Shellac, Gelish, Gel Color, Axxium, Gel Fx and more. With all the gel nail polish options available how do you know which is the best of the batch? Well, Skye’s Beauty Tricks collaborated with a professional Nail Technician to try them all. There is a clear winner among all the options and the winner may be a product you haven’t even heard of. And yes, it’s better than Shellac, better than Gelish, better than Axxium or Gel Color.
Comparing the Options, The True Winner is…
Orly’s Gel Fx gel polish hybrid is hands down the best of the best when it comes to gel polishes. The odd part of this is that Gel FX is one of the least well-known options and nail technicians that use it are rare. To read just a few of the reasons why Orly Gel FX is the best gel polish available continue to read this independent review from Skye’s Beauty Tricks, here!
I have never had Reiki before today and had always thought it was a bit wishy washy. But when I met my therapist Tracy, she explained that she herself has been working with Reiki for 10 years, that it is a holistic treament based on energy techniques. She explained that Reiki can get quite negative press and this is down to mis-representation of Reiki in the media so she promised by the end that I wouldn’t be shouting “peace man” and calling out my inner spirtitual goddess but I’d feel relaxed and de-stressed from head to toe!
Tracy went on to explain that the word Reiki comes from two Japanese words, Rei and Ki. Rei is interpreted as supernatural knowledge or spiritual consciousness. This is the Wisdom that comes from God or the Higher Self. This Wisdom knows the cause of all problems and how to heal them. Ki is the life force, the non-physical energy that animates all living things. Therefore Reiki is a spiritually guided life force energy. A Reiki healer acts as a channel between the Wisdom and the patient. The healer has no influence on the degree of healing but simply facilitates the flow of energy to where it is best needed.
So once I had the basic understanding down, we were ready to heal me! I lay on a heated bed, Tracy tucked me in and popped a hot water bottle under my feet and I listened to the calming music while she began.
Tracy got me to take some deep breaths to start with and then began with her energy techniques over my body. I can’t say exactly what she did as I had my eyes shut and was blissfully relaxed but I could feel the heat from her hands moving over my body and when she moved her hand to above my chest, I felt my breathing become easier, my shoulders drop and I entered an even deeper state of relaxation. She moved from my head to my toes and then back up again. When she reached my pelvis, I felt a strange feeling here and she spent some time with her hands above my ovaries and once she moved on the strange feeling passed and again I could feel my body relax. After the hour of healing was up, she brought me back to earth and I felt unbelievable. I felt like I do after a massage but even better and even more relaxed. I could breathe better, I felt focused, all my stresses had melted away and it was amazing!
She told me afterwards that she felt alot of anxiety and pressure in my chest and that she had had to do alot of work on that area. I do suffer from anxiety, which I do have under contol but only just, I tend to not notice the knot in my chest anymore unless I’m at breaking point but Tracy was right, for the whole day afterwards I could breathe and breathe easily and I felt for the first time in years like the old me, the me before anxiety. She also said the she could feel an energy blockage in my ovaries, she said I must suffer more than the norm each month with pain, and again she was correct. This is to name but a few personal health issues that she raised with me, even though I hadn’t told her about them beforehand. I was pleasantly suprised by her knowledge and it just proved even more to me that the treatment had been successful.
So airy fairy or wishy washy, whatever some people think is fine, but I have first hand experience of this type of healing and I’d definitely recommend Tracy and this treatment again, I’ll be back, thats for sure!
-Reviewed by Cathy M
If you would like to make an appointment for Reiki with Tracy, call us now on 01-6774624 or email us at info@thebuffdyaspa.com and we can book you in from there!
I have to say I just love getting my nails done! It makes me feel a million dollars! So when I saw that the Buff Day Spa are now offering a package for hands and feet I was delighted, I would be feeling like a million dollars without paying that!
I booked in for this fantastic Pamper me Package and that’s exactly how I felt afterwards! This package is 2 hours long, costs just €89, includes a Fabulous Feet Pedicure and a Luxury Spa Manicure with Masque and is absolutely divine!
