Greer’s OC: Bellacures now has a local toe-hold

Bellacures, a high-end Beverly Hills and West Side L.A. nail salon, has expanded to Orange County.

Founder Samira Asemanfar has already garnered a following of fans for bringing her nail salon concept of supreme attention to cleanliness and spa-like services to Laguna Beach and Balboa Island.

At Bellacures, each manicure and pedicure service starts with new sterilized tools for each client and a disposable pouch with new files, buffers and all other supplies. And, unlike many nail salons, Bellacures does not use whirlpool spa chairs for pedicures to avoid spreading bacteria and infections.

You can opt to have luxury services like an exfoliating walnut scrub manicure, for $29, or a microdermabrasion manicure, for $33, as an anti-aging treatment to increase circulation. Or, for $30, a dry-hand and nail therapy manicure will make your hands feel moisturized and revitalized. The manicure includes Bellacures’ butter cream, grapeseed or almond oil and a hot mitten treatment.

If you’re tired of having nail polish peel and chip so quickly, definitely go for the $50-Gelicure Manicure. The gel-like product can last up to two weeks and goes on like nail polish. It is available in stylish pastels and a range of other hot colors.

Bellacures is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Sundays. The salon is at 301 Marine Ave., Suite B, in Newport Beach, and at 226 Ocean Ave. in Laguna. For more information, go to bellacures.com.

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Here comes the SUN

The forward-thinking group of talented event producers, Sophisticates United Network (the SUN Grp), will be bringing Orange County another must attend indie music event: the C.A.M.M. (Cinema+Art+Music+Movement) Outdoor Concert Series with Mini Mansions, HANDS and Voxhaul Broadcast, which will take place from 7 to 11 p.m. on Friday at the LAB Antimall in Costa Mesa.

The concert will be ideal for alternative and rock music fans looking for an experience not often found in Orange County. C.A.M.M. will be holding upcoming concerts in Santa Ana, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach on the first Friday of every month.

The SUN Grp and C.A.M.M. are promoting cultural arts in Orange County with other brands including Ambig, Red Bull, Pabst Blue Ribbon, The Sheckler Foundation and the Newport Beach Film Festival. Tickets cost $18.50.

The LAB is at 2930 Bristol St.

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Raising the bar

Three years ago Pure Barre Newport Beach introduced Orange County to ballet-inspired workouts. It will be celebrating its third anniversary, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Friday.

You can join the event at the studio, which will include juice samples from Ritual Cleanse, award-winning wines from OneHopeWine, tasty desserts from Meringue Bake Shop, plus shopping, free massages and raffle items from Harmony Wellness Center. You can also enter to win opportunities from CosmetiCare Plastic Surgery Center and many more.

The studio looks stunning with boutique-style touches, hardwood floors and a spacious workout room with an upgraded sound system and floors.

Pure Barre Newport Beach offers a combination of Pilates, yoga and weights in a 55-minute intense session designed to burn fat while toning arms, thighs and abs by incorporating elements of ballet. During a workout, you’ll make small isometric movements at the ballet barre choreographed to uplifting music, and each session changes to keep it challenging and new.

Pure Barre Newport Beach is at 234 E. 17th St., Suite 116, in Costa Mesa.

For more information, call (949)230-9131, or visit https://www.purebarre.com/CA-newportbeach.

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Film Society brings advanced screenings to O.C.

The Newport Beach Film Festival months ago picked “The Artist”to win this year’s Oscar for Best Picture. In December, members of the Orange County Film Festival saw an advance screening of the film, followed by a Q & A with actor James Cromwell and actress Penelope Ann Miller.

Throughout the year, the OC Film Society presents members advance screenings of studio-produced and independent films followed by discussions with filmmakers, critics and actors. Memberships cost $99 per year, and you’ll be invited to 10 to 12 advanced screenings prior to their wide release. You’ll also receive four tickets to the 2012 Newport Beach Film Festival, which will take place in the last week of April and first week of May.

The Orange County Film Society is at 4540 Campus Drive in Newport Beach. For more information, call (949) 253-2880, or go to orangecountyfilmsociety.com.

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Clock ticking down on OC Restaurant Week

With just a few days left to navigate through Orange County’s favorite week for dining out, we’ve mapped out several of our top choices for a dining itinerary from OC Restaurant Week’s prix-fixe lunches and dinners. You can choose from 100 top restaurants that are offering amazing three-course lunch and dinners through Saturday.

Avanti Café in Costa Mesa is offering a great $10-lunch. You can build your own pizza, made with organic whole grain focaccia style crust and four house toppings (choose from 28 toppings). The lunch comes with a natural gourmet soda, Portola coffee, or organic and fair trade tea, and an Avanti cookie.

Avanti’s snickerdoodles are the best we’ve ever tasted. Also choose from vegan chocolate chip pecan, peanut butter and vegetarian chocolate truffle, or a tangy O2’s fruit and nut oatmeal cookie. Avanti Café is at 259 E. 17th St.. For more information, call (949) 548-2224.

House of Big Fish and Ice Cold Beer in Laguna Beach is offering a fresh seafood lunch for $10. Choose one starter, a cup of chowder, Caesar or garden salad, followed by a daily catch entrée, grilled mahi mahi sandwich, or sirloin burger, fish taco platter, or kalua pork plate lunch. The restaurant is at 540 S. Coast Hwy #200. For more information, call (949 ) 715-4500.

At Zimzala in Huntington Beach, Chef Roy Hendrickson is preparing a delicious dinner for $30.

For the first course, choose from a grilled baby romaine and frisée salad, or fresh fig flatbread with Laura Chenel goat cheese, pistachio, apple and sage balsamic arugula, or sweet, spicy and crispy calamari with black grapes, celery and arugula with chile-lime dipping sauce.

For the second course, choose an Irish organic salmon with tarragon-scented pearl couscous, baby heirloom tomato sambal, or black salt-crusted skirt steak with yukon potato purée, French beans mushroom supreme and petite onions, or a parsnip tagliatelle pasta with sage and brown butter, golden chanterelles, Camembert, thyme espuma and crisp parsnip.

For dessert, choose from two scoops of house-made ice cream, or vanilla crème brulee with fresh raspberries and pistachio biscotti, or a German chocolate waffle with caramel sauce and almond coffee ice cream. Zimzala is at 500 Pacific Coast Hwy. For more information, call (714) 960-5050.

And, at Pizzeria Ortica in Costa Mesa, Chef Justin Miller is preparing a $30 dinner.

For the first course, choose between a tricolore salad or a chopped salad. For the second course, choose between local cod with shaved fennel, blood orange, shallots, Fresno chili, fennel pollen and white wine; or braised short rib, celery root puree, crispy cavolo nero; or potato gnocci canolo, or chocolate tart, vanilla gelato and candied orange peel.

Pizzeria Ortica is at 650 Anton Blvd., Suite J. For more information, call (714) 445-4900.

GREER WYLDER writes Greer’s OC for the Huntington Beach Independent each Thursday and the Daily Pilot and Coastline Pilot each Friday. She’s the founder and president of greersoc.com, a free daily email service that provides the latest in Orange County fashion, dining, music, events and trends. Her blog can be viewed at https://www.greersoc.com and she can be contacted at greer@greersoc.com.