Cruising Nails

As a fun departure from my reviews and informative blogs, I am choosing to make this post about vacation manicures and pedicures. I always put a lot of thought into the colors and designs for my cruises and thought others might enjoy seeing some of these manicures.

I have always enjoyed painting my own nails and had a decent sized collection of drug store nail polish in high school. I would paint my nails every Saturday night while I was waiting for SNL to come on. Later on, I would do my nails only periodically. We lived in walking distance from a pharmacy, and I would walk up there and reward myself with a bottle of nail polish each time (and sometimes an ice cream bar). But, once we had kids, I chose to spend what little free time I had doing other things. Fast forward to a little over 2 years ago when my husband gave me a set of nail polish from Holo Taco for our anniversary. This restarted my love affair with designing and executing my own manicures. Since then, I have got really into it and consider the time I have doing my nails as crucial to my mental health.

I have learned, however, that manicures and cruising or beach vacations don’t necessarily mix well. Sunscreen, which is crucial for most successful vacations, can often damage manicures. It is recommended that you wash your hands after applying sunscreen so that you can minimize the damage. And, if you are like me, you spend most of your time on a cruise or at the beach in a pool, hot tub or ocean. Water of any kind (fresh, salted or chlorinated) can damage manicures. This is why you will often see me with my hands awkwardly propped out of the water in the hot tubs on the ship. And, I find that water slides help to lead to manicures and pedicures that peel or chip off. Gel nails do much better with sunscreen and exposure to water, but I don’t use gel because it damages the natural nails. To combat the above mentioned issues, I have begun to bring the top coat I use with me so that I can reapply it mid vacation. This extra protection can help manicures and pedicures last a lot longer.

When I am designing a pedicure and a manicure for a cruise, I think about how the two sets will look together. For my nails, I usually go with bright colors or colors related to the beach and sea. Sometimes (most of the time) I do intricate designs with stamps and other effects, and other times I simply find the right color and specialty topper for the cruise. Once I’m done with my pedicure, I imagine that I am sitting in the earlier mentioned hot tub and hopefully feel the excitement of being in my “happy place”. Here are some of my favorite manicures from the last couple of years:

Odyssey of the Seas- October 2021 (First Cruise Back after Pandemic)

What do you think? Which do you like the best?

The Great, the Good, and the Ugly: Our First Virgin Cruise

So You Want to Give Cruising a Try . . .

Flury Cruise Consulting