My terrific therapist Alva started with my Fabulous Feet Pedicure, we spoke about what colour I wanted today and decided to go with a French Finish on hands and feet! Alva helped me onto the gorgeous Pedicure throne, popped my feet in the basin, gave me some magazines to read and a cup of herbal tea to relax me! Alva then started to apply my cuticle cream and to push back and nip my cuticles, she applied nail moisturiser and then filed my nails to perfection!
Once she had finished expertly shaping my nails, she applied a gorgeous Orly sugar scrub exfoliant to my feet and legs to remove any dead skin cells and the result was nice smooth feet and legs! Once she had removed the scrub, she used a foot file on the soles of my feet to help remove any excess flaky skin on my feet and then she applied a beautiful masque to my feet and legs. Instantly my feet felt warmer, the aroma of ylang ylang and neroli floated through the air, delicious! Alva then popped my masque covered feet and legs into plastic and into lovely warm heated booties! “The heat from the booties gives additional penetration with the masque” - Alva explained! At this point I was in heaven! The booties felt so nice I was tempted to ask Alva could I take them home! Perfect to plug in in winter while watching the telly, I loved them!
When the masque had been on for 5 minutes or so Alva removed it, she then began to massage my feet and legs with Dermalogica’s Ultrarich Body Cream (great for any dry areas on the body) which felt amazing! Alva explained that we carry so much tension in our feet and we rarely give them any attention, by god she was right I would never even rub my feet myself! I could feel little crystals of lactic acid cracking away in my feet while she rubbed them, strange but nice feeling it has to be said!
She then expertly painted my toes with a French Finish and helped me down from the pedicure throne to start my Luxury Spa Manicure with Masque.
She exfoliated my hands and arms again with this yummy Orly sugar scrub, then soaked my fingers in warm water to soften the cuticles before applying the cuticle cream. She got to work on my cuticles – pushing them back and nipping as she went, she then filed my nails into a squoval (square but with slight oval edges) shape as I thought her squoval shape on her nails was lovely and she told me that this is the healthiest way for the nails to be shaped!
My nails have been very weak recently and I have found they’ve been breaking quite alot, Alve gave me a remedy for this – a nail formula from Nailtiques, this formula has keratin in it which is the protein forund in our nails and hair, so intead of regular hardeners which just harden your nail like varnish on your floor, this treatment will strengthen my nail and keep them hydrated with its vitamin packed formula. A bargin at €20 for the smaller of the two sizes, if its good enough for Cameron Diaz then its good enough for me!
Alva then applied another masque onto my hands and arms, wrapped them in plastic and popped them into heated mittens, wow it just felt absolutely gorgeous! When she removed my hands from the mittens there was no masque left on my skin at all, Alva said our hands are always drier because we wash them so much, use detergents when we’re cleaning and this dries them out. There was a big difference in the skin on my hands, I had noticed they were looking older of late and they looked much younger and are glowing now! Next up was my hand and arm massage with a gorgeous nailtiques cuticle and skin conditioner and this just like all the rest of the treatment was amazing! Again I had little crystals of acid in my hands which Alva massaged into oblivion – heaven!
Alva then painted my nails expertly with a french finish and took me down to the relaxation area to relax. I have never felt like I was walking on air from a nail treatment before but let me tell you this is the ultimate in pampering for your hands and feet and for just €89! I know where I’m going for my manicures and pedicures in future, these treatments were the best but for less!
Each year in the spa, we do a Kris Kindle and buy each other a gift. Everyone gets one and its all great fun! We get so much every year and we really don’t need another gift! This year has been a tough year for our country and more often than not we are hearing awful stories of people we know or people like us who are down on their luck and unfortunately this year, Christmas won’t be a happy time. Instead of doing a Kris Kindle our generous Team have decided to buy gifts for children in need and give them to The St. Vincent de Paul. We hope that others less fortunate than ourselves will have a better Christmas, that families will be able to give their children a gift and see that magic in their child’s smile on Christmas Day. We delivered our gifts to The St. Vincent de Paul last week! Look at how generous our Team have been! Thank you girls, your generosity knows no bounds and the difference it will make to a child or family this Christmas is massive! We are proud of you and your kindness! Merry Christmas to one and all! We hope you all enjoy it and we look forward to seeing you all in the New Year!
