Manicure Monday: Getting WAHed. Beauty Care

Myself and Himself are just back from a couple of days in London, and while we were there I decided to book myself in with the girls in the Topshop branch of WAH Nails for a 10-digit mini overhaul.

I also tried to get in with the Hersheson Blow Dry Bar for one of their £22 fashion blow dries but no joy. I really, really wish places wouldn't advertise themselves as "walk-in" if they're going to fill up every available slot with appointments.

Anyway, I was horribly, mortifyingly late for my paint job. I called ahead to say that I was running a bit late but should only be five minutes behind time, which would have been grand but then the Tube conspired against me and ultimately I was late to the tune of over half an hour.

When we eventually emerged, blinking, into the daylight at Oxford Circus, I decided that I wasn't going to go in as I felt bloody awful about the tardiness (not to mention that I reckoned a talking to rather than a manicure would be on the cards.) Himself got a bit cross, in a nice but firm sort of way, and said something along the lines of how he hadn't listened to me calving about how much I wanted to get my nails done in this place and traipsed the length of London city to get there only to turn on our heels at the front door. 

Thankfully, they very graciously accomodated me anyway (apparently I looked like I was about to burst into tears while speaking to Rachel - morto) and then Sophie set to work.

Want to see what I left with?

Since we were off to a black tie do on Friday night (Twitter peeps will have spotted the frantic "what to wear?!" freakouts last week), I went low key with Chanel Particulière and just an accent nail on each hand. I couldn't decide on a single design so opted for pearls to go with the cream lace and pearl detail on my LBD on one hand, and then a tux, complete with bow tie, on the other.

For fear I'd be underdressed, like ;)

There was a bit of a hoo-haa over payment when I was leaving which slightly took the shine off what had otherwise been a great experience. I'm not really sure what the issue was, but by the time my nails were dry both Rachel and Sophie were gone from the floor and neither of the other nail techs seemed able to put through a payment on the till which was completely insane. 

After a few minutes of bitching about their colleagues in front of myself and two other clients, I subsequently had to traipse around the shop after one of the girls as she looked for another staff member to take payment from me. Rather than wait for someone to get free from the main Topshop till (massive queue as always, would have been there a week) I negotiated an agreement whereby I'd just leave the cash with her until she could put it through her till later (no, that's ok, I'll live without a receipt... please, please let me go now) and headed on my slightly bemused way.

Despite that hiccup, I'd go back again - I'll just be sure to pay upfront next time! - and would recommend a pitstop in WAH to other nail art fans visiting London.

File & paint £20 + £3.80 for single pearl accent nail + £3.50 for single tux accent nail.
See WAH-nails.com for full pricing and contact info.