Healthy Natural Nails

I’ve had a few people ask me to do a post on how to obtain, and care for, healthy natural nails.  After all, that’s what we strive for, right?  Who in their right mind would wear enhancements if their natural nails were healthy, strong, and beautiful?

The good news is that anyone can have gorgeous nails with just a tiny bit of effort!

The first step on the road to healthy nails, is a healthy body.  I know, I know… It sounds so cliché, but it’s true.  Nail cells are manufactured in the same manner as the rest of your body’s cells, if you don’t provide your body with the fuel it needs to build those cells, then it can’t create them properly.  So nourish your body with a healthy diet, and it will reflect in more than your nails; you’ll also get healthy hair, skin, and overall body health in the process!

A good daily beauty regimen is the next step.  Cuticle oil (also called nail oil or penetrating oil) is a must, at least once a day, every day!  Other oils cannot take the place of products made specifically for your nails.  The reason for this is because the pores in your nails are very small.  In order for an oil to penetrate the nail plate deeply enough for it to do any good, it has to have special carriers to get the nutrients deep down inside.  Even oils made for skin, like Vitamin E oil, can’t do the job on their own, they need help to be able to get past the surface of the nail plate.

Let’s look at it this way…  I have a Sumo wrestler standing on my front porch, and he wants to come into my house, but the door is way too small for him.  I can push and pull him all I want, but he’s not coming in without some major help.  So, to help him through, I get a tub of butter, cover him with it, and give him a little shove. *POP* With barely any effort at all, he’s through the door and in my living room. 

Now, the Sumo wrestle is the Vitamin E, the door is a pore on your nail plate, and the butter is the carrier.  Get the picture?

Most companies use jojoba oil as their carrier, and honestly I’m unsure if there’s an adequate substitute out there.  CND’s Solar Oil contains jojoba, along with Vit E and other beneficial oils.  In my opinion it is the best on the market for nourishing your nails, and you’ll see results within a week of regular use.

The reason using cuticle oil is so important for your nails is twofold.  One: it keeps them moisturized and flexible, which prevents chipping, tearing, and flaking.  Two: it fills the pores, which in turn keeps the bad stuff out, like water (which can actually dry your nails), dirt, and contaminates.

Lotion is also important in your daily regimen, especially if you put your hands in water a lot during the day.  Again, use good quality lotions made specifically for your hands.  CND’s Sentsations, and Qtica Smart Spa lotions are my favorites.  Keep a bottle by the sink so you remember to use it as soon as you’ve finished drying your hands.  Regular application will keep your hands smooth, and your nails healthy.

This next one always tends to surprise people, but…  Keep your nails polished!  Polish is actually good for your nails, it protects them, and keeps dirt, water, and contaminates from penetrating your nail plate.  It also helps to strengthen your nails and keep them from chipping and flaking.  So keep the pinkies polished.  You don’t have to use a color if you prefer a natural look.  A clear top coat every few days will do the trick, and if you don’t like that glossy look, there are some great matte top coats made by China Glaze, Orly, and CND that will give you the strength without the shine.

Next, you need to recognize and understand the issues with your nails, then address them individually.

If your nails are thin, flimsy, and tend to fold before they crack or break, then you should use a nail strengthener as a base coat under your polish.

If your nails are rigid and prone to chipping and breaking along the free edge, then oil, oil, and oil some more.  DO NOT use nail strengtheners or hardeners!  Strengtheners are designed to make nails more rigid, already rigid nails will quickly become brittle and more prone to breakage.  So these types of products will only increase the problems you’re experiencing.  Instead, use penetrating oils and lotions religiously to increase the flexibility in your nails, and eliminate chipping and cracking.