This month we are celebrating our 10th birthday. Keep this date in your mind - 12/12/12 because on that day we are 10 and we have some fantastic prizes including a Christmas Hamper from Fuschia worth €150 aswell as individual prizes from Dermalogica, Image, Universal Contour Wrap, Mama Mio and also vouchers for treatments in the spa! To enter this FREE raffle, simply make any purchase or have a treatment on the 12th of December and get your FREE entry to the draw. We also have 12 days of incredible offers changing each day to celebrate and to countdown the 12 days to our birthday!
On the 1st of Dec – Get a FREE Gift with ANY purchase (including gift vouchers, if you have a treatment on the day and ANY product purchase)
On the 2nd of Dec – Get 20% off ALL treatments (excluding packages)
On the 3rd of Dec – Get €30 off ALL Speciality Facials. Click here for a list of our Speciality Facials they will be €79 on the day!!
On the 4th of Dec – Get 40% off ANY waxing
On the 5th of Dec – Get €50 OFF The Buff Ultimate Indulgence instead of paying €175 get this fantastic treatment for €125. Click here to read about this super relaxing treatment!
On the 6th of Dec – Get a FREE €60 gift with every hour long treatment
On the 7th of Dec – Get 70% off every Mineral Salt Scrub with an hour long treatment (Mineral Salt Scrub costs you just €15 SAVING you €35!!)
On the 8th of Dec – Get 80% off ALL NEW Image Peels (instead of €99, just pay €19.80) Consultation and pre-treatment necessary! Click here to read a review on these fantastic Image Peels!
On the 9th of Dec -The first 9 customers get a FREE Dermalogica Mini Facial worth €27!!
On the 10th of Dec – Get €10 off ANY treatment!Click here to see a full list of our treatments at The Buff Day Spa.
On the 11th of Dec – Get 11 minutes of massage FREE with EVERY treatment, so you choose whether its your back or your feet or legs the choice is yours..
On the 12th of Dec – Get 2002 pricing on all treatments!That means our Swedish Massage and Spa Custom Facial cost just €65 instead of €79, our Buff Half Day Indulgence costs €190 instead of €230, so get in and get those gift vouchers TODAY to get excellent savings! Also on the day get 15% off all Dermalogica products and 10% off any other products! Do make sure to get your raffle ticket to be in with a chance to win our fabulous Christmas hamper! Come celebrate 10 years of being The Buff Day Spa!
Ok this time round I am going into The Buff Day Spa to have myself an Image facial peel.. I have to say I was a bit dubious to say the least, I mean we’ve all seen the repercussions of Samantha’s skin post-peel in Sex and The City, so a little nervous is probably a bit of an understatement!
I had called in 2 weeks previously and had my skin consultation with my Therapist Ciara, to outline exactly what my skin expectations were and to make sure I was able to have an Image peel. The consultation was very in-depth and Ciara needed to know alot about my medical history to ensure I wasn’t allergic to anything and to ensure my skin was suitable for an image peel, she then explained that I would need to pre-treat my skin for 2 weeks with a “peeler product” prior to having the peel done, this is to prep my skin so the peel will penetrate right into the skin and I will get the maximum results from the treatment! My main reason for having the peel is that like so many of you I am getting married next year and although I do look after my skin with professional products, I want more results. I want my skin to REALLY glow, I want my redness reduced, my pigmentation reduced and my brownish marks from old breakouts gone! Ciara explained that to achieve these results I would need a course of 4 peels at 2 week intervals coming up to the big day, she also said that with the Image range, 75% of my result would come from my homecare routine and the other 25% from the course of peels themselves, so this is a skin-care commitment, one I am happy to make! So I signed the consent form and headed out into the sunset (or home) to start pre-treating my skin.
I began using The Total Facial Cleanser twice a week, in the evening on a Monday and a Thursday! I noticed a slight tingling on my skin when I used it and after the first week I could see my skin starting to flake, especially around my mouth, it also looked alot duller and was feeling tight. Luckily Ciara had informed me that flaking would occur with using the product, she did say “without reaction there is no action” and had assured me this is normal and a good thing so I was happy with that! In relation to the dullness she had also explained in our first consultation that Image products with glycolic work differently, they go right into the basal layer of your skin and then work upwards to the surface, shedding away the dead cells. So initially when using Image products your skin becomes duller and that is the dead layers of skin coming to the surface before they flake off.
