Rescue Your Nails (Paperback)

by Ji Baek (Author), Barbara Smullen (Illustrator), Deborah Ory (Photographer)
Key Phrases: buffing block, coat prep, cuticle pusher, Polish Perfection, The Imperfect Nail, The At-Home Rescue Manicure (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
“Ji Baek combines impeccable taste with clear-eyed practicality. When Ji talks, beauty editors listen.” –Linda Wells, Editor-in-Chief, Allure (Allure )

“Ji Baek is queen on the Manhattan manicure! Her practical, eye-opening new book is the ultimate A-to-Z resource or anyone who cares about their hands and feet.” –Sarah Brown, Beauty Director, Vogue (Vogue )

“Ji Baek, the nail guru! It’s super simple with great tips…a very smart way to take care of your hands and feet.” –SunHee Grinnell, Beauty Director, Vanity Fair (Vanity Fair )

“Ji is one of our top authorities on nails. For the next big trend, just check out her fingers.” –Ying Chu, Beauty Director, Marie Claire (Marie Claire )

“Ji makes it fun, she makes it easy, and she makes it glamorous—this is a great read as well as a great guide.” –Jean Godfrey-June, Beauty Director, Lucky (Lucky )

Ji Baek combines impeccable taste with clear-eyed practicality. When Ji talks, beauty editors listen. Linda Wells, Editor-in-Chief, Allure (Allure )

Ji Baek is queen on the Manhattan manicure! Her practical, eye-opening new book is the ultimate A-to-Z resource or anyone who cares about their hands and feet. Sarah Brown, Beauty Director, Vogue (Vogue )

Ji Baek, the nail guru! Its super simple with great tipsa very smart way to take care of your hands and feet. SunHee Grinnell, Beauty Director, Vanity Fair (Vanity Fair )

Ji is one of our top authorities on nails. For the next big trend, just check out her fingers. Ying Chu, Beauty Director, Marie Claire (Marie Claire )

Ji makes it fun, she makes it easy, and she makes it glamorousthis is a great read as well as a great guide. Jean Godfrey-June, Beauty Director, Lucky (Lucky )

Product Description
Why do women care so much about their nails? It's simple: Well-groomed nails make your hands seem more alive, more important, and definitely sexier. And suddenly it's not just your hands feeling that way, but your whole self—which is why nails, and nail salons, are a huge and growing business, with more than 53,000 salons in the U.S. doing some $6.4 billion in business each year.

But now you can skip the spa and do your own nails—and here's the perfect author to show how. Ji Baek, the high-energy owner of New York's hottest nail salons, the Rescue Beauty Lounge—written about from Vogue to InStyle, Lucky to Harper's Bazaar, used by designers and stylists, patronized by actors, fashionistas, professionals, and more—presents the definitive guide to beautiful hands and feet. Emphasizing natural beauty, cleanliness, and simplicity, it covers the science of the nail, and why it's important to take vitamins, file regularly, and moisturize constantly; the care of the nail, with step-by-step illustrated directions to achieving professional-quality home manicures and pedicures, including tools, techniques, lotions, polishes; the dressing of the nail—shapes, colors, and styles; the health of the nail—how to heal split nails, brittle nails, and ingrown nails. She demystifies the salon, from dealing with technicians to explaining exactly what is in that bottle of mysterious pink lotion; tells how to care for the skin around the nails, including solutions to common problems like calluses and sunspots; and even starts a virtual NBA (nail-biter's anonymous), with tips for quitting the nailbiting habit.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 166 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (May 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761143777
• ISBN-13: 978-0761143772
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 6.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #163,829 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THE "NAIL GURU" TELLS HOW AND WHY, June 13, 2008

By	Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

Many women can relate to Ji Baek's childhood desire to have bright shiny nails. She remembers "....begging for little pearly seashell pink dots of nail polish on my tiny, tiny nails, but the response was always a firm no."

After all, she grew up in South Korea in the 1970s under the guidance of a very traditional mother who wanted Ji to become a concert pianist, and definitely believed that nail polish "was only for trashy little girls."

It's been a long road from there to here for Ji . Here is now New York City where in 1998 she founded that city's premier nail spa, Rescue Beauty Lounge. Her accolades are numerous - she's been called "Queen of the manhattan manicure" by Vogue's Beauty Director, the "nail guru" by the Beauty Director of Vanity Fair, and a woman with "straight-talk, charm, and uncompromising standards" by W's Beauty Director.

After reading Ji's "Rescue Your Nails, " I join her list of devotees. For many years I've been doing home manicures, saving salon manicures and pedicures for very special occasions. To me, my nails looked fine - Thanks to Ji they look oh-so-much better!

Her book is an easy to follow, very practical guide to nail care. She opens by introducing the ABC's - her ten rules of nail care, and explaining how much our nails reveal about who we are. (Try it - next time you're out and about take a look at people's nails, both men and women, and see what you discover.) She gives us the straight scoop on fake nails, and lists the necessities for doing at home manicures and pedicures.

One of my favorite pre-pedicure treatments is her orange-mint soak, "one of the best parts of stiletto rehab." She also offers tips on reviving a manicure, and even instructions on how to file (Confession: I've just been sawing away!). It really does make a difference if you use long slow strokes and not short choppy ones.

Full-color photos and step-by-step instructions show how to do a professional at-home manicure and pedicure. Plus Ji makes each easy, fun, and relaxing.

- Gail Cooke

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Sa ve your money..., August 15, 2008

By	Kokopelli (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

The best that can be said for this book is that most of it is common sense or things that you already know. The unfortunate part is that it contains misinformation about some things, like ingrown toe nails. If you have a true ingrown toe nail, you need to see a podiatrist, a doctor, or a clinical manicurist. Letting the nail grow will only result in more pain and further complications.

If you are considering this book for a preteen who wants to learn to care for her nails, then perhaps it is appropriate. Otherwise, you would be better off investing in some good manicure tools. This book is not going to teach you very much. I bought it on the strength of the other reviews, and I was very disappointed.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No longer embarrased by my nails, July 7, 2008

By	C. Carter - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have a problem with raggedy cuticles all year long and when it's spring (sandal time), I feel like my feet still need to stay in hybernation. I saw this book at Barnes and Nobles and had to buy it. Ji, the author, provides a list of everything you need to do a self manicure and pedicure, as well as, clear and easy instructions. She also tells you how to improve the condition of your nails and cuticles. There are plenty of well taken photographs showing recommended tools, techniques and results. I have other "beauty" type books but none of them go into the detail this book does on improving the look of your nails.