Fashion Disaster (7 page)

What you need:

Paper towels

Polish remover

Cotton balls

(Or you can just use more paper towels.)

Clear polish

Two different color polishes

(You can choose any colors you want, but we like red and yellow best for this one.)

What you do:

1. Place some paper towels on the floor—or wherever you're going to put your feet—so you don't have to worry about drips or spills.
(We spend so much time worrying about drips and spills! Luckily, in the Sparkle Spa we have the kind of floor that is easy to clean, but there are a lot of floors
that aren't!)

2. Take a cotton ball or a folded-up paper towel and put some polish remover on it. If you have polish on your toes already, use enough to take it off. If you don't, just rub the remover over your nails once to remove any dirt.
(Because dirt can make your polish look clumpy, and also because you shouldn't have dirty feet anyway!)
Nail polish sticks better when you do this
before polishing.
(If you can figure out why, let us know.)

3. Rip off two more paper towels. Roll the first one into a tube and twist it so it stays that way. Then weave it back and forth between your toes to separate them a little bit. After that, do the same thing with the second paper towel on your other foot. You might need to tuck it in around your pinky toe if it pops up and gets in your way while you polish—you can also cut the towel to make it shorter.
(Aly doesn't like ripping it because sometimes too much gets ripped and then you have to start over with a brand-new paper towel.)

4. Open your clear polish and apply a coat to each nail. Then close the clear bottle up tight.
(You
can go in any order, but Aly usually starts with the big toes and works her way to the pinkies. I do too.)

5. Open the first colored polish. Use it to polish all your toes. Put the cap back on tight.
(The tightness is important, in case someone
—
or something, like your dog
—
knocks over your polish.)

6. Repeat step five.

7. Open the second colored polish. Wipe the polish brush against the side of the bottle so there's no excess to drip off. Then swipe the brush very, very carefully straight across the top of your big toes.
(You might get some on your skin. Don't worry about that. Just wait until the polish dries and wipe it off, either with nail
polish remover or with soap and water the next time you take a bath or shower.)
If the color of the stripe doesn't look as bright as you want it, blow on your big toes a little to dry them, then do the same thing all over again, adding another swipe of color on top of the first. Screw the cap back on the polish bottle tightly.

8. Blow on all your toes or just let them dry for a few minutes. Then apply a clear top coat. Close the bottle up tight.
(Really tight!)

9. Now your toes have to fully dry. You can fan them for a long time, or you can sit and make a bracelet or read a book or watch TV or talk to a friend
(or your sister!)
until they're dry. You can also call around or use the computer to search for things you can do to help out in your community and
read about them while you're waiting. It usually takes about twenty minutes for toes to dry, but it could take longer.
(That's why we try to find fun things to do while our nails dry. Otherwise, sitting in one place for twenty minutes is bor-ing.)

Now you have your very own beautiful Loving Locks special occasion pedicure! Even after your polish is dry, you probably shouldn't wear socks and sneaker-type shoes for a while. Bare feet or sandals are better so all your hard work doesn't get smudged.
(And so you can show off your striped big toes!)

Happy polishing!

JILL SANTOPOLO
is a big fan of sparkles. She's also a big fan of sisters. And spas. And writing. In addition to the Sparkle Spa books, she's the author of the Alec Flint Mysteries. You can find her online at
www.jillsantopolo.com
. Or you can find her in person in New York City, where she likes getting her nails painted with Good as Gold nail polish.

Read more
books!

ALADDIN

SIMON & SCHUSTER, NEW YORK