Meet the Nubbins (Naked Nails 7-19-11)

My nails were so sad & patched I didn't even take before pics ... you can see the most recent long naked nails HERE from back on the 4th - I was at about 11mm of free edge.  Just about my favorite length LOL - and with 8 nails patched.  Very very sad.  Now I am down to about 4mm free edge & still 4 nails patched including my mangled left thumb:

I hate short nails.  The left hand is a bit shorter than the right to partly balance the nubbin that is my pinky.  Yes I know they're not SHORT-short ... but they're short to me.  Still past my fingertips but shorter than I like or prefer - shorter than I've had them since I think last fall.  I took me 2-3 days to get back comfortable typing LOL.  But I would really like to completely grow out all these bad breaks without getting any additional ones along the way.

Since this was last Tuesday, I've already had several short-nubbins manis - including one that may well be my favorite pink so far this year =)   So stay tuned for those.  Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Naked Nails (4-10-11)

Gave the nails a trim after I took off Teenage Dream, I had a couple of breaks that had grown out long enough to cut down, though there are a few still left.  I didn't take any before shots, but I'd guess I took off probably 3-4mm.  I know they're not short ... but they're shorter:

A bit more stained than I'd prefer, but I can't pretend that I really care too much.  You can actually see towards my cuticle when I switched from using a ridge-filling base coat back to the sticky - you wouldn't think they'd be that different (same brand) but the sticky seems to prevent staining better.

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

Nail Maintenance

Another that's pretty much just what the title says LOL.  This is my between-mani routine:

As I said in the vid, Nubar Reclaim is awesome, & I will have a boatload of pics & a vid of it up next.  Hopefully later tonight but maybe tomorrow =)  Thanks for reading.

~Colette

PS - anyone else like the show Castle?  I am so enjoying the premier I almost forgot to hit "Publish" LOL =)

Polish Removal

Kind of self-explanatory ... this is how I take off my polish:

I'm trying to build up my Tips & Tricks playlist a little, I also did one on nail maintenance, but I haven't edited it yet =)  Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Naked Nails (7-19-10)

So, my nails had about 11mm of free edge, or 1.1cm, yesterday prior to trimming.  Excuse the messy clean up, but Charla was being stubborn & I also knew I'd be using pure acetone to take off my patches so I could finish cleaning up then: 

I have to say it was a good thing I'd decided on a trim before I started on my patches, because my left middle did this to me:

So I had a little less control that I intended....I ended up taking off almost half of my length. Free edge is around 6mm on most fingers, give or take a little, but they feel SOOOO SHOOORRRT!  But, the plus side is that in the process I completely cut down 4 breaks that had grown out, so that's 4 less patches to maintain - although my last set lasted 3 full weeks.  The tear on my right ring has grown out past the nail bed, and the right middle's tear has almost grown out enough to trim.  The tear on my left pinkie is very minor, I don't anticipate any problems growing it out as long as I keep a patch on it.  These pics are prior to fresh patches:

Part of me is hating my left hand uneven like it us ... another is convinced if I'd taken them as low as they needed to be to be even, I really would be hunched over in a corner bawling my eyes out LOL.  Everyone keeps saying they're still long but to me they're just not & it's worse with polish on.  I mean, I'm not trying to be a crybaby, I'm just saying if I had any doubt that I preferred them long, that doubt would be gone (I had none, BTW, just sayin').

Oh well.  it won't take that long for them to grow out again... I hope.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Naked Nails (6-28-10)

I'm going to warn you up front, that this is not going to be a pretty post.  I love getting compliments on my nails when they're polished, but honestly I've got a hot mess going on underneath at the moment.  As I mentioned in my post for Ulta Bombshell, I had a rather horrible encounter with a file cabinet drawer at work on Monday.  I glued everything together at work, but after coming home & soaking off that glue & the polish, this is what I was left with underneath - this is my right middle & pointer fingers(and yes, that's another crack on the opposite side of the middle from the big chunk):

The pointer was literally hanging on by a thread.  Although I have fixed worse before, my initial reaction was just to bite the bullet & make the cut ... but then I reconsidered because with the way my camera is set up when I do tutorials, that's the finger that works best for shooting water marbling.  Any other finger & my hand tends to block the camera at some point unless I totally contort.  I did trim down the middle, but I proceeded to do the mother of all patches on my pointer.  I just can't have it that short.  The patch has already held for a week, maybe another one or 2 & it will have grown out enough.

