Gel Nails

Update

 April 25, 2017

My nails continue to grow, they need another manicure, but I want to wait until the beginning of May. The new growth can be seen at the base of the nails. I am curious to see how long my nails can grow. Getting this type of manicure is expensive .  The cost is about $50.00 a month plus  tip. Cost X 12 months can cost $684.00 a year. So, this is how much money it takes to break a nail biting habit

This is NOT a shellac manicure.  It is actually a gel with new growth edges sanded so a ledge cannot be felt when new growth  begins. I cannot bite these nails.  If these nails are bitten, I risk chipping a tooth or breaking lots of teeth.  

I love these nails because they cannot be bitten off. I am learning I have to adjust my lifestyle  for long nails. For example,  getting cream out of a jar, I now use the back of my fingernail to remove the cream from a jar, not the underneath part of the nail. Also, I cannot be in a hurry to do something, like grabbing something quickly. I have to take my time to open doors with my long nails.

Typing on a computer or playing the piano is nearly impossible  with super long fimgernails.  I am using the sides of my fingers  to type  one letter at a time. 

Oh! I am having to throughly clean my hands and this includes under the fingernails with a nail brush. I have started to buy some pretty rings to remind me of my beautiful  nails. 

This coming June 2017 will be a year of beautiful  nails. I want to get a pretty blue stone for Mother's   Day.

I can now grow super long nails if I want to because I am no longer  taking care of my mom. Mom past away  on April 1, 2017.  Mom would of liked dying on April Fools Day. She was ready to go 3 years ago. And.....Mom would of loved my long fingernails.

It is really hard to believe how far I have become with my nail biting habit. The secret is my gel manicures with the edges sanded down so I do not feel the ledge with the new growth. And, my new habits of keeping my hands cleaned, oiling the cuticles  each night  and keeping hands lotioned and moisturized every hour  of day. In that, I take care of my hands all the time.

Update: May 27, 2017

My right hand fingernails grow faster than my left hand...anyway, I hit my pointer fingernail and my hand hurt all day. After that episode,  I started to file my right hand fingernails shorter. My right hand fingernails are a little shorter than my left hand. 

October 27, 2016

My nails have been growing for 5 months!  I have found a new person to do my nails.  I still have the French Shellac manicure done on my nails   My nails are due for another manicure very soon.

I have let my nails grow pretty long during the last 5 months and I have found that I do not like very long nails. It is difficult to type with long nails, the long nails feel uncomfortable, and it is hard to get cream out of a jar.

This is a picture of my nails weeks ago. If you look close enough at the base of the nail, you will see where the new nail is growing out.

The manicure above is about a month old.

With my new manicure person and place, I have not had any splitting or breaking of my nails. And, I have not bitten my nails!

With my new manicure sessions, I no longer have acetone used on my nails when getting a new manicure.  The nail is sanded off, being careful not to sand the natural nail.

When the new manicure is applied, the nails are sanded to keep the nail the same width as the natural nail. In doing this results having no edges at the base where the new nails are growing out.  Without the big edges on the nails as they grow out, I never pick at the edges.  Without the edges to pick at, the polish stays on and I am not constantly picking, so then, my nails keep on growing.

This is a picture of my last manicure. My nails are shorter and easier to live with. The nails are filed in an oval shape instead of the square nails. The oval nails look pretty on my thumb nail compared to the square nail. 

The French Manicure above, the manicurist used a darker pink for the base polish which I do not like.  I forgot to  tell the manicurist that I wanted the lightest pink to be used. 

Anyway, my nails are beautiful now. I think I have finally stopped biting my nails. 

Confessions

My confession:  I am a nail biter, it is a bad habit and  I am so ashamed of myself for letting my nails get back into this condition again. I had beautiful nails for 5 months!  And, in one day, they are ruined and back in a nail bitten state.

I am starting this blog again to keep myself accountable.  Someone needs to know the condition of my nails.

The pictures below are my beautiful nails before I destroyed them!

Now, my nails are so short and bitten off.  They have been hurting for days now. I am so disappointed in myself for letting my fingernails get into this condition again.

Why do I do this?

I am trying to figure out what caused my vicious nail biting cycle.  Oh, I remember...I removed the colored nail shellac because I was not happy with the nail growth showing at the base of the nail.  So, I removed the shellac and in the process of removing the shellac, and I discovered it was difficult to remove the polish from the tips of the nails. 

The removal process my way involved me scraping the nail shellac off with my teeth.  I know...why did you do that?  Because I did not want my nails sitting in acetone for 45 minutes to get the shellac off.  

I managed to remove all the shellac off my nails, filing my nails started, which resulted in poor results. I started slacking off on the twice a day hand care. My nails were in terrible shape at this point. Nail biting started, the vicious cycle starts and does not stop until the damage has been done.

