Happy New Year!

January 2018

My fingernails are long! I need a manicure. I can see the growth of new nails at the base.

Bitten Fingernails Again!

It all started in July 2017, I had wanted to give my nails a break from the gel application on my nails. But, July ended up being a month of broken and bitten fingernails. 

As a lifelong nail bitter, I found it is very difficult not to bite my nails without a hard nail application on my nails. Once I started biting my nails, it was difficult to stop. I was so ashamed and disgusted with myself for biting my fingernails. 

So, if I want long nails, I now know that I will constantly have nail type hardener on my nails. 

June was when my nails were beautiful. These were the longest nails I have ever grown in my 63 years of my life! June made my record for the longest time my nails have not been bitten off. The nails above are 2 weeks old after the Gel Application,  I can see the new growth at the base of the nail.

The above picture are my nails after the Gel application at the beginning of August.  It will take a good 3 months for my nails to grow out. By Christmas time, my nails will be long and beautiful again.

I am thinking  a lot about long nails...they were so pretty, but the nail salon always told me they were to long and they wanted to cut them. They always wanted to charged extra too...at least five dollars extra. Oh, my family also said my nails were to long also.  I wanted to see how long I could grow my nails before wanting them cut.

I have to be so careful with long nails because it is hard to text. I make lots of mistakes by hitting the wrong key. Also working on yard work or working on projects around the house will require special nail care. So, I would highly recommend short nails for the summer while doing stuff around the house.  I am going  to grow long  nails in tbe winter months when house projects are usually completed. I highly recommend keeping your nails short in the summertime. 

Plan on spending  $55.00 for Gel Application every 4-6 weeks. This is the price that will be needed to having nice nails.

I found a new nail salon and it charges only $40- to get my nails done compared to $55- at the other salon. So, as soon as I use up my gift certicates, I will be going to the new nail salon. I also found out that when I go to the salon, I usually only need a fill and gel. I was being over charged for a complete gel set  instead of a fill and gel.

Fungus Fingernail

I have been treating my ring fingernail that has fungus for over a year. I continued my gel treatments over the nail fungus. I was applying Tree Oil under the affected nail for months daily at bedtime.  

That is a picture of what my ring finger looked like recently.This is a picture at least a year later after treatment.  It has a nail overlay over a shorten fingernail. You can see some whiteness under the nail-bed. And, it did itch occasionally.

But, my recent Gel manicure,  my ring finger itched intensely,  that I was forced to sand off as much gel.  as I cut down the fingernail as much as I could so the nail treatment for the fungus would be effective.

A picture of my nail when I removed the nail overlay and I cut the nail even shorter. It was red and swollen for about a week. But, my fingernail did not itch!

I started many treatments. It just depended what kind of mood I was in to the treatment I would use on the fingernail.

Treatments: Nail Clear, Apple Cider Vinegar and,  Vicks Vapor Rub. I found these home treatments on the internet. The Nail Clear is from the manicure shop. I have about used up all the Nail Clear solution. The treatment bottle lasted a good month of treatments.

It will take at least 6 weeks for the nail to grow to to the end of my finger. It will take 3 months for the fingernail to be as long as the other ones.

I am loving my extra long fingernails, they are so pretty. I am still in awe of the fingernails I have grown. I still look at my nails occasionally and say to myself, "so pretty." It only took 60 years to have pretty nails.

I have adapted to my long fingernails over the months of growing them. It is still difficult to open plastic packages or picking up things that are flat against the floor.

I have not snagged my fingernails on anything, so no torn off nails. 

I can use the cell phone and I can text  without any problems.

Growth for 1 week. I am doing a lot of filing to even out the nail. Not a lot of growth this week.

Long Dirty Fingernails!

Long nails and junk beneath them.Yuck! I heard some nasty stories about how some women who have long fingernails who do not keep their nails clean.

Having long fingernails is extra personal care you have to do.  Washing your hands frequently and taking a nail brush under your fingernails to keep those fingernails super clean is a new personal chore.

Don't be one of those people who have food, catsup,  mustard, makeup or fecal matter or know what under your nails. Yes! I said fecal matter! This is exactly why you wash your hands after you toilet every time!

Soak your nails in some lemon juice to brighten up yellow or discolored nails. You  can see your natural nails on the underside of your nails. If you do not keep them super clean and brighten with a diluted lemon juice soak, they will look dull and dirty on the underside. 

When your nails are clean they look awesome ! I am putting a small nail brush in my purse today!

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.