If your nails tend to flake and peel, use cuticle oil and lotions to increase the flexibility in your nail plate.  Also, be very careful when filing and clipping your nails.  Invest in a glass nail file, which burnishes and seals the free edge while filing to prevent flaking.  If you prefer an emery board, only use the fine side of the file, and don’t see-saw back and forth on your nail.  File from the outside edges in towards the center, in a slow, gentle motion.  Keep your nails polished, as it will greatly reduce flaking, and if you must clip your nails, be sure to gently file them after you’ve clipped.  Clipping causes microscopic fractures along the free edge of the nail plate (as does aggressive filing), which eventually expands into a flake or split, so if you can avoid it, please do.

Last but not least, go get a manicure!  We like to see you at our table every two weeks, but if you can’t swing that we’ll settle for once a month.  Talk your nail tech about your problems and concerns, we can help you out.  Not only that, but we have a wide range of intensive treatments at our disposal that you cannot get at the local Wal-Mart or Sally’s.

Plus, it feels really, really good!

Now when I say manicure, I don’t mean at your local Not Safe Salon.  If you’re paying less than $15 for a manicure, you might want to take a look around the salon and ask yourself if it meets standards.  If not, it’s time to start looking for a new nail tech.  If you’re not sure, talk to me, I can tell you what to look for, and if necessary put you in touch with some awesome techs in your area.

If you have any questions about your nail problems, or need help finding quality products for your nails, leave a comment here, talk to me on facebook, or hit me up on twitter.  I’d be happy to help you achieve those gorgeous hands you’ve been dreaming of!

Hugs,

P.S. Special thanks To Holly, who taught me so many things about nail products, and gave me the Sumo wrestler analogy way back in nail school.

Basic Starburst Nail Art Tutorial

Today we’re going to spice up our color blended polish with some very basic nail art.  This technique is a little more difficult than what we did yesterday, but it’s still very easy, and I’d venture to guess that anyone reading this can paint their own nails using this technique and have them turn out well.  If you’re not sure, just practice a few times on a piece of paper before you start your nails.  You’ll be painting like a pro in no time!

Supplies:

• Dotting Tool or Toothpicks
• Nail Art Brushes or Nail Art Striper Paints (White and Silver Glitter)
• White and Silver Glitter Nail Polish (if using Brushes)
• Acetone to Clean Brushes and Dotting Tool

 

Step One: Prep

Prep your nails, and Paint them.

Step Two: Silver Glitter

Load your brush up with silver glitter polish (in this picture I’m using a Nail Art Polish).  Start at any corner of your nail and press down with the tip of the brush.  Draw the brush out across your nail, lessening the downward pressure as you go.

Repeat to create a silver V shape.

Step Three: White Stripes

Load your Brush with White Polish.

In this step I’m using white nail polish (Hot Topic Brand – I love these polishes for nail art, but not for painting nails!) and a nail art brush so you can see the difference.  To load the brush with polish, place a drop on a piece of scrap paper, and dip your brush in it until the bristles are covered about 2/3 of the way up.  You can also thin the polish if necessary by dipping the brush in acetone before dipping it in the polish. 

Using the same stroke method as you did with the silver polish, Draw three stripes of white radiating from the same corner as the silver.

 

You should now have a design that resembles a a starburst shooting from the corner of your nail.

Step Four: Clean

Clean your brushes in a dappen dish filled with acetone before the polish dries.

Step Five: Dots

Place a new drop of white polish on your scrap paper if the old one has begun to dry or thicken.

Dip your dotting tool into the polish, covering about half of the ball at the end, but not submerging it completely (completely covering the dotter ball will produce dots that are uneven).  Or, if using a toothpick, dip one end into the polish.

Starting at the base of your starburst, place a dot of polish along the side of your nail plate by pressing down gently (try not to touch the ball to your nail as this will result in a dimple in the middle of your dot).  Without dipping back into the polish, keep dotting until you have a line of dots that follows your starburst.

As you use up the polish on the tool, the dots will become increasingly smaller. 

If necessary, dip your tool in the polish once more and re-dot the entire line to fill in any dips, or smooth out uneven dots.  Don’t try to touch up a single dot, as it will increase the size of the dot and give you an uneven line.

Step Six: Top Coat

Seal your nail art after it’s dried with a good quality top coat.  Clean off your dotting tool with acetone, and admire your work!

 

Click to see a larger picture.

That’s it! You’ve officially created your own, beautifully hand-painted nail art!  Now make sure your husband takes you out for dinner so you don’t ruin all of your hard work doing the dishes!

Hugs,

Color Blend Tutorial

Now that we have all of the boring stuff out of the way, it’s time to have some fun! 

I’m going to show you a flashy way to paint your nails that anyone can do, and I mean anyone.  You don’t have to be ambidextrous or a contortionist to get great results with this technique.

Don’t forget, you can click on any picture to see a larger version.

You will need:

• Tape or Horseshoe Nail Forms (available at Sally’s Beauty)
• Base and Top Coat
• Scissors
• White Nail Polish
• Cosmetic Wedges
• Two or More Colors of Nail Polish
• Acetone Nail Polish Remover
• Sable Clean Up Brush, or Cotton Swabs
• Dappen Dish, or Small Glass Dish

Step One: Prep

Prep your nails, and paint them with a good quality base coat (CND Sticky is da bomb).

Step Two: White Polish

Coat each nail that you will be color blending with white polish (I’m just doing an accent on my ring finger, so that’s the only one I painted white).  The white polish creates an opaque base, and allows your colors to pop with fewer coats.

One thin coat will do, it doesn’t matter if it’s blotchy or doesn’t cover your nail completely.

Allow your nails to dry completely before moving on to the next step.  I recommend waiting at least thirty minutes to give the polish enough time to cure all the way through.

Step Three: Mask Your Nails

Use tape or nail forms to mask off all of the skin around your nails.  This step isn’t completely necessary, but will save you a lot of clean up time, and give your nails a neater appearance when you’re done.  Personally, I prefer using the nail forms because they’re already contoured to fit a fingernail, but if you prefer not to spend the money, tape works just as well.

I cut my form into three pieces to help it conform to my fingernail.

The top of the horseshoe fits across the eponychium, and covers a small margin of nail at the base of the nail plate. 

The sides of the horseshoe are placed along the sides of the nail, again covering a small margin of the nail plate, and tucked under the free edge of the nail.

Tape will work in a similar fashion, though you may need to use your scissors to create a custom fit.

Step Four: Load the Wedge

Place a drop of each of your nail polish colors right next to one another on the edge of the cosmetic wedge.  When choosing your colors it’s important to remember that the colors will blend together.  So, for example, yellow and red polishes will create a a band of orange between them.  Remember to choose colors that will blend into something pretty, or you may end up with muddy brown nails.

Step Five: Start Sponging

Dab the wedge across your nail in the direction you want your blend to follow. 

You can blend either horizontally or vertically for different looks.

Step Six: Reload and Repeat

Allow your first coat to dry for a couple of minutes, and then reload your wedge with fresh polish, being sure to place each color in the location where it was placed before.  Then, line your sponge up with your previous color application, and dab on a second coat.

I’ve found that with the white base coat, two coats of color are usually enough for complete coverage.  However, depending on the quality of the polishes you use, you may need a third coat.

Once you are satisfied with how it looks, remove the mask from your nail.

Step Seven: Clean Up

Pour a little acetone nail polish remover into a small glass dish (acetone will melt many plastics, so glass is recommended.  You can purchase glass dappen dishes from Sally’s for around $1).  Dip a sable nail brush (available from Amazon) or a cotton swab into the acetone, and clean any stray polish from your skin.

Step Eight: Save the Wedge

You can reuse your cosmetic wedge many times, by simply cutting off the used portion.

Step Nine: Top Coat and Admire

Paint your nails with a good quality top coat (Seche Vite) to protect them from chipping and scratching, then stand back and admire your work.

 

Prettyful!

Tomorrow I’ll show you how to add an easy hand painted design to your color blended nails to make them really pop.  People won’t believe you did it yourself!

Hugs,

Nail Structure and Terminology

After my last post, my proof reader (AKA my husband John) told me that I needed a reference chart, or a glossary, or something.  You see, I’m kind of a stickler about using correct terminology, because to do anything else just confuses life later on.

So this is just a boring, educational post that you can feel free to skip.  I’m sure I’ll be referring to it later on though, and if I ever use a term you’re unsure of, just come on back here and look it up.

To the left is a diagram I made in nail school to study for a test.  I think it will work well for our purposes today.  You can click on it to bring up a larger version if you’d like (as you can any of the images I post on the blog).  Hopefully, it will help you locate the structures I’m talking about on your own nail.

Free Edge:  This is the part of the nail that extends over the tip of the finger or toe. Or, as in my case, gets chewed up by nail biters.

Nail Plate: This is what most people would call the “nail.”  It’s a plate of hardened keratin that covers the nail bed on the end of your finger.

Cuticle: Is a film of dead tissue that covers the nail plate.  It should not be confused with the living tissue of the eponychium.  Cuticle creates a seal between the nail plate and the surrounding tissue, and prevents foreign materials and microorganisms from entering and causing illness or injury.

Eponychium: Is a ridge of  living skin at the base of the nail plate.  The eponychium should never be cut or trimmed, just gently pushed back. 

Hyponychium: This is the thickened skin between the fingertip and the free edge of the nail.  This ridge of skin creates a protective barrier that prevents foreign materials and pathogens from entering and infecting the nail bed.

Nail Bed: This is the tissue directly under the nail plate.  It has a rich blood supply, which gives it a pinkish color, and is very sensitive due to the large number of nerves attached to it.

Perionychium: Is the skin that touches, overlaps, and surrounds the nail.

Nail Grooves: Are the tracks on either side of the nail, that the nail plate moves on as it grows.

Mantle: Is a pocket at the base of the nail that holds the matrix.

Matrix: is a group of cells that create the nail plate.  You can see a little bit of the matrix under some of your nails.  The half moons that are visible on the thumbs of most people (also called the lunula), are comprised of matrix cells.  An injury to the matrix can affect nail growth in many ways, cause the nail to grow in an abnormal way, or it can slow growth or stop it all together.  The overall health of your nails, begins in the matrix!

So that’s my little lesson today. There won’t be a test, but we may refer back to this information from time to time.

Now you know… 

Hugs,

Nail Prep

Shhh, don’t tell anyone, but I’m going to let you in on a few secrets.  You don’t need me to polish your nails.  Shhh!!!!!!  Keep your voice down or they’ll kick me out of the awesome nail tech club!!!

I think most people already know that they don’t have to pay someone to paint their nails, you can easily do it at home.  Professional paint jobs tend to last a little longer, and look a little neater, but probably not enough to justify the price for most women. 

Now, I’m a realistic professional.  I became interested in nails because of my desire to save some money doing my own.  I don’t really expect you to lavish me with cash for something I wasn’t willing to spend money on not so long ago.  Come to me when you want to be pampered with pretty smelling soaks, scrubs, masques, and massages, then fee free to paint your nails on your own between salon visits.  I promise I won’t cry or yell. 

On and off I’ll be posting some tutorials here to help you spruce up your hands and feet between mani’s and pedi’s, and to help you keep a few dollars in your pocket.  However, the most important part of any thing you do is preparation, and your nails are no exception.  So today we’ll go over the basics of nail prep, which is the foundation of any good nail service.  If you want your polish to last longer than it usually would, nail prep is the key.

The first thing you need to do is gather your supplies.

You will need:

• Nail Polish Remover
• Cuticle Sticks, or a Cuticle Pusher
• Cuticle Nippers
• Nail Wipes or Cosmetic Pads (no cotton balls!)
• Cuticle Remover
• Cuticle Oil
• Alcohol or Nail Dehydrator

Edit: I’ve been informed by my proof reader (AKA my husband John) that I need to define a term I use a lot within this post…  The Nail Plate.  The nail plate is just a technical way of saying fingernail.  The nail plate is the hard material (keratin) that is found on your fingertip (also referred to as the nail bed).

