My first Paraffin and I'm hooked!

My girlfriend had given me a gift certificate to Elizabeth Grady Salon for a paraffin and manicure, in 2007.  With three boys and activities galore, I found it hard to take time for myself.  Fast forward three years later, I realized that I had not cashed in on my gift certificate, so I made an appointment and today I went in to have a manicure and paraffin.  It was my first paraffin and I'm hooked.

When you enter Elizabeth Grady, you are immediately transported into a zen environment with soft music humming in the background.  The walls are pristine and lined with a few of the Elizabeth Grady products. 

My manicurist brought me to a private room.  She began by soaking one of my hands in a warm soapy bowl of water and on the other hand, she filed and buffed my nails. After drying my hands, she applied a hand cream and massaged my lower arms, hands and fingers.  I could feel the tension slowly dissipating from my fingers with each massage.  Next came the paraffin.  She had two warm bags of paraffin, a warm melted thick wax. As she placed my hands' into the paraffin bags, she continued to massage the warm wax into my hands and wrists.  Each hand was then placed in a terry cloth mitt, and I was allowed to sit and relax.  When she took the paraffin off, I could not believe how moisturized my hands looked and felt.  

I chose to have my nails painted with a light soft pink nail polish.  She painted one clear bottom coat enriched with vitamins, 2 layers of light pink nail polish and one layer of fast drying top coat.  I was then allowed to sit and relax as my nail polish set.  The hardest part of my afternoon, was putting on my coat and taking the keys out of my pocket.  I didn't want to smudge my newly painted nails.  The whole process took an hour of my day and was well worth it.  Note: Elizabeth Grady Salon caters to both men and women.

I highly recommend taking the time to pamper yourself, especially during this Valentine month.  Look what I just did, I stretched a celebration day into a month.  If it's not with a manicure, then I would suggest a bubble bath with a good book and a hot cup of tea.  Another idea is to drive to an Audubon area and take a walk or just sit and reflect. 

 Do you have an ideas on how to pamper yourself?