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.

December 25, 2016

Merry Christmas! It has been 15 days and French Tip Shellac is still looking good. It has been 15 days since the application of the French tip, Shellac I am still using the Solar Oil twice a day and keeping my hands lotioned very well with Gold Bond.

Eleven Days & Nails are Looking Great!

It has been 11 days since I had my nails done. No chips or peeling on my shellac nails.  

I am doing nail and cuticle care daily with the Solar Oil and also applying a clear top coat, and, trying to avoid messing with my nails at all.

Well...it looks like I will have pretty nails on Christmas! This is my present to myself. 

December 16, 2015

Six days and my nails are still pretty and still growing. No chips or peeling of the nails. I am hoping for pretty nails at Christmas...I maybe be pushing the "French Tips" without peeling at Christmas time. 

With the holidays, I have been doing lots of cleaning around the house. You know, stuff that gets puts off forever. 

I have myself a nice little App for housework chores! I have over 100 chores on this list. Some of the chores are really broken down in small segments. 

I did wear cleaning gloves the last time I cleaned...I will probably do some more cleaning tomorrow, so the gloves need to go on the hands. 

I applied a layer of top coat on my nails tonight. You know that list of household chores, well...hand care and oiling the cuticles are on my routine chores to do each day. So, I can never forget my hand care needs to be done. 

Hand and cuticle care has to be a daily grooming habit in order to have pretty nails. Care must be taken to the skin and cuticles on the hands.

December 10, 2014

I had my fingernails Shellac today.  I could not stand the "naked" nails! They looked dirty to me. I had started paying way to much attention to those "naked nails," and that is bad news for me. If I pay to much attention, then I will start picking and biting. So, I decided to use my last Nail Gift Certificate.    I will have to ask for more gift certificates for Christmas, the certificates make a great gift!

My nails will look pretty for Christmas!

As I look back at my blog, it looks like May was my longest nails! So, in a couple weeks, I may just match that length at Christmas.

If I am going to meet that nail length goal, I will now have to go easy on the heavy house cleaning or wear gloves on my hands.

I have taken all the polish off, french tips included and just wearing some nice polish. I like Opi nail polish, it has a nice wide brush and lots of times I can use one stroke and the polish is applied. 

I was wearing the regular polish for about a week or so.  All polish is off! I am attempting to continue to oil up my nails and cuticles to avoid low splits.   I am using CND Solar Oil, I have been using this oil twice a day. My cuticles are in great shape! No hang nails, cuts, bleeding, and they do not hurt!

Anyway...I want to get another "French-Tip" but, I want to wait closer to Christmas. It will be my treat! I have been doing lots of cleaning and organizing in the past several weeks and I have been pretty rough on my hands. 

But, they are still growing and I am not biting them!  

I need to get a picture of my naked nails!

Update: 

My fingernail that I had "French Tipped" myself chipped yesterday...and I noticed it last night.  I did the same finger again last night, and it turned out pretty good. 

I am beginning to believe the longer your nails are, the easier it is to do the "French Tip" because you do not have to worry about getting the white polish near the outer nail skin area. 

So, now my original "French Tip" manicure is still growing!  I can see the new growth at the base of the nail if I look closely...probably the new grow is not noticable to others. Because I continue to apply a coat of very light pink (natural) nail polish over the nails every 3 or 4 days or so. 

My opinion of doing your own French-Tips is very hard to do...I tried it and I just cannot hold the brush steady to get that pretty white tip.  So, I will probably not practicing doing my own French-Tips.

Before I forget, I am taking Biotin vitamin supplement, it says it is good for hair and nails. I have been taking Biotin for months and months...so, I am hoping it is helping my nails.

I had my nails grow out for a month and half, then I had a French Tip Shellac applied.  I am applying CND Solar Oil (found oil at Amazon.com) and other nail cuticle oils that I have bought...I keep losing and finding my nail oil. This is my attempt to keep my hands/nails/cuticles well oiled, mositurized and soft.  

I already have one nail tip peel off...not happy here, so I am applying polish to it every 3 days to protect the nail. I am trying to break my "Perfection Attitude" by not getting upset about it.  Also, I tend to look at my nails when they are pretty too. 

French Tip Shellac is so pretty and clean looking. I am researching on Do-it-Yourself manicures and French Tip technique on the internet. 