Step One: Remove Old Polish

Use nail polish remover and nail wipes to take off any old polish remaining on your nails.  Do not use cotton balls!  Spend the extra dollar and get something that won’t leave little fibers all over your nails.  No matter how much time you spend picking them off, you won’t get them all, and they will mar your paint job later on.

For polishes that are stubborn, like reds, blacks, and glitters, soak a nail wipe thoroughly, and hold it to your nail for a minute or so before wiping the polish away.  If a little pigment remains, repeat with a clean pad soaked in remover.

You can file your nails now if necessary, but do not buff the nail plate, not even if you have ridges on your nails (instead use a good quality ridge filler like Ridge Out by CND).  Buffing removes layers of your nail, and can thin and damage your nail plate.  Occasionally a very light buffing is necessary, but should be left to a qualified nail technician.  Always use the fine side of an emery board to file your nails, never the coarse side, and file from the outside of the nail towards the center; don’t see-saw back and forth.  This will prevent your nail from flaking and splitting later on.

Step Two: Remove Cuticle

Before we get started on this step, I want to clear something up.  Cuticle is NOT the band of tissue at the base of your nail.  That is called the eponychium, and is living tissue that should be treated with care.  Cuticle is a film of dead tissue that grows out from under the eponychium to cover the nail plate.  Cuticle can become detached from the nail plate, and will cause your polish to lift and peel, so removing it is an important step if you want your polish to last.

You can soak your nails in a bit of warm soapy water to make this step a little easier.  However, don’t soak for more than three minutes please.  If you do, the water will soak into your nails, and cause your nail plate to expand.  When it contracts a few hours after you’ve polished your nails, your pretty polish will begin to chip and crack.  So set a timer if you need to, or keep a close eye on the clock. 

Now, take your cuticle remover and place a dollop at the base of each of your nails.  Then, spread it across your entire nail with your cuticle stick.

Let it sit for as long as the manufacturer recommends, and then begin to scrape the dead tissue off your nail plate with your cuticle stick.

(sorry for the blurry pic, I haven’t figured out my camera’s timer yet)

While you’re scraping off the dead tissue, very gently push the eponychium back if necessary.  My eponychium will grow over my nail if I let it, while my husband’s always stays in a nice little line at the bottom of his nails.  If yours is like his, leave it alone; if it’s like mine, be as gentle as you can to avoid damaging the nail matrix which is located directly underneath that area.

Once you have removed your cuticle, and pushed back your eponychium, wash your hands to remove the cuticle remover.  This is important as many removers have a mild acid in them that will continue to eat at your nail if not washed off.  Dry your hands with a soft towel, and while you’re drying use the towel to gently push against your eponychium to set it into place.

Use the cuticle nippers to nip off any remaining cuticle tissue on your nail plate.  Do not cut your eponychium!  It’s living tissue, and can bleed and become infected, which could damage your nail matrix.  Feel free to skip the nipping if it’s not necessary, or your hands are not steady.

Step Three: Apply Cuticle Oil.

I highly recommend CND’s Solar Oil as a top quality cuticle oil.  This stuff is like liquid gold for your nails and should be applied daily, right over polish or enhancements, to strengthen and condition your nails and surrounding skin.  Daily oil is really the key to beautiful, healthy nails and skin!

If you can’t get your hands on Solar Oil, other oils are available at Sally’s or your local make-up counter, and will work, though not as good.

Apply the oil to the base of your nail, being sure to cover the eponychium.  Massage it into your nails and surrounding skin, and then let it sit for a minute before moving onto the next step.

Step Four: Clean the Nail Plate

The last step is to clean and dehydrate the nail.  I know you just put oil on there, and it seems silly to take it back off, but the oil should have penetrated down into the nail by now, and we’re just taking off the little bit that’s left on top so that the polish has a nice clean surface to stick to.

