Women who are nailing it

Those days when we had to sit still and not do anything until our just-painted nails were dry are over. The popularity of the gel manicure comes from a practical need: how we hate waiting for our nails to dry at the salon, don’t we? It’s fundamentally disempowering, although temporary. We can’t answer the phone, wear our shoes, even get our wallets out of our bags to pay for our manicure — all because we don’t want to ruin our nails. The truly determined don’t give up, still getting their nails done and working around the inconvenience of it all (let’s face it, it’s really not a relaxing activity save for the hand massage part). Thanks to gel nail polish, the kind that doesn’t need to be set under UV light, there’s less to worry about.

“I always feel more put-together, maybe because of my job, when my nails are well-manicured,” says Rissa Mananquil-Trillo, co-founder of Happy Skin, which just launched a gel polish line of six wearable shades. Gel polish is a practical level-up from traditional nail polish because of its durability and long-lasting shine, but the process is tedious and even harmful. Rissa shares how one of her friends’ nails have significantly become thinner; another one developed a dangerous brown spot, from getting gel polish cured and sealed under UV light.

“What’s great about our gel polish is you don’t need a base coat, it doesn’t turn nails yellow. And it’s 10-free — some are 7-free or 5-free, but we made sure that our product is free of the top 10 toxic ingredients commonly found in nail polish,” she shares. These are toulene, DPB, parabens, camphor, formaldehyde resin, xylene, ethyl tosylamide, acetone, lead, and animal ingredients. Happy Skin Gel Polish is completely vegan and contains hydrolyzed keratin and almond oil to strengthen and nourish nails.

The shades are named after six women recognized in their respective fields. “The idea is, wear what you dream to be,” Rissa says. Dreamer, a cloud-like, light dove-gray shade, is named after Iya Villania-Arellano. “Dreamer is not a shade I would usually wear. I wear only reds, but after trying it out, I thought, kaya ko pala. It’s a versatile color. It represents not limiting yourself and believing in yourself. There’s a dreamer in all of us, kaya ko siya nagustuhan,” Iya says.

Heart Evangelista-Escudero, who believes nail polish “is as essential, as important as lipstick,” represents the Artist shade, a nude-khaki shade.

Aivee Aguilar-Teo, M.D. represents Achiever, a fuss-free soft pink. For her, the soft pink shade is ideal for someone who works in a detail-oriented industry. “As doctors, we can’t have too brightly-colored nails because it’s going to be distracting for the patient. This color is perfect because it’s not overpowering. It looks dainty and clean,” Dr. Aivee says.

Tweetie de Leon-Gonzalez represents Icon, an elegant wine red. “I’m more inclined to use shades that complement my skin tone,” she shares. A nude or dark shade like Icon is her go-to.

Angelina Mead King represents Superstar, a metallic gold hue. For Angie, nail polish completes the look, and shades of gold are her favorite. Like a true superstar, she likes to take it up a notch: “I color match to my cars.”

Joey Mead King represents Influencer, a versatile taupe shade. “Nail color signifies your character or what you’d like to say to the world, it’s part of your expression,” Joey says. She uses her platform to encourage women to express themselves. “I feel that a lot of women — whether they’re young or similar to my age or older — appreciate it when someone says, ‘Be an awesome, real you.’”

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Happy Skin’s gel polish line is now exclusively available at happyskincosmetics.com  for a special online price. Get one polish and the top coat at a discounted price of P450, or a trio of colors with top coat for P899. The product will be available at Happy Skin stores and counters at regular price starting July 17.

Happy Skin stores are located at U/G Alabang Town Center, 2/F Glorietta 3, 2/F Greenbelt 5, 2/F Power Plant Mall, 1/F SM Mall of Asia, 1/F Robinsons Place Manila, 2/F Mega Fashion Hall, 2/F Robinsons Magnolia, 1/F UP Town Center, 1/F TriNoma, U/G SM North EDSA, 1/F SM City Clark, 1/F SM City Pampanga, and U/G SM City Cebu. Opening soon in SM Aura Premier.