My cuticles are healthy (soft and moisturized). Twice a day hand care is a must! My fingers tend to get dried out in the Winter, so I am trying to prevent the problem.  So far, no low splits...of course, I am not looking very closely either!  If I find a low split, I would tend to pay way too much attention to it and end up cutting it down. 

With all my polish and shellac on my nails...I am trying to convince myself, the nail will be protected as it grows out. I do not have really long nails. Three months of nails growth is about all my life style will permit, so I get to file them once they start getting too long.  It is very difficult to work with your hands when your nails are too long.

I have also started wearing rings on my fingers to remind me not to play, pick or bite at those pretty nails. I have only one ring on on each hand at the moment.  I would like to get a pinkie ring for my right hand and I will probably quit at the rings.  I have never worn rings on my fingers due to my bitten ugly nails. 

So, I am up to date with my Blog. Thanksgiving coming up!  Happy Holidays everyone!

Ok, I did have that one finger tip that peeled off repaired today, November 25th...I actually did it myself. It is not perfect, but it will do until I want to do over again.  

It is November 28th, holiday is over. Nails are still growing! No more chips or peels with my nails! 

Shellac & Cracking Nails

October 25, 2016 

My nails have been super bitten off for the last few weeks. The last shellac job on my nails started getting very low cracks on the nails.

So, my nails are short now...but, now I am trying to grow them out again. My hands and fingertips are so dry. Prickle skin!  I am back to using the Vaseline on my hands and nails at night. I hate when my hands are so dry,  because I will pick at it!

Time to stay busy with something else so my nails grow by the Christmas holidays.

Again my journey starts.  When I do the nail shellac again, it will only be once a month, then skipping a month or two to keep my nails healthy.

August 1st, 2014

 

Ok.....here I go again! ,My beautiful nails on the previous posts are gone!  I had to file my nails down because they were getting in the way of daily living.

My actual nails are short, but when you do a French Manicure, your nails look long, it is an illusion!

I am now taking care of my Mom full-time and a lot of hands on caring, so the long nails got in the way, so, I filed the nails down...still had the Shellac on them....hate to say this ... but, I removed it the easiest most satisfying way that I knew.  I bit and chewed off the shellac and it led to biting the nails eventifully.

I have been growing the nails out again for about a few weeks, almost enough to get a French Manicure Shellac.  I wanted the nails done yesterday but my manicurist was not available, so I had to wait another day.  If I had to wait too much longer...the nails would of been bitten down again. Lots of stress again.....Stress leads me to biting my nails uncontrollably.

The nails are a bit short, but long enough to do the Shellac, they have to have a little edge on them.

Geezzzzzz.........Look how short the right hand ring finger is!

My nails are shellac and now I have a really good reason to let these pretty nails grow again!

Oh! I am back to my bedtime routine of taking care of my nails. My manicurist recommending trying some cream for bedtime, so I am trying a sample of "Chamomile Spa." It is actually for your heels. Love the smell. The cream is very thick and it does not take much to use on your cuticles and hands.  I wonder what the real price of the cream....here I come Google!

So.............My journey begins again.

I had my nails done again with shellac on Aug. 23rd. The shellac that was done earlier in the month did  not last but a week.  It was probably not applied correctly. I thought the procedure was a bit rushed. 

My nails are still growing. Whenever I get to the point of picking at my cuticles or biting,  I make an appointment to get my nails done. I have to remember my nightly nail and hand care before bed. This routine makes my hands and cuticles soft so I do not pick at hands or cuticles. 

The heavy duty cream mentioned above is all used up and I am going back to my favorite hand cream, which is Gold Bond Ultra Ultimate. It is for Softening and has Shea Butter in it. I use this hand cream each night. I apply lots of hand at the cuticle area.

September 2nd Nails.

Look at that ring finger! There is lots of growth from the first picture in August. Just one more month and my nails will be perfect! 

Actually the picture shown is a shellac job done about 1-1/2 weeks ago. I can see the nail growth at the base of the nail.You can also see the shadow of my nail coming through  the "French Tip" at the end of the nail.

The key for me is to keep my hands and cuticles soft and snag free. I am a picker and biter and if my hands are dry and have dried out cuticles, I will pick and bite.

I am doing a lot of researching on nail care and anatomy. Lots of information out there on the internet...Some bad and some good.

Progression of Fingernail Growth

My story begins, my short fingernails. I can't believe I actually took a picture of this fingernail. Here it is and I am not proud of it! I am a nail biter and I wanted to stop biting my fingernails, so my story begins. See my other titles in my Blog  to the right to check out my other stories and tips I used in breaking the awful habit of nail biting.

My very short painful thumb nail. As you can see, those cuticles are torn up. Just about all my fingernails were in this type of shape. I look back on these pictures and can hardly believe how chewed up my nails were. My nails have been in worse shape than the nail shown before this picture.

Early stage of growth. This had to be at least 1 1/2 months of growth. I started again taking care of my hands and cuticles. I called it my bedtime ritual of nail care.

This was where I got smart to post a date with my fingernails growth. I tried to photograph weekly. 

I love the white tips, I used the white pencils that you can colored under your nails to make them look pretty.  The white pencil under the nails do not last and it eventually gets washed away with hand washing. Somehow, my phone was set to black and white and it took forever to figure it out to change it back to color pictures. 

We are into May, nice growth. Those are my nails. I just colored the tips white underneath the nails so they could be seen.

May 8th. I tried to keep my nails filed straight across with a rounded corner. I love the square nails look. If you are not too careful with all the filing, you could actually removed all the growth your nails have shown.

May 22, 2014.  My Shellac, French Tip Manicure. I love them!

May 25, 2014. No change, I love them!
May 31, 2014, I applied Nail Envy by OPI to make the French Tip (white part) to last as long as possible. I do not want the white part of my French Nail to fleck, flake or notch off during the next week.  I will probably reapplied the Nail Envy every 2-3 days to my fingernails. I am applying the Nail Envy to the entire fingernail.

See  "My Manicure"for additional notes.

My Manicure!

My Manicured Nails!

Finally wanted to get my fingernails manicured.  I decided to go with the Shellac and French Nails. This was my first time doing the shellac method, so it will be an ongoing evaluation to whether I like them or not  and how much the on-going cost will be, and how long between manicure visits. 

My real fingernails had reached the end of my fingertips, so I wanted to treat myself. Well, actually my daughter treated me to a manicure.  

I love the French Tip look, I love my nails! My nails actually look a lot longer due to the way the manicurist applies the white tip at the end of the nail. My nails are so shiny and healthy looking.

My fingernails were done on May 22, 2014. Today is May 25th and my fingernails look great! No smudges, no chips on my manicured nails. 

I am told the manicure will last 2-3 weeks. As your nail grows there will be a gap around the cuticle and this is when your nails will need to be redone or repaired a little....really not sure what is going to happen . 

I have been reading up on the Shellac nails, it is the rage of manicures because they last 2-3 weeks instead of 3-4 days. 

It looks like it will be a monthly expense to get them redone. From what I am reading, a manicure costs $20 to $30, plus tip, but the shellac manicure will run $30 to $40, plus tip. 

I have been reading up on the correct technique in removing the shellac nails, most say use the cotton ball and wrap the nails with the aluminum foil and it takes about 10 minutes before the remover will start to work on the shellac before the manicurist can scrap off the shellac. Wonder how much scraping we are talking about?  I wonder if it is the same method that we use to remove or strip furniture? It kind of sounds like it.

From what I am reading the wrapping of the nails in cotton and then applying the foil is the best thing to do for removing the shellac. Once the remover has stayed on the nails about 10 minutes, it is best to pull off the wraps, then cotton away the excess shellac and not scrap it off. 

It is 7 days since my manicure and my fingernails look great. 

There is a tiny gap where the nail polish is growing out from the cuticle area on 3 fingers where the polish was a little thick and this area is hard. As a picker, I would tend to pick at this area, but I am restraining myself constantly and telling myself to leave it alone!

This area no one would notice except you and if you are a picker like me.

I have been using cuticle oil (Vitamin E) on my cuticles daily and thick hand creams and of course the Vaseline treatment at bedtime to keep my cuticles soft.  As long as my cuticles are soft and not loose, I will leave them alone.

I can tell now that I am going to have to put a bandaide or something on my thumb cuticle area so I do not bother the area...maybe a very thin strip of a bandaide.  Tried the bandaide, it would not stick so I tried a short piece of clear tape. I cleaned off the area with some tiny alcohol wipe so the tape would stick, applied the tape, when the ends loosen, I cut those off with some scissors. I have nothing to pick at now except to rub my finger over some smooth tape... might have to do the other thumb too. Stressful times right now and I am picking. Relax....relax....relax...

I still have my nails after all the stress I went through today...still stressing, but managing it. 

