Nails

About two weeks before our departure for Japan, Wifey's Nana passed away.  We miss her.  As a result of the activities surrounding her passing, Wifey's mani-pedi schedule got 'off'.  This resulted in a mid-trip need to pursue a manicure and polish change.  

Being a huge fan of Google, wifey spent part of this morning researching the nail salon options and pricing structures and choosing her desired location.  She then walked to the winning location and held up her nails and hopefully said "manicure".  The nail tech asked in response "today" and wifey said "maybe".  Several minutes later, an appointment was offered for two weeks out.  Using the google translate app, Wifey declined and asked about something sooner.  The tech in response grabbed her smartphone, pulled up google maps, and sent wifey toward a different nail salon near Iwakuni Station.  

After walking back, past her hotel, to Iwakuni station, wifey looked for the nail salon.  Unsuccessfully.  And without wifi or data, couldn't' look up its exact location.  So she returned to the hotel.  Google to the rescue again!  Attempt two led wifey to the following storefront.  She walked in and again held up her hands, said "manicure" and then "nails" and was told by the clerk "upstairs".  Yep, she was in a massage parlor, but on the right track! 

Having found my second nail salon of the day, again I asked for a manicure and again, the nail tech asked in response .... "today?"  Yes, yes I'd like one today.  More appointment book flipping ensued and then I was offered a 2:00 appointment (it was 11:00 am at this time).  I repeated 2:00, smiled and nodded a lot and left.  

Three hours later, I returned and began my manicure.  My preferred type of nail polish is gel or shellac.  These last longer than regular color and have to be soaked off in acetone.  My nails were in pretty bad shape and some had already come off, but several still required soaking.  The tech had a unique way of doing so.  After preparing my nail to soak, she took acetone soaked cotton, placed it on my nail bed, wrapped each nail in foil (so far so normal), and then rolled what appeared to be the ends of rubber gloves over each nail.  I assume this keeps the acetone in place and soaking more securely.  

Panorama of the nail salon. 

I was happy to see that I would be able to get my normal Gel polish and chose a color.  When the time came to begin painting my nails, I knew something was different.  The polish (base, color, and top coat) all came in small tubs and was applied using a paintbrush of sorts.  The polish texture is thicker than that of American gel polish.  I thought for a time "I'm ending up with acrylic nails.  I haven't had acrylic nails since I was in high school". The resulting nail texture is a bit thicker than that of American gel nails.  I'm do prefer the nail polish to which I'm accustomed, but this experience wasn't altogether unpleasant.  

The finished product.  A bit thicker, and a bit darker than expected, but it'll do the trick for the remainder of this trip!