I visited RINSE Beauty Bar this past Wednesday for a Paradise Manicure, which was the prize I won from Cat of MyLipstickAddition! 😀 I took the day off to meet up with a friend for lunch and decided to get some pampering too.
It was quiet and relaxing since it was just Julie (the lovely and friendly nail technician) and myself at the salon during my visit. As Cat mentioned on her post about her experience at RINSE, this salon features natural beauty products – even all of their nail polishes are 5-free, cruelty free and vegan. I really appreciate the fact that everything they used not only looked good, it was good for me as well. 🙂
It wasn’t a typical manicure in a number of ways: they take sanitization seriously here – first, by spraying disinfectant onto my hands before any services began. All the instruments were sealed in individual pouches that were put through the autoclave. An aromatherapy mist by Sparitual was then sprayed into the air – a calming jasmine scent that I loved. *inhales deeply*
The manicure began: shaping the nails (I’m super pleased with the way my nails were shaped into a classy squoval shape), cuticle cleanup and then the best part: a scrub! RINSE features a line of Canadian natural skincare called Koya which I was quite enamoured by – the “Sugah Sugah” scrub was used from my forearm to my hands to provide a gentle exfoliation. My arms were then wrapped in hot towels to clean off the scrub – it was pure bliss!
The polish applied was from the Bio Seaweed UV Gel polish range, and after a bit of indecisiveness (too much choice is sometimes a dangerous thing!) I finally chose the shade called Champagne. Julie helped me decide on the colour – I had initially toyed with getting a beige creme shade that blended into my skin tone (surprise!) but I’m enjoying this lavender-rose silvery shimmer shade – a bit bling-y but festive for the holidays. This polish will last on my nails for at least 2 weeks.
The final step to the RINSE Paradise Manicure was a massage using Koya’s Butter Up! body cream, which smelled like a tropical dream (cocoa, shea, mango). I lied earlier, this is the best part of the manicure: I may have moaned a little as my hands and arms were being massaged. You may recall that I’m a knitter and getting a hand massage is such a special treat!
Of course I couldn’t leave the salon without getting something and I couldn’t resist the Koya products, so the Butter Up! body cream and Beach Babe body scrub (smells like pina colada!) came home with me. 😎
In total, the manicure lasted 45 pampering minutes. RINSE Beauty Bar is a full service salon offering hair blowouts, manicures / pedicures, hair removal, facials, and body treatments – all with a focus on natural products. I’m definitely interested in trying a facial there one day – I really enjoy the philosophy behind the limited use of chemicals in their treatments. Thank you RINSE and Cat for the wonderful experience! I highly recommend this gem in the west end of the city! 🙂
Please note: I won this manicure through a giveaway, and I purchased the body butter and scrub with my own money. This is not a sponsored post.
stash matters 
That salon looks lovely! And I will be forever loyal to a salon that autoclave a their tools. Why don’t they all‽
I really like the shade you picked as well, it’s like a fancy neutral 🙂
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Yes, the shade is still within my comfort zone!
Yeah I don’t know why some places risk it with their sanitization – it’s so nasty!
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superb my sweet xo ❤ ❤ ❤
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Thank YOU for making this possible. Your giveaways are the best! ❤
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My absolute pleasure xxxxxx #Youknowit
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Looks amazing!!!!! How lovely!!!
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It was lovely! So nice to have someone do my nails for a change!
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Oooh, I love the colour that you chose! That place looks so lovely. 🙂
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Thanks – it was such a nice treat! 🙂
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The colour is amazing. It looks so good! I love the look of the salon, so stylish and chic! Glad you had a great experience 🙂
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Thank you! Yes, the decor is beautiful – very relaxing and inviting too.
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This salon looks very lovely and I love the color you chose ❤ I haven't been to salon for a while, need one before Christmas!
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Oh yes, getting your nails done for the holidays is perfect! They’re very busy around this time of the year – so many parties and get-togethers!
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The salon sounds lovely! I love that it was just you and the salon person there. I tend to get distracted by others gossiping
You picked a great shade as well 🙂
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It’s true – I tend to listen in on others rather than just focusing on myself. 😛 Julie and I had such a nice chat during the manicure.
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Ohhhh this sounds heavenly! I had a very bad pedicure experience last year at a salon so I’m now very picky about where I get my mani and pedis done – I like how seriously they took sanitization!
Love the shade you chose too – so pretty and it complements your skin tone so well!
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Oh no, sorry to hear about your experience with the pedi – I would be wary too.
I can’t stop looking at my nails – so pretty especially under certain lights. I had the sales girl at Shoppers (when I was redeeming my points) compliment me and asked me what polish that was lol.
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I love nail polishes that distract me! 😉
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This place looks and sounds great, and the Koya products sound amazing! It would be lovely to get pampered and get a facial or body treatment there one day. Lovely choice on the nail polish, too!
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I’m definitely going to get a facial there one day. I like places that focus on natural products for facials – they smell so amazing!
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Sounds like a great and relaxing time! Congratulations on winning such a fun gift!
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It was! Thanks! 😀
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