by Chrissy Iley
Gloss + Polish is a potentially life changing mani-pedi service. The manicurist comes to your home and deals with you. If you are in central or West London you can call up with only 90 minutes notice and one of their excellent technicians arrives at your home or office.
Andrea arrived perfectly on time in a navy uniform, hair in a bun, which made her look as efficient as a nurse. Authoritative but at the same time inconspicuous.
She set up a mini salon in almost no time. The choice of polish was impressive, all chic shades: elegant, quirky, good. I went for matching toes and hands, a first, with a classic Bordeaux.
Here’s what’s great: there’s no water to put your feet in, no mess, no too hot, no too cold, no too unhygienic. She swiftly sprays and pedicures dry. This is a revelation.
I’m normally the person who screams, who cannot bear feet to be touched, hard skin to be filed, consequently I have a lot of it. Andrea removed it swiftly, painlessly, with a simple knowing smile. ‘Water makes the feet more sensitive. Even the most ticklish person can take a dry pedicure.’ And indeed they can.
She worked quickly and elegantly, and promised me the other benefit of the dry mani-pedi is that the polish stays on longer because water makes the skin expand and retract, thus weakening the manicure.
She offered a choice of top coat: gloss, matt or shimmer. I like the idea of matt, it seemed sort of 1950s. But there’s something irresistible about highly glossed toes. I think it looks fresher. So we went glossy.
Going with the idea that the polish stays on longer, for the first time in a year I went with a dark red on the fingers. The beauty of this – she was right, it stayed solid, unchipped and perfectly fresh.
The further beautiful thing is that the service is not expensive. No more than a salon really. A classic manicure £25. A classic pedicure £35. A gel manicure £35. A gel pedicure £45. And only £15 for a file and polish.
It’s good for last minute events of course, but after you’ve had a home pedicure why would you ever want to go to a salon and take your pedicured feet out in flip flops in the freezing winter. Or even in the summer for that matter. You are home, they dry. Flawless.