Take your alcohol, or nail dehydrator if you have it on hand, wet a nail wipe with it, and scrub your nail.  Scrub hard; scrub like you’re trying to remove tar that your husband tracked onto your clean kitchen floor with his nasty work boots. 

You should now have a clean, slightly dull looking, fingernail that’s ready to be polished!

Step Five: Polish

A while back I made a quick video that will give you the basics on how to polish your nails.  Note: In this video I refer to the eponychium as the cuticle.  This is the first and last time you will hear or see me do this on my blog, as I don’t ever want you to confuse the two.  It’s an important distinction, and  you should know the difference.

I still recommend CND’s Sticky basecoat, and my all time favorite top coat is Seche Vite.  I’ve also added Zoya Polishes to my list of favorite colors.  You won’t be disappointed in any of those products!

Now go add some color to the world and pretty up those pinkies!

Hugs,

Non-Standard = Not Safe

Among nail techs they have a lot of names.  McNails is one of the more colorful; Chop Shops is one of the more accurate.  You know the places I’m talking about, they’re in every mall, have prices lower than a fast food restaurant, and air so thick with monomer vapor you get a high, or a headache, as soon as you walk in the door. 

You’ll never hear a good tech call them that though.  Those are the names we use in the break room, or on the industry forums.  For you, our clients, we call them Non-Standard Salons, or NSS, because to do otherwise would be unprofessional, and just not nice.

We hate those places though, and we can tell you’ve been to one as soon as we glimpse your fingers at our tables.  We crusade against them, making sure you understand the damage that has been done to your nail plate, and the potential harm they can cause.  Yet people still go, lured by the low cost of services, and the walk-in convenience.

I think at times when I talk to my clients about non-standard salons, their eyes gloss over, and I can’t help but wonder if the terminology is partly to blame.  What is non-standard, what does it mean? Non-standard prices?  Non-standard employees?  Perhaps all of us nail techs are just upset that they’re stealing our business, and the fuss is just a way to try and get you to pay higher prices for the same product.  What makes non-standard such a bad thing? 

Non-standard, as it applies to nail salons, means that the salon in question does not conform to industry (and sometimes even state) standards for service and sanitation. 

Sanitation is important, it’s what keeps you from getting sick.  How would you feel about a doctor who didn’t wash his hands? Would you return to a doctor who re-used tongue depressors on different patients?  No?  So why go to a nail salon that doesn’t wash and disinfect its tools, or uses the same nail file on ten or more people?

State and industry standards require that all reusable tools get scrubbed with soap and water, and then disinfected in a solution designed to kill any remaining microorganisms before they are used on another person.  Items that can’t be washed and soaked (files, wooden pushers, buffers, etc.) are to be thrown away after a single use.  So here, non-standard means dirty, unwashed, used tools, and microorganisms.  Sounds yummy, doesn’t it?

Now I can hear you saying, “But Anne, it’s just my nails.  How bad can it really be?”  The answer is bad… Really, really BAD.  When I say microorganisms, what I mean is contagious pathogens: bacteria, fungal spores, and viruses, all of which can live, multiply, and be transmitted through your hands and nails.  Does that sound extremely icky yet?  Just in case it doesn’t, let me continue…

The most common of these transmitted microorganisms is what people commonly refer to as a nail fungus or mold, but is actually a bacterial infection.  At the NSS they will tell you that it’s caused by moisture trapped under an enhancement, and they will tell you that they can treat it with an over the counter anti fungal treatment.  In reality, it’s an infection, spread by the use of dirty tools, that can only be properly treated by a doctor.  It might clear up on its own (depending on the strength of your immune system), or it could rage out of control without prescribed antibiotics.  If you develop dark brown, green, or black spots on your nails, please consult your physician.  Only he, or she, can tell you how serious the condition is, and prescribe the proper medications to alleviate it.