I did manage to pick off the rough spots on the thumb nails that were hard. They are smooth now and not noticeable from the picking I did. It would of been noticeable at the cuticle growth area if there was a dark color to the nails. My nails are clear and the new growth near the cuticle is not noticeable. So, another day saved with the shellac.

The clear tape I did use near the new growth gap did work temporarily, but the tape eventually falls off. 

You can also see some of the edges on the nails wearing, I would think by 14 days, it would be time for another shellac if colors were worn. I am going to try to go for a month before doing anything, that is if I do not pick too much at the nails. Yes, I know it is bad to pick at the nails. 

It is a process I have to learn to deal with, and that is the learning not to pick because it is bad for your nails.  Not only would I pick at my nails to get the polish off, I would also would bite off the nail polish, which is just as bad.  By doing all this picking and biting at the polish, I was probably taking off layers of my healthy nail. 

I am a slow learner. Years of picking and biting my nails takes time,  a lot of time is needed to break habits and make new habits.

Then...do I remove the shellac myself or spend the $5.00 or so to have it removed for me. 

At least I know or I can actually see the actually growth that is occurring at the cuticle area which is something I have never seen before. Nails grow! Imagine that! 

Note to self: Let the manicurist file the nails, they are the professionals for the nails not you!

By filing them, I was removing snags and making them even.  But once the nails started growing, I would tend to file my nails too much.  Filing my nails meant I was taking care of my nails instead of  biting them. When in actuality I was filing a lot of the growth off of them. 

When my nails grew in the past, I also had trouble when the nails breaking on the sides and catching on things that would make my nails break.  The manicurist files the sides of the nails a certain way so your nails do not catch on things. 

Shellac makes your nails hard but not too hard and with the proper manicure I have managed NOT to break one nail since the shellac.

Prior to the shellac this time, I used nail hardeners on my nails about every 2-3 days and only managed to break one nail. I don't even remember the break, but the break was not low on the fingernail. I just had to even the nail some. So really, my nails have done very well in not breaking.

Ok, I did not want to take any chances and my manicure peeling or flecking off within the next week because I wanted this manicure to last a long a possible. So,  I decided to apply Nail Envy (Nail Strengthener) by OPI, one coat.

I was already using the Nail Envy prior to getting the Shellac French Tip, so why not. I wanted my French Tips (the white part to stay intact).  So, as of today May 31, 2014,  I applied the Nail Envy. 

June 1, 2104 Another coat of Nail Envy Nail Strengthener applied to my fingernails. 


I cannot believe my nails have lasted this long! Usually they have already split or snagged on something. Then I am back to short nails and nibbling. My hands feel so clean and pretty the way they are now (nice pretty French nail manicure).

I quit using the Nail Strengthener to my nails, why? I have not idea, I just did and removed it with regular nail polish remover. My shellac is still intact, there was no damage when the nail strengthener was removed.

I do have a small chip on the left side of my thumb finger. I figured this was not sealed well with manicure. 

I am getting a powerful urge to remove the Shellac from my nails and letting my breathe between the shellac applications. 

June 2, 2014: I am trying to resist the urge to remove the Shellac. My nails still look great. You can barely see the new growth at the cuticle area with the nail color I am wearing. The areas on the nails where the new growth can be seen are all smooth, so no need to pick the areas.  So, why do I want the Shellac removed? 

The only reason I can come up with is I want to do nail care and apply polish to my nails. But, my nails look great!  So, I keep telling myself, "leave your nails alone." I still think about it though. 

Finally got a newspaper to update my nails. French Tip still in really good shape. You really cannot see the new growth near the cuticle, but it is there. This is the 12th day.

Here is the picture of the chip on the thumb. I am thinking because it was in the corner of the thumb and close to the skin area that it was missed with the shellac polish layers.

The chip is pretty small and not really noticeable except to me.  If more of the main fingers start chipping off then the shellac will be coming off. I will take it off myself.

I found a UTube video to guide me  removing Shellac from my nails. 

More links: Removing Shellac,
                             Removing Shellac

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since the shellac was applied, No change in the nails. I started using the Nail Strengthener again...just something to do.

I was looking at my nails yesterday...well, I look at my nails everyday a lot...anyway, this is the longest I have ever had my fingernails! I can not believe it. I have no urge to bite my fingernails, but still have the urge to pick if there is a rough spot on the sides of the nail or around the cuticle. So, it is real important at this time to continue to keep my cuticles healthy and soft and not dried out and hard. 

