New York City is one of the best places to get a mani/pedi. On almost every street corner, you’ll find an opportunity to get a good deal on the pair and feel extremely pampered. This is not the case in many other cities. And I wonder why that is.

Since moving down to Washington, DC, it has been impossible for me to find a good place to get a mani/pedi. I ran into a mall one day to get just a quick manicure and $20+ later, I was broke and unhappy with the way it even turned out. I did not feel pampered and I felt as if my nail tech was rushing through my manicure. And for 20 bucks, I expect a rather exceptional job.

As I sat with my nails drying and not looking the best they’ve ever looked, I wondered why manicures are so expensive in other cities. Is it just that I’m a spoiled New Yorker who expects that the differences in other cities should be only within pizza, bagels, and accents? Or were these nail technicians trained differently? I don’t believe it’s the latter, as nail technician training has accreditation for a reason. Is it just that I was unlucky with the girl that did my manicure? Could be. But I think proper training is key.

In Top 10 Reasons to Go to Nail School, we share with you some ideas to get you thinking about a career as a nail tech. Some people just naturally have the talent to do nails, while others are really ambitious and know that they’d be good and happy at a nail tech job. No matter what your reason, if you’re interested in a nail tech career, I’d strongly urge you to look into one. After all, you can always come down to DC and open your very own salon with reasonable manicures and fabulous nail techs. I’d certainly be a patron! Until then, I’ll have to wait until I get to NY for a great mani/pedi.

-Amanda Fornecker

After doing a presentation recently on Meniere’s Disease, I found out a few interesting tidbits regarding complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Meniere’s Disease is a disorder of the inner ear, whose cause is unknown. Symptoms include tinnitus (a ringing in the ears), hearing loss, vertigo, and aural fullness (a sensation that you have cotton in your ears). There is no cure for Meniere’s Disease, but there are some treatments that may help alleviate these bothersome symptoms. Some include the use of ototoxic drugs (which can really only be used in patients who have a severe hearing loss, as these drugs tend to worsen hearing and cause permanent damage); others have begun to turn to alternative medicine methods, like CAM.

Meniere’s Disease patients who seek CAM treatment for relief have found significant betterment of their symptoms. CAM includes treatments such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, naturopathy, hypnosis, and many other treatments. A CAM practitioner is one who is skilled in alternative medicine practices and treatments. They have received their licensure after completing a prescribed course of CAM school study and can legally practice on clients. Some CAM practitioners may specialize in a particular type of CAM treatment, but all have a pretty generalized knowledge of the scope of the field.

The benefits of CAM treatment on Meniere’s Disease patients are becoming more widely studied, as many patients are willing to try this natural method in order to alleviate their symptoms. Although it’s not a specific cure, CAM could be a helpful way for these patients to cope with their disease, which can actually cause an increase in demand for CAM practitioners.

Read up on some holistic health stories here.

-Amanda Fornecker

One of the best ways to understand a career is to get in and experience it yourself. But in order to know if you want to even try your hand at something, you may find it helpful to hear stories about those that have been there and done that before you. I really do believe that reading a person’s story and journey to where they are today is truly inspirational. Many people take straight-and-narrow paths, while others have a bit more of a windy Yellow Brick Road experience. And that’s what makes these stories interesting.

The “Work It” section of SpaBeautySchools is a great place to find stories of those that have stories as to how they achieved success in their professional lives. Here, we have stories of an artistic colorist who is a master in his own trade, makeup artists who have been involved in special effects, and others. These are just some of the inspiring stories within our grand scope of concentrations on our site. But it makes sense to do your homework and read up on a potential new career possibility. And remember that career changes are possible and very popular these days. Though it may seem daunting to start from square one, once you get started on a new career, the time will fly by and you’ll get into your new life’s calling sooner than you think.

Research is key! Good luck in your search!

-Amanda Fornecker

We can all go back to the days of MTV’s “The Newlyweds” and remember Jessica Simpson’s ridiculous comments and blonde moments. The show ended five years ago (can you believe that?) and now it’s time for Jessica to begin a new reality show – this time with VH1, called “The Price of Beauty.”

The show is slated to begin on March 15 and will document Jessica as she travels the world to see how other cultures view beauty. It’s definitely an interesting concept, especially in the wake of how some people find it necessary to change their entire body for others.

In the show, Jessica walks in a runway show in Paris and visits a woman preparing herself by fattening up in a cave in Uganda for her husband. These are different ideas of beauty. I guess the point here is that every person in every culture has their own definition of beauty.

Even beauty professionals have their own definitions. This can be seen in each individual person’s style. A hairstylist may be the best at cutting short hairstyles because they love this style and thinks it looks beautiful on a wide variety of people; a makeup artist might really love the smoky eye look as the perfect way to accentuate a client’s eyes; and a wardrobe stylist might have all the latest styles in their client’s closet to convey beauty.

No matter who you are, you have your own opinion of beauty. I wonder what Jessica’s will be. Maybe I’ll check out the show. Stay tuned…

-Amanda Fornecker