2 weeks later I was back to have my image peel at The Buff Day Spa, Ciara had a little chat with me about how my pre-treatment had gone, had I noticed any changes in the skin etc? I told her all I had seen, and she said this was good. I then signed my consent form and Ciara got to work on my facial peel!
We had opted for The Signature Face Lift, which is a 30% vitamin C peel, ideal for smokers, anyone with rosacea, sensitivity, pregnancy, dry/dehydrated skin and perfect for a Bride coming up to the big day or anyone with a big event coming up, so perfect for me!
Ciara donned some vinyl gloves, got to work and began cleansing away my make up with a gorgeous orange-scented cleanser (yummy) and removed this with cotton wool, she then cleansed my skin again with what I’m guessing was the total facial cleanser as it smelled and tingled like my cleanser at home, she removed this then with sponges and cold – yes cold – water. She said that to use warm water would just add more heat to my skin and that with a peel there is enough heat being created in the skin without adding more with warm/hot water. And suprisingly enough the cold water felt quite soothing after the tingling of the cleanser, it was good! She then prepped and degreased my skin with a strong smelling liquid which she applied with gauze to my skin. My skin began to tingle bigtime which Ciara said was normal! Then with a swab Ciara applied the first layer of the peel, and began massaging it around my face and down 1/3 of my neck for just a minute, once the time was up she applied the next layer ontop of this and again massaged this for a minute, I began to feel a slight tingling sensation, Ciara checked with each layer to see how the tingling was on a scale of 1-10, I was feeling a 2, so nothing too major! Once the minute was up she applied a 3rd layer ontop and began massaging this layer once again but this time she brought it right up to my eye area, the tingling was now up to a 3 but very bearable! Once Ciara had massaged this for another minute she applied the 4th and final layer of the peel which was an enzyme masque that she said would nibble away at the dead skin and really give my skin a great glow. After a minute of massaging this masque into the skin she left it for an additional minute and then removed it with cold sponges, she repeatedly wiped my skin with the sponges to make sure it had all been removed and then she told me she would now hydrate the skin by using a hyaluronic enhancer, a serum and an eye gel. She then applied a day cream with built in SPF to protect my skin from the outside elements and from getting pigmentation!
When she gave me the mirror I could instantly see that my skin was brighter looking. Ciara told me I would need to use a post-peel treatment kit which she gave to me to use for the next 5-7 days, it is included in the treatment price and contains a cleanser, serum, masque, day and night cream. She instructed me to use ONLY this and no other products bar my make up and to start using it the day after the peel. For today she popped some Image make-up (iConceal) on me and told me to sleep in it this evening, she didn’t want me cleansing it or anything that night! Ciara explained that everyones skin is different, some people notice the difference in their skin 4 days post-peel, with others it can be a week before the results are seen. Some possible post-peel side effects are tightness (which I could feel straight away), shedding/peeling or flaking which I was told not to pick at and then Ciara went through all the post-peel instructions and also gave me a leaflet with them all on it should I forget! I then went on my merry way!
4 Days Later…
I have been experiencing some flaking and slight tightness but today is the day to do my masque from the post-peel treatment kit. It’s a vitamin C enzyme masque which smells gorgeous, nice and orangey! Straight after application my skin feels tingly, that is because the enzymes are nibbling at my flaky, dead, surface skin. After 5 mins I remove and my skin is just glowing! It looks gorgeous, feels really soft and I am a happy bunny!
7 Days Later..
My skin looks amazing! It is really glowing, my pigmentation is reduced bigtime and I can barely see the marks from old breakouts, it is incredibly soft, looks younger and I have never received so many compliments on it! I am really VERY impressed!
I am back on my regular Image Total Facial Cleanser twice a week now, have invested in some other products for my homecare and have decided that with the results I have seen from just one peel I am going to book a course of 4 for the run up to my wedding, not too close to it but I defintely want my skin looking like this on my wedding day! Thank you Ciara for giving me the best results I have ever seen from a facial treatment and Thank you Image, you have converted me and I love you!
To watch a video of this fantastic treatment press play below!