These types of nail infections are the most common problem found at an NSS, but not even close to the most dangerous.  As all nail students are currently learning in school:  In 2006 a salon in California transmitted a bacterial skin infection to over 100 clients through the use of contaminated foot spas.  This infection cased permanent scarring on the legs of most of the people infected, and even resulted in a few deaths.

That’s right, deaths…  From a pedicure…  We’re quickly progressing from gross to scary, and I’m not done yet…

I recently had a young friend come to me for enhancements.  While I sculpted some beautiful acrylics for her, she kept marveling over the fact that I wasn’t hurting her, which caused me to ask about her previous experiences with nail services.  She told me about going to the mall to have a manicure, and leaving the salon with her hands bleeding in several spots.  She believed it was normal, and in case you do too, let me clarify that it’s not!  You should never bleed during a nail service, and if a nail tech accidentally draws blood, all services should be stopped, the service area and tools should be cleaned and disinfected, and the cut should be cleaned and covered before the tech decides if he or she can proceed safely.  In this day and age, with blood borne pathogens like HIV and hepatitis C, is it even necessary to explain why?

So Non-Standard Salon is really just another way of saying Not Safe Salon, and now is the point where you have to ask yourself is it really worth it?  The money you save is money spent on disinfectant, and new files in a better salon.  It’s money invested in nail technicians who are certified to use an e-file safely, or forego it and instead use hand files to prevent harming your nail plate.  The time you spend making an appointment, because a better salon doesn’t take walk-ins, is time you can spend reassuring yourself that you made the right choice for your health, and knowing that the salon doesn’t have time for walk-ins because they’re booked solid with repeat customers who are totally satisfied with their healthy (non-bloody) hands, feet, and nails.

Now the next time you sit down at my table, and I see the rings of fire on your nails from where the nail tech at the local Not Safe Salon dug into your nail plate with their file, please understand that the friendly lecture I’m about to give you is not done out of a desire to pad my pockets with your money.  It’s because I care about you.  I care about your beautiful hands, your beautiful family, and your wonderful life.  I don’t want you to be a case file in a nail school text book.  I don’t want to add your story to my next cautionary tale.  You don’t have to come to me, but please, go some place where they’ll give you the care you deserve!

You only get one body, protect it as if your life depended on it!

Hugs,

Welcome

If you don’t already know me, I’m Anne; the most unlikely nail tech in the world.  I only say that because for most of my life, I saw my fingers as a food group.  Yes, I’m a nail biter, and not only do I bite my nails, but all of the surrounding tissue on my fingers.

You’ll notice that statement is in the present tense.  I didn’t used to bite my nails.  I still do, or at least I will if given the opportunity.

About five years or so ago, a friend and I went out for some much needed pampering and decided to get our nails done.  It was kind of a fluke because neither of us cared too much about how our hands looked, but we were splurging on something we wouldn’t normally do.  So I had acrylic enhancements put on, and then a miracle happened…  The enhancement prevented my snapping teeth from tearing into my poor abused fingers.  In two weeks, my fingers were noticeably better, and in a month all of the wounds and damage I had inflicted to the skin around my nails had completely healed.

I was hooked!

I learned pretty quickly though, that if I didn’t have enhancements of some sort on my nails, I would revert back to my biting, tearing ways within a week.  So in order to save some money, I started doing my own nails, and then my daughters nails, and then my friend’s nails…  I eventually decided to go legit, and signed up to take a nail course at a local beauty school.

Anyone who’s known me for any length of time is still surprised that I’m doing nails for a living, but I love it.  It’s creative, fun, and best of all, I can help people like myself who never thought their hands could be pretty, feel better about themselves.  It’s a pretty amazing thing.

So I’m Anne, and I’m a nail tech.  If you decide to follow my blog, I’ll be sharing some of my work, advice on caring for your nails, news and reviews on salons, products, services, and anything else related to the nail industry.  Hopefully, I’ll also entertain you a little bit too.

So welcome to the new nail blog.  I look forward to sharing what I know with you!

Hugs,