Trying the new vegan Mani at Tips and Toes

By Danae Mercer

Vegan beauty is all the rage – but does it work when it comes to manicures?

I’ve dabbled in veganism over my many, many years, often for ethical reasons: helping the environment; saving small animals; saving large animals; reducing my carbon footprint; and so forth.

These days, I’m more ‘primarily plant based’ than anything near full vegan, and that works just fine for me. But I’ve noticed vegan beauty treatments popping everywhere — and I’m totally here for that.

Tips and Toes just launched one, a vegan mani pedi that uses only natural products. After months of slowly breaking down my nails with gelish and general ruthlessness, I definitely felt the lure of something far more gentle and a whole lot more natural. So I booked in.

The treatment started with lemon for sanitation, then fresh aloe vera (as in, still part of the leaf) rubbed over my skin as natural moisturizer. Next came a slightly messy Himalaya salt scrub and a gorgeous Argan oil hand massage. I was a huge fan of the latter — anything to do with Argan oil is good in my books, plus I’m a sucker for the stress release of a massage.

While it’s definitely possible to then go on and apply polish, I didn’t. My nails need a bit of TLC and right now I’m focused on healing, rather than style. A bit of extra oil was rubbed around my cuticles and, like that, I was good to go.

It’s the sort of thing I’ll repeat again, all fast and relaxing without any weird chemicals or extortionate price tags (the treatment cost Dhs160). And I’m pretty excited to see if any other eco-conscious offerings roll out over the year.