Aside from that disaster, I also had an unfortunate accident with a bag of cheese (yes ... cheese) that resulted in this - first pic is from the day of the incident on 6/13, second pic is how far it had grown out by 6/28:

Overall I'm actually wearing patches on 7 nails right now & I'm not too happy about it.  Most are just those tiny tears that like to show up at the side, but the other big crack is this one, which I've been growing out for about a month, my left middle:

So, I am stuck between loving my nails at this length, and hating wearing so many patches.  And I still have at least one incident a day where I'll do something absolutely clutztastic & think I've either broken another or snapped one totally off.  I keep thinking I'll adjust & stop being so clumsy ... but it hasn't happened yet.  So there may sadly be a cut coming in my future but as you can see I am fighting for all I'm worth LOL.

On the plus side I've gotten good enough with patches that they're virtually invisible under polish - even frenches as you'll see in a few posts, and they usually last for 2 weeks or longer.  But I have on a couple occasions ripped one more even with a patch on, and that's often worse than the initial break because the patch can make your nail more brittle because it's so hard.

Anyway, to end on a not-so horrifying note, here is a pic of my nails naked when they're actually not totally dry from acetone LOL, after fresh patches, and cuticle oil & lotion & all that good stuff:

With all these breaks, I'm not even that worried about the curves anymore, and if I cut them down, that will probably help too.  We'll see - I'll keep you posted =)  Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Naked Nails (May) & Patching Tutorial

I finally did a video for how I do silk patches, so I thought it would be a good time to post up naked nails for the month too:

Pretty good condition aside from the tear in my left thumb that I just patched.  Still experimenting with basecoats, but they're not bad right now.  I wish they were a little whiter but they could be much worse as often as I have on dark colors.

Here's the tutorial for patching with silk wraps:

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

Nail Maintenance - PS

AKA the stuff I forgot to mention last post LOL.  Just a few things that came to mind over the course of today:

Polish Removal - The other thing I didn't mention about soaking with cotton vs. the normal rubbing method, is that besides being easier, I feel that it's more gentle on my nails.  Instead of scrubbing, pulling, wiggling & generally being aggressive with the nail plate, all I have to do is a few fairly gentle wipes (always from the cuticle towards the tip).  I think this has helped cut down on tears at the side of my nail.

Filing - I can't believe that even though I had before & after pics of my nails, I didn't actually talk much about filing.  I use a glass nail file, and I really do think it is better for the nail in that it causes less tearing & gives you a smoother finish.  If I'm taking off a lot of length, I will use a clippers &  then finish & even up with a file.  Other than that I leave my nails alone - kind of benevolent neglect LOL, but really filing when they don't need it is just weakening the nails, especially along the sides.

Buffing - I don't buff my nails very often at this point - maybe once a month.  I've never had a huge problem with ridges thankfully, but always remember that a little buffing can be helpful, but too much is never a good thing, since it will make your nail thinner & thus weaker.  Weak nails are of course vulnerable nails.  I most often use my buffer now when I'm smoothing out my patches LOL.  It can also be helpful if you get minor peeling, to even out your nail prior to your manicure.

Patches - One of the very first step-by-step tutorials I did was for how I put on my patches, and you can check out that post HERE, to see the exact products that I use & how.  I may eventually do a video tutorial for this, but I haven't gotten around to it yet & I think the pics & other info are pretty self-explanatory.  Of course if you have questions feel free to ask - even on such an old thread =)

Cuticles - I don't use cuticle remover.  After I've exfoliated & moisturized, while my cuticles are still pliable, I push them back with a metal cuticle pusher.  That's basically it.  If there are some little dry bits left behind, I gently scrape them off, but generally all they need is a little push.  I wish I could remember where I read, because it makes so much sense, that if you are constantly messing with your cuticles, they are MORE likely to be hard & rough - like they are developing a callus in defense of the harsh treatment.

Hmmm ... I think that's all - for now =)  I've got 2 manis - just one an actual NOTD - with my new stubby nubbins coming up after the pics get edited (in other words, unfortunately not necessarily tonight).  Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Naked Nails & Nail Maintenance

Well, I started putting this post together last week & kind of fell off track, but as a result I have an example of how much my nails grow in a week. Here they are last Sunday:

And here they are today before filing - a little whiter also, I have been trying various things to get rid of the yellowing that developed when I switched my base coat for a while - this week's test was salt water & I didn't think it did much until I see these pics side by side with last week's. Also, they are 100% naked above, below you can see I'm wearing 3 patches - right middle, index & thumb for peeling:

I really didn't want to take them down, but it is unfortunately still winter, and they were a little too long for my gloves. Plus with the dry weather, they are more brittle than in summer & I felt that if I tried to keep them all long, I'd probably lose at least one or more to a break sooner or later. So I took a few millimeters off & generally evened them up a little all around. I know a lot of bloggers only file their nails with polish on, but I've just never gotten into the habit, I like filing them while naked. Err - the nails LOL =) I still like them at this length & I hope this will be my last length-check due to winter weather:

So, now I've got a few tips & pics around my maintenance routine, after several inquiries last time via comments & emails. I hope this helps out anyone who is curious, and if you have any questions I don't answer, please feel free to leave a comment or drop an email.

So, the first step is of course removing whatever is currently on my nails =) I use the Studio Tools brand of remover, in purple (supposedly strengthening) which I get at Target. It's cheap & it works:

I also have the 100% acetone kind, but I only use that for cleaning up, cleaning Konad plates or other nail art stuff, or if I'm wearing glitter. Otherwise it's just too drying.

A few weeks ago, I finally picked up a huge box of cotton at Sallys. It is 1200 feet of non-reinforced cotton, and I think it will be interesting to see how long it lasts me LOL:

So I tear off 10 pieces of cotton:

And then soak each one with remover & stick on my nails - they stay pretty well by themselves if you just kind of fold them over at the edges. Athough I have seen around that some people prefer to use foil to keep them in place & keep the remover from evaporating, I find that's just an extra step I don't really need:

I do one hand at a time, and let the cotton sit for 2-3 minutes, depending on how many coats of polish I'm taking off. If I'm taking off a color I know is stubborn, or glitter, I will switch to the 100% acetone to soak with. After a few minutes have passed, just kind of wiggle the cotton a little, and pull the whole thing off your finger. Your nails should be 99% clean of polish & you can take one more cotton to clean up the remainder, or use the flip side of the one you just pulled off:

So, after I've removed old polish, I like to wash & exfoliate my hands. & then moisturize. For a while I was using the Satin Hands system from Mary Kay:

Left to right: Extra Emollient Night Cream, Satin Smoothie Hand Scrub, Satin Hands Hand Cream. I really like this product, it's a 3-step system (there used to be 4 steps ... but they changed the formula & now there are only 3) that's scented kind of like peaches, but I got mine as a gift, and the actual price is a little more than I'm willing to pay. So lately I've been using products from the California Mango line, which is still not exactly cheap, but cheaper, and easily available at Sallys:

The tubes are the Mango Buff (Exfoliating Scrub) & Mango Extreme (Hand Cream), the big tub is Mango Mend which is a really strong, sticky moisturizing goo, and the 2 other bottles are the Mango Magic oil - the small bottle I actually use for application, and the big refill bottle. Mango is another of my favorite scents so I love that about all this in addition to how soft they make my hands.

Since I do my nail routine in the evening, around this point in the process it's usually time for a break for dinner =) Which allows all the moisturization I just did to soak in before I have to make sure my nails are clean for painting.

For a while I experimented with different base coats, but as I said above I started getting some staining so I went back to my old faithful. I will still use other base coats on occasion - for example Nubar Foundation if I'm wearing Nubar color, because it seems to make the mani last better - but for the most part my go-to base system is ProStrong, and I just got a new kit in the mail a week or so ago. I included a shot of the instructions page, I think it should be big enough if you click to enlarge for you to read if you're interested:

The 3 main products that I use out of this are the ProActivator pen, which is like a prep for the base coat, then the ProTough as my base, and the Finishing Sealer to set it. The ProTough works as a ridge filler, and it also works a lot like a sticky base coat, giving good adhesion with pretty much all polish.

Their polish remover is top notch, and I will use it sometimes for glitter or other tough polishes, but is unfortunately another product that I consider to expensive to buy on it's own for regular usage, so I just get the little bottle that comes with my set. I do not use their topcoat very often since discovering Seche Vite, but I've recently found that it is a pretty good topcoat to use with nail foils. I buy my Prostrong from QVC, mainly because I have a membership there & a lot of the time I'll add other things to my order =), but ProStrong also has their own website. Just from some quick browsing their prices seem comparable.

Once I've got my base coat on, I'll add a coat or 2 of color, maybe some Konad or nail art, and then top it all off with a coat of Seche Vite (which I'm pretty sure you all know what it looks like so I'm not including a pic LOL). After I put on my color, I do usually clean up around my cuticles with acetone & a small brush. I think this little bit of extra drying time may be what keeps Seche Vite from causing shrinkage on me. I see some other bloggers talk about that but it's never been a problem for me. I always wrap my tips, and sometimes also the side of the nail if they're getting long or I'm having a little peeling.

So, I think that's everything! As I said, if I left anything out, leave a comment or email with any questions. Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Growing Out A Damaged Nail

So, over the past couple weeks this topic has come up several times all over the place - I've seen talk on other blogs, I've had readers email me, and last Friday at work I was talking with the receptionist - the lovely lady responsible for introducing me to Konad - who had just torn one of her nails quite low down. Those of you who've been reading for a while may remember when I got a tear in my pinky nail back in February, which I discovered when I took of my Valentines day mani:

I've recently just finished growing out that tear, without having to cut the nail all the way down. In fact, the patches that I used to grow it out worked so well, I've been using them to help me grow out several of my nails that had extremely bad peeling on my not-so-cute right hand:

That said, I bring to you my first tutorial =) So that you too can grow out those damaged nails. I took these pics when I changed my patches on Tuesday.

After 2-3 weeks of wear, here is an example of what they look like when it's time to change them. If you were using them to hold a break I think you could probably buff them smooth & leave another week or so, but for growing out peeling I think it's important to keep the integrity of the patch at the edges:

You can use normal polish remover to take them off, but I keep some 100% acetone for cleaning my Konad plates & I find it makes the job quicker & easier. Soak a cotton ball, hold it for several seconds & then treat it like a stubborn polish. You'll see the edges lift but I recommend against giving it to temptation & just peeling it off.

OK =) Now that I have my old patches off, here's my toolbox for putting some new ones on:

4-sided buffer, cuticle scissors, IBD Gel Resin, Swiss Silk Self-Adhesive Wraps, and tweezers. The tweezers are optional, but I think they're helpful - you can hold just a small edge of the wrap & avoid getting it stuck to your fingers, which leads to less trouble sticking it where you want it to be on your nail.

Make sure your nails are clean. Give them a good wash, make sure they're dry, and even give them a swipe with polish remover to be sure there's no residual oil from you skin. This is my left index finger:

And you can just see the last remnants of peeling at the tip. This might be the last time I wrap it but it will be our model for today's pics because it's easier to take pics of than my right hand =)

The wraps come in lots of sizes - don't worry if you don't find one exactly your size (although you probably will when your supply is brand-new), it's easy to cut the patches to whatever size you need or want. You can see here I'm down to some wider sections:

The wraps are kind of long, I usually use 1 strip for 2-3 nails, just cutting it into sections with the cuticle scissors. After you've got a section stuck to your nail, you can trim the sides to fit & the end to a more manageable length:

Don't worry about being too neat at the end. All that will be fixed after we're done with the gel. Stroke one one thin coat of gel & let dry for 5-10 mins, then do a 2nd coat & let dry:

How long this takes can vary depending on how thick you apply the gel & your environment, but I usually try to wait at least a half hour before I start buffing. Hard to sit still that long but it's not like this is something that has to be done every manicure. It's worth the wait.

Once the gel is dry, you can take the rough side of the buffer (in my case the blue side) & file off the excess silk from the nail edge. Be gentle - we're not actually trying to file the nail, just enough to get rid of the excess. When you're done it will be neat & tidy like this:

This may look pretty smooth - don't let it fool you. The first time I tried to patch my nail, I tried to do a mani at this point & the patch stood out like the proverbial sore thumb. Go a step finer with your buffer (in my case the pink side) & buff the top of the patch. It doesn't take much to get a smooth finish & then it will look like this - you may need to enlarge to see the difference from the previous pic.

Ta-da! You've got a patch. They've helped me finally be able to grow out some of my worst problem nails. And I've got the naked nail pics to prove it =) Here are my nails back when I first started my blog, this past January before I'd ever tried silk wraps:

This set of pics is from 4/16, after I'd had patches on the tear for a while & had decided to start trying them on my peeling nails:

And here are my nails now (well, Tuesday, but you know what I mean):

By my birthday (July 14th), I may just have a perfect manicure. Not to jinx myself, but looking back at how far I've come in a relatively short period of time, I can see it happening =)

Thanks for reading. And good luck growing out your own damaged or problem nails =)

~Colette