I know....Why didn't you go your nails done?

Stupidity! Lack of caring! Laziness!

I did realize the next time my nails are long, I will do things differently.  I will not allow my nails to become too long, 5 months of growth is too long!   If I am going to have my nails done, it will have to be done every 2 weeks.  Two weeks of nail growth is too much for me to tolerate.  

I will need to let a manicurist care for my nails because obviously I cannot do the job correctly.  At times, I will file my nails too much. then, my nails do not look pretty and the nail biting begins. 

I also figured out when my nails are very short and bitten, the skin about the nails and cuticles are very dry and prickly I tend to pick and bite them a lot and my vicious nail biting cycle starts. Also,  I have gotten lazy about my hand care twice a day (oil to cuticles and thick lotion to hands).

Once the biting of my nails start, it is a vicious cycle...I can't stop biting my nails until they have been bitten off. I hate hanging skin around my nails, cuticles! I will bite them off.

My fingertips hurt, they have been hurting for days.  They hurt worse when they are wet and when I am doing something with my hands. I hate doing stuff around the house with my hands because my fingers will hurt.

Last night, was my beginning of nail recovery.  I took a metal nail file and filed all my fingertips smooth, which means that I removed all snags from nails and skin areas.  Once my fingertips were smooth and soft, I applied Vaseline to my hands.

Did I say, my fingertips hurt!  Hurting as I type.  My thumbs hurt pretty bad. I somehow manage to find a nail snag and I pulled it off with my teeth...which resulted in taking the nail too deep into the nail bed...which often causes bleeding and it hurts really bad!

See my pictures, these are my nails at their worse.  These nails have looked like this for at least a week. 

My recovery begins.  Join me!  In 3 months my nails will be pretty again and so will your nails. 

Update:  February 13, 2015

I started picking at the nail polish. My nails were so long!  

Long story short-Do not remove shellac nail polish on your own by picking it off or biting it off, the ends of the nails become damaged, they are very dry, peeling, they break easily. I cut my nails down short before I took off the remaining shellac nail polish.

I will attempt to grow my nails again without the shellac nail polish.  I will be applying my own nail polish and nail hardener. I should have long nails again in 3 months.  By Mother's Day, I will be celebrating my beautiful nails again!  

My nail picking and biting was an obsession, once I started I could not stop.  I now know that I like my nails to look nice and not have a growth space at the cuticle. If I was going to get my nails done professionally, it really needs to be every 2 weeks. I need to find an outlet to do if I become unhappy with my nails and that would be to go to a professional if not a professional then redo my own nails. Take a walk or something, just do something to get my mind off of my nails.

Anyway, it is good that fingernails grow. Three months is a long time!

February 2, 2015

I wanted to add some information about Shellac removal at the nail salon and that is...removal of the shellac took over 30 minutes long. The process that was used was dipping my fingernails in acetone. Keeping your fingertips in acetone for 30 minutes is way too long! 

I will not be doing that again!  I will be removing the nail shellac on my own.  And, that means, I will either pick it off or bite it off. I just hope I do not break any nails in the process.

The colored nail shellac lasted very well on my nails. Only reason I wanted the shellac removed was because of the obvious nail growth at the cuticle area.  I want to see if I can leave the current nail polish on for at least 3 weeks. 

Oh!  I continue to apply a clear nail shellac on my nails every 3 or 4 days.  I make sure the polish also covers the nail edges especially. 

I am still getting use to the longer nails on my fingers. They look beautiful and I catch myself looking at my nails during the day.  

The nails still feel weird. I am not use to the nail length on my fingers.

February 2, 2015

Update:  I have had my fingernails done twice with a shellac polish, this time in color!  No breaks on the fingernails so far. I have been growing my fingernails since October 2014.   The length on the fingernails is probably a good 4 months of growth. 

There is no way I would ever bite these nails at this growth length.  I am still using my fingertips a lot while doing things around the house and pretty much everything in general.  
I think about all those years with short nails and my attempts to grow longer nails, I really did not know how to use my fingers with longer nails.  Using my hands now, is automatic.  I do not get in a habit of grabbing things because that can cause broken nails.  

Oh! I am still taking Biotin (vitamin supplement) for nails and hair one time a day.  I truly believe the Biotin has helped my nails become stronger. 

I continue to keep my hands well lotioned and cuticles without splits or breaks. With very dry hands and cuticles in bad shape, I find myself picking at my fingernails and cuticles.  Keeping your hands and nails well moisturized is the key to beautiful nails. 

December 27, 2015

I had my nails shellac again today.  I started to pick at the shellac today and managed to get it all off. And, since I had some gift certificates, I headed to get my nails done before I start picking too much on the nails. While I was having my nails done, the manicurist asked if I wanted my nails cut! Oh no! This girl is growing out her nails.