Stiletto to Square

WAHHH. Okay so if you know me you know I'm totally obsessed with my nail shape. I used to call it almond, some people call it stiletto, but I now think it's a hybrid of oval and stiletto. Actually they're a little flatter and less pointy than I like them in the pictures below but if you look at my previous posts or follow me on instagram you can see slight variations in the shape. 

Tomorrow I'm starting a new (