Jean Claude Biguine Experience
I visited the Jean Claude Biguine Salon at Juhu a few days ago to test out their new Acrygel nail service. Acrygel is a method that merges together the strength of acrylic and flexibility of gel to give you beautiful, long-lasting, natural looking nails and is available exclusively at Jean Claude Biguine salons across India.
My nail technician, Neelam, began by cleaning, buffing and filing my nails - the same as you'd expect from a regular manicure. She then selected acrylic nails and filed them to fit the shape of my nails exactly. Since I opted for a classic french manicure, she went on to glue the acrylics to the tips of my nails and chopped them off to the length of my liking. She continued filing and buffing to ensure that the acrylics blended seamlessly into my natural nails. This takes a while so be patient, the final result is worth it!
Once the desired shape was achieved, she primed my nails and applied a mixture of power and gel coatings. The nails were then cured twice under UV light for about a minute after each application. This may burn a bit so be careful! I also got a few rhinestones stuck to my ring finger, because, why not? You can also choose to get your nails painted if you like.
Here's the final result! I think they look pretty damn amazing! They feel extremely hard and strong and last for about a month. You can also paint over your nails with a regular nail polish or gel finish polish, just be sure to use an acetone free polish remover.
Price: INR 3500
Duration: 2 hours
Pros:
- Perfect, natural looking nails
- Strengthening
- Doesn't harm the nail bed
- Long-lasting
Cons:
- Maintenance costs - you will have to return to the salon to get them removed. Infills cost about INR 2000 and are done every 25-30 days depending on nail growth.
Overall:
4.5/5
If your nails are prone to chipping and breaking, this is a service you should definitely try out. I'd highly recommend this to anyone with brittle, weak nails or even to people who don't have the time to fret over chipped nail polish every few days- just get a french manicure like I did and you're good to go for an entire month.
Would I get this done again? Yes, if I have weddings or fancy events to attend. On a regular basis - no, only because I'm lucky enough to have naturally long and strong nails so I don't really need to get this done all the time.
I also got to try out the Silk Perfume by Balmain. Hee! Inspired by the hubbub backstage at their own shows, Balmain forayed into haircare a few years ago by releasing a hair couture range of which one of the products is the Silk Perfume. It's a multipurpose hair spray infused with pure organic Argan oil and silk proteins leaving your hair looking super glossy and silky. Oh, and did I mention how wonderful it smells?
We started off with a mini head massage followed by shampooing and conditioning my hair. My hair was then blow dried and given super glam curls, topped off with generous amounts of the Silk spray.
Verdict:
5/5
My hair looked and felt super shiny and silky and smelled glorious. Being the silly billy that I am, I forgot to take a full picture of my hair but I've attached a sad little half-selfie below. The hair perfume can be bought exclusively at Jean Claude Biguine salons across India.
Until next time!
P.S. If you're getting your hair done at the Juhu salon, ask for Wong! She's great! (: