Pedicures (and Manicures)

My search for a great pedicure has been frustrating to say the least.  I recently started looking for a new pedicurist because the woman I've been going to for nearly a year is sometimes a little harder on my feet than I'd like.  Don't get me wrong, she is very good.  Just not always what I'm looking for and I'd prefer to find someone who uses a different technique.

I will freely admit that I'm a tough client.  Tough feet, plus I am looking for someone who is really detailed oriented and does a stellar job.  Yes, beyond great.  Although I would settle for great.  This all started because for 5 years, I had an unbelievable pedicurist who cured all my foot woes.  Unfortunately, she moved out of the area, and I have not found anyone close to her level since.

Searching in all the wrong places?

So recently I called around to at least half a dozen shops or individuals.  First, let me say, only about half called back. Do you think the current economy is suffering?  Do you think people need work?  Would like more clients?  That's what I thought. So I was (slightly) blown away that so many didn't even bother to call back.

For the uninitiated I'd like to point out that pedicures are expensive.  Average $40-$50 in the area where I live. That's a lot of money to plunk down, especially if you get pedicures on a regular basis (like once a month or every 6 weeks).  So when I look for a good pedicurist, I'm looking for more than just someone to paint a little color on my toenails.  I would think they realize this, but you'd be surprised how many pedicurists think that's the main task.  The reason I am willing to pay a pretty price for this service is because my feet need a lot of tender loving attention.  I have a lot of callous and dry skin that needs to be worked off.  I am generally not impressed by lotions or "treatments" like masks that just sit on the feet and get rinsed off.  They just don't do much for feet. Also, I like my nails clipped evenly.  And at my age, it's just not so easy to see that far away.

So recently I tried someone new.  I won't mention her name, because sadly, I was just a bit more than disappointed.  First she did not clip my nails.  She used one of the tiniest files I've ever seen and lamely swiped it back and forth a couple of times on each nail.  Ho hum.  I guess this is what's being taught in beauty schools these days.  They're either afraid the client will sue if they're cut, or they're afraid of contracting a disease.  Okay, my nails weren't that in need of cutting, so I decided to reserve judgment.

Then, after a fair amount of soaking, to her credit, she did use some pumice to try to work on the callouses.  It would have been nice if she had done this a little bit longer than 1-2 minutes and with a bit more elbow grease, but she did do something. Then when it came to actually painting my nails, she chose to just use the polish that I'd brought without even putting down a base coat first. I do think polish adheres better with a base coat, but she said otherwise. That with toes she hadn't noticed a big difference.  Okay, again I decided on leniency in terms of my final judgment.

During the appointment, we made the usual obligatory smalltalk (ho hum some more).  Okay, she tried at least.  Better than some who won't even attempt to be friendly.  In the course of the conversation, she told me that all the salon employees at her business did everything--they all do nails, hair, and facials. I asked her which one she liked best.  Because I've also found over the years, it helps if the individual really enjoys what she's doing.  She answered "hair".  Okay, not a surprise.  But, sorry, wrong answer.  Again, I tried not to let this shade my opinion too heavily at the time.

The real test for me as to whether I will go back to someone for a pedicure is to see how things look over the next few days, or week, or month or so (if it lasts that long).  So in this instance, after seeing that my heels looked extremely ragged within just one day of my pedicure (maybe even the same day), and that within a week some of the polish was already coming off, I finally decided I would not be returning to this person for another appointment.

Aside
I have one of the best pedicurists in the world.  Seriously.  (Her name is Elizabeth Niderman and she has a salon in Mequon, Wisconsin.  If you want to make an appointment, call her at 262.370.0358.)  Not only is she an incredibly talented artist (yes, giving manicures is an art form when you're at her level), she is also an authentic and caring person.  So naturally, I highly recommend her. I've been her client for close to 10 years.

But the real topic of this blog is pedicures.  For some (unknown) reason, I have almost always gone to someone else for pedicures.  This started because I originally had a source for pedicures, but I decided I wanted to try overlays.  And a close friend recommended Elizabeth.

Back to the Story
Happily, this isn't the end of my story.  I spoke with my wonderful manicurist, Elizabeth, about my experience, and she said she'd love to do a pedicure for me.  I said I thought she didn't really give many pedicures, and she told me she does.  So who knew?  (Not me, obviously.)  So next pedicure will be with her and I'm very hopeful that it will be a success.

Shopping for Hotels

Searching for a hotel in a city away from home is no easy task.  Not even for the Shopping Maven.  Not even if it's a city I know and even used to live in.  Things change so fast.  Having just shopped for some hotels in the San Francisco Bay area--a place close to my former home of 17 years--I thought I'd share some of the experience with you in the hopes of making this task a bit easier for others.

A few tips when you're trying to find a good hotel at a good price:

1. Google Maps has a nice feature where you can easily and quickly bring up a bunch of hotels on a map. This way you can see exactly where the hotels are located. Just search on hotels near San Francisco, for example. Added bonus: Although perhaps not entirely accurate Google even provides the rate for dates you specify for a potential stay.
2. Check at different times in advance of your departure date to try to get the best rates.  Usually you want to consider booking at least a month or more before your travel dates to get a good rate.   Prices change--sometimes frequently, sometimes not so frequently.  Sometimes you'll just strike it right and find a great price at the right time.  Sometimes not.
3. Try checking a number of travel or hotel search sites, like travelocity.com, hotels.com, bookit.com, etc., to determine the best price for a stay. Generally the prices will be the same or within a few dollars but it's a good idea to check the rates and rules posted on different sites. Sometimes a site will offer a special rate.
4. Sometimes the hotel site itself will offer the best price. However, this is not always true. Sometimes the prices on the hotel's own web site are actually higher than those found elsewhere.

So to sum it all up...
You need to be thorough in your search.  As noted here, prices fluctuate. Also there is not one sure way to where to find the best price.  You really have to shop around.  Hopefully, this will give you some ideas on how to do that and when.

On another note:

Looking for hotels in Israel, I found this interesting description for a hotel in the Tel Aviv area (Click here if you want to see where this text actually occurs):

Located in the heart of Tel Aviv, steps from the beach, the Sun City Hotel offers cosy value-for-money accommodation in a lively district, ideal base both for holidaymakers and shop-alcoholics willing to roam the boutique on Sheinkin Street, Nahalat Binyamin Arts and Crafts Market or Bezalel Market. The Sun City Hotel, Tel Aviv , features 24 elegant guestrooms with free wireless Internet access and air-conditioning, for a pleasant stay in Israel, even during the hot summer days. The friendly staff will provide tailored service, warm hospitality and all the tourist information you might need, for an unforgettable stay in the vibrant ...

So I guess this is a hotel for people who love to buy booze. Okay, so maybe I wouldn't exactly know how to translate my blog to Hebrew either.  

Happy traveling!