I actually cut off a hard area near the cuticle, so make sure you have a cuticle clipper to snip away any hard cuticle that you are picking at so you don't end up picking or biting at it. 

I really think I broke the biting of the fingernails! I cannot imagine me biting these nails!

Oh! I am still using my finger pads for everything when using my hands. It is a process to learn and it is automatic now. As I said previously in some posts...if you are a long time nail biter, you do not use your fingers the correct way in order to save your fingernails. So practice using your finger pads! Do not use your nails as tools to open soda cans or grab at clothes (especially wet clothes from the washing machine). 

1. I still use my hands when washing dishes. If I have to do some heavy cleaning, think I will be wearing some gloves. I have not done heavy cleaning, but I did do some gardening a few weeks ago and I did wear gardening gloves (I am glad I did). 

Three weeks: Well....Manicure still intact! The left thumb chipped area remained the same until a week ago. I did a lot of painting, pre-painting prep work, sanding...hmmmmm, no gloves used here.  The left thumb nail ended up peeling...really thought the nail had broken until I looked at the nail. So, I ended up taking that shellac off, there was not much shellac left to it. 

My manicurist said he could redo one nail, so I went in to get one nail done.  Another manicurist prepped the nail, he did so much sanding of the nail compared to the first time. 

I was starting to get nervous with all the sanding he was doing. Anyway...I will go back to my first manicurist for the next shellac.  But, my first manicurist did apply the "smile line" (the white part of the french tip). 

The new nail is a lot brighter compared to the others. I actually like the other nails, they appear normal, not so bright like french nails with the bright white. Three weeks! Wow! I am impressed!

I can see new nail growth just beneath the white smile line on the french nail on 4 nails. It does not look bad, so I will see how long I can last.

I am not sure how I like long nails though, I can really feel them when typing and doing stuff. I am shocked the nails have not split on the sides of the nail (a low split). Pictures tomorrow hopefully.

Next day: I did file the nails down some to remove some of the length. Long nails get in the way of typing and using pad on the computer, especially the thumb and middle fingers. 

The constant hitting of the nails start to make the fingers uncomfortable.  Still trying to get pictures uploaded. 

Find Your Inspiration to Stop Biting!

Who is your Inspiration?

My inspiration was my daughter coming to visit me and my mother was coming too!

My mother always said something about me biting my nails...well, I did not want to listen to it this time. So, another reason for me to grow out my fingernails! I knew I had to start a least a month before my family would arrive to start growing my fingernails.   I would have a little growth on them when my family arrived.

My daughter also bites her nails. She uses the nail tips and the Gel with her manicures, so her nails grow under her nail-tips. Gels are hard and they are hard to bite and she goes for a manicure every 2-3 weeks to get her nails done.  

As your nails start growing, there will be a gap, this gap needs to be touched up. She likes her nails short, so don't let the manicure technician talk you into long nails. 

Get use to the short nails first. Oh! Also, she had her nails done with the French Manicure style, it is simple and so pretty.  

My inspiration my daughter and mother! 

About Me!

Me!

I have been a very long nail biter. I think I started biting my nails when I was 4 years old. I saw my older sister biting her nails, so I started. I am not blaming my sister, I am just trying to figure out about when my biting fingernails started.

I am almost 60 years old, so that is a long time to biting my nails. Through the years, I have quit many times and I had beautiful nails. It seems there were times in my life when the nail biting habit was automatic, some through stressful situations, some watching television, driving the car, social situations and worrying too much over nothing.

I am also a nail cuticle biter, so if there is a hangnail (loose cuticle on the sides of my nails), I would bite it off. The weird thing about biting your cuticles was the cuticle always looked pretty good after biting it off, but the next day the area was red, swollen and ugly.

I was embarrassed to have my hands be shown because my nails were bitten. I would often hide my hands, so my nails would not be shown.

I have bitten my nails so short, there was not much nail on my nail plate. At times, my nails would bleed because I had bitten them too short. My fingers would hurt especially when they were wet. You would think I would learn not to bite my nails because of the pain I felt with them. Oh no! I have been through this pain many times before and it has not stopped me from biting my fingernails.  

Some professionals are now saying that nail biting could be Obsessive Compulsion Disorder problem. I really can believe this what the professionals are saying about nail biting. At times, I would start biting, I could not stop until they were all bitten off, it was automatic, one finger then the next, nonstop.

I think I might have finally learned some secrets into having beautiful nails without biting them and this is where my blog starts.

I know...it took me long enough!