Nail Recovery

Hello Lovelies!  If you read my previous post you know I was away on vacation, which was a blast but it wrecked havoc on my poor nails.  The last few days have involved a great deal of cuticle oil, lotion, and much, much needed TLC.  I am happy to say that my nails are in a much more presentable condition. 

I thought I would share with you my recovery process.  Much of this is similar to my everyday, every week nail care routine, however I thought it would be nice to do this post to help me get back into blogging, and hopefully provide you with just a little bit of insight. 

This is what my nails looked like three days ago...

Pitiful, I know!  Misshapen, dry, rough, gross cuticles.  Absolutely shameful!  But I fixed them and here's how...

Immediate Treatment

I started off with a good filing, to get them back to a more reasonable shape as well as get rid of splits that were occurring.

 
I then gave my hands in a nice 10 minute soak in a warm bath using a Chaotic Glitz Mani Fizz.  If you don't have any mani fizzes, checkout my recipe for DIY Mani Fizz.

After soaking, while my fingers were still moist I used a cuticle pusher and gently pushed my cuticles back.

Because my cuticles were in such bad shape, I used a cuticle softener and a cuticle trimmer along with a pair of nail clippers to gently remove the dead skin.  I do not recommend everyone do this, especially if your skin is fragile.  I, however, was desperate and felt my fingers couldn't get much worse, so I went ahead and did it anyways.

Daily Moisturizing

After my immediate treatment and for the next few days, I regularly moisturized with cuticle oil and lotion.  I applied cuticle oil approximately every 15-30 minutes, not rubbing it in but allowing my skin to absorb it at its own pace.  I primarily used my Flowered Cuticle Oil from Chaotic Glitz, though I did occasionally just grab whatever cuticle oil was nearby.

I also applied lotion approximately once every 30 minutes to an hour.  I'm currently using Jergens Ultra Healing lotion.

Once daily I applied an ample amount of cuticle oil, lotion and wore my lotion gloves.  I would leave them on for about 30 minutes.  This allowed my hands to absorb the oil and lotion on its own.  I did this at bedtime as well but used cuticle crème instead of oil, and wore the gloves overnight.

 

Final Treatment

By day three, my nails were looking much better but I still had significant ridges and some dead cuticle skin that was irritating me.  So, I used a buffer and buffed down the ridges.

I also went through the process of trimming my cuticle once more.

After three days of hardcore moisturizing and a bit of work I am finally able to show my fingers off with pride.

Even though I love nail art, I feel nail care and maintenance are far more important than wearing pretty polish, or creating a fancy design.  I typically spend more time maintaining my nails than I do painting them.  It feels so nice to have them back to the way they should be and I can't wait to paint them and show them off.

Over this next week, I'll be sharing some swatches of polishes I purchased before my trip, and with any luck I'll have some new nail art to share too.  Thank you so much for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

 



Nail Maintenance Routine

Hello Lovelies! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. I apologize that I didn't have a New Years' manicure to share with you but between holiday events, traveling, and some family craziness I didn't have time to get one done for you.

Over the past week I have had very little time to do more with my nails besides apply lotion occasionally. I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to share my nail care routine with you. I typically do this routine maintenance every few days or whenever I change my nail art. You can see that after a week without maintenance that my nails are a total wreck. I have broken several of my nails and have filled them down to nubbies. The ridges are out of control and my thumbs are on the verge of peeling. And let's not even get started on my cuticles. So, anyways it's time for a little TLC.

I typically start out my routine by removing any polish and washing my hands with warm water and moisturizing soap. I occasionally use a sugar scrub but in the winter my hands are more sensitive so I skip the scrubs during this time of year.

Once my nails are naked and clean I file them down and reshape them if necessary. If you are removing a significant length of nail you may want to trim them first with clippers, my nails rarely get an opportunity to grow very long and I don't care for clippers because they can cause stress on brittle nails. I don't have before and after picks of this step because I had to file them down after they broke the other day. When filing your nails it is best to file in one direction and not file back and forth in a sawing motion. If you have a break file in the opposite direction of the break, this will help to prevent it from breaking further if it hasn't broken off completely already.

After filing, I like to use a cuticle softener to freshen up my cuticle areas. I have used several different kinds and am not committed to any one kind. Every cuticle softener I have come across has different soaking times, so be sure to read the directions before you use yours. With this cuticle softener it recommends 1-2 minutes but no more than 8-10 minutes. I apply the softener around the cuticles and under the tip of my nail. Using a cuticle pusher I push back the cuticle and scrape the underside of my nail, after allowing the gel to soak in for a couple of minutes. Don't be surprised if you get a lot of gunk and gross stuff when you do this, it's just dead skin, dirt, and oils. I then wash my hands once more.

For this next step I take care of my ridge problems. I use a three sides buffer to smooth them out. I don't recommend this for everyone, if you don't have ridges it's completely unnecessary and if your nails are extremely thin they make them even weaker. I buff out my ridges because if I don't they split and crack, which is very painful and prevents me from growing them to any length.  If you have significant ridges but don't want to buff them I recommend using a ridge filler base coat under polish, it helps to hide them.

I start with evening out the ridges. This makes my nails look absolutely terrible, but makes them feel so much smoother and eliminates surface peeling.

I then use the smooth side to do just that smooth the nail. I also use this along the edge of my nails to clean off any excess after filling them down.

Lastly, I shine the nail. I recommend this step to everyone. It helps remove oils and gives a little shine to the nail. If you don't intend to apply a polish to your nails this is a great way to give them a healthy glow.

After all that my cuticles and hands are a little worse for wear. At this point I typically apply a nail polish base coat/strengthener, cuticle oil, and lotion. Since, I have a little extra time and my hands are in dire need I'm going to go ahead and do a slightly more in depth moisturizing process.

First, I apply a generous amount of cuticle cream nail strengthener to my nails and cuticle. I spread it out but do not rub it in completely.

I then apply a generous amount of hand lotion and spread over my entire hands. I use many different lotions and tend to pick a lotion that strikes my fancy or whatever is in within arm’s reach.

With my hands greased up I use a pair of moisturizing gloves to cover my hands so that I can give them time to naturally absorb the lotion. If you don't have gloves for this you can use plastic gloves or sandwich baggies. I used baggies for a very long time before I was gifted these gloves by my sister. I then sit back for about 30 minutes and with my gloves hands wrapped relax for a bit. Wrapping the hands warns them up which helps with absorption.

After 30 minutes or so I remove the gloves and rub in any remaining lotion or cream. My hands were so dry this time around that when I took the gloves off I had to apply even more lotion. Yikes!

At this point my hands are ready for polish but I'm going to leave my pretty moisturized nubbies naked for a little longer. Your hands will look better and feel better too. I hope you found this posting helpful,  I'm sorry it's not pretty nail art but I will try to have some posted soon.  Thanks for stopping by, see you next time. Oh, and Happy New Year! I hope it is a successful and prosperous one for all of you. 

Your Fellow Plebe,

Give Your Hands a Little TLC

Spring is in full swing.  Mother Nature is reviving plant life, animals are coming out of hibernation, the sun is shining (most of the time).  While, Mother Nature is cleaning up after a long harsh winter so too are many people.  Spring cleaning is on everyones' schedule and Spring cleaning means getting your hands dirty.  Not to mention harsh cleaners and the number is does on your nails and skin.  So after a long dry winter and a tough weekend of cleaning treat your hands to a little extra TLC.

Start by removing your nail polish.

Then scrub your hands with an exfoliating hand soap.  If you don't have an exfoliating hand soap there are many recipes online for home‐made hand scrubs.  Or you can simple use a handful of table sugar and moisturizing hand soap.  I like to use a very generous amount of sugar because it dissolves with the washing process.  Be sure to scrub your cuticles well to remove any dead skin.

After scrubbing your hands, apply a generous amount of cuticle oil to your cuticles and nails.  Don't rub it in.  If you don't have cuticle oil you can use other oils such as baby oil, vitamin E oil, or extra virgin olive oil.  I often use vitamin E oil (I keep some around to keep my tattoos bright).

Then apply an abundant amount of your favorite hand lotion, I like to use baby lotion.  Don't rub this in completely either.

While your hands are still wet with moisturizer put them in plastic gloves or plastic baggies.

Then either wrap your hands in a towel or place them in oven‐mitts to keep them warm for about 20 minutes.  I don't own oven-mitts so I typically wrap my hands in dish towels.

When 20 minutes is up, unwrap your hands and remove the baggies or gloves.  Rub in any remaining lotion and enjoy your soft beautiful hands.

See you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,