By Nicole Bondi
The Detroit News

     If you're into nails, Riverview's the place to be.
     V.I.P. Nails & Tans in Riverview recently was named Michigan's top nail salon by Nails magazine. It was No. 46 in the country.
     For owner Renee Skrocki it's a long way from where she started 10 years ago. Since she opened the salon, she's grown from three nail technicians to 15, and signed her mother, Julie, on as partner.
     She offers acrylic, gel and fiber- glass nails and nail art that gives you candy canes for Christmas and stars and stripes for the Fourth of July. She's even planning to bring in an air brush machine, for spraying intricate designs on nails.
     If you like to be on the cutting edge, blue, yellow, green and purple are hot nail colors this season. "It's all the trendy colors," Skrocki said, Look for emerald greens and dark purples to go with holiday velvets.
     Those with more conservative tastes can stick to trusty mauves or some wine colors that are still popular.
     Skrocki said her salon's atmosphere is one of its biggest draws. And since it takes an hour to apply a set of nails and touch ups are recommended every two weeks, you're going to spend a lot of time in that atmosphere.
     "It's a real down-to-earth salon," Skrocki said. The technicians are "a group of girls who work as a team. We are like one big family here."

A good salon
To some people, finding a good nail salon is as important as finding a good doctor. Or maybe it's more important.
Renee Skrocki of VIP Nails said she's heard of people canceling doctor appointments that interfered with getting their nails done. So before you turn over your hands to someone new, Skrocki recommends asking the following questions:
• How long have they been in business? More experienced salons know more about the business and the trends.
• Do they use more than one product? What works on one person's nails may not work on yours.
• Do they offer gel and fiberglass nails as well as acrylic? Also, do they work with natural nails?
• Do they sell products to maintain nails in between visits? How easy is it to get broken nails fixed?
• Is the salon clean? Also, how do the nail technicians appear? Chances are they get their nails done at that salon. How do they look? . What's the atmosphere like? If you have to spend an hour there every two weeks, you want someplace where you feel comfortable.

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