonderfully thin and they’ve never broken off – not even after 4 weeks of washing dishes, typing, quilting and scratching the dog. When Chau gets done with my nails, they look so natural! Even my mother couldn’t tell they weren’t mine.

On one very indulgent visit I decided to also get a pedicure.

Oh, how I would love to get a pedicure done on a regular basis! Chau’s sister-in-law, Thanh (pronounced “Haun”), with her sweet spirit and friendly smile, gave me a delightfully relaxing pedicure. She was gentle with my feet, provided an addictive foot and calf massage, and expertly shaped and painted my toenails. All of this luxury while sitting in a most fabulous massage chair.

The lovely ladies at Viv’s Nails & Salon do a wonderful job of serving and pleasing their customers. I am always offered a bottle of water. And, during my last visit, Chau noticed that I was excessively hot, although the salon was perfectly comfortable for her other patrons. She excused herself for a moment, and returned with a small fan, which she plugged in and pointed at my face. It was such a thoughtful gesture to a middle-aged woman having a hot flash!

I am so grateful to have found these lovely ladies and their smartly decorated salon where I take an hour every 2-3 weeks to leave the world behind and indulge in a little “me time”.

Rejuvenate at Viv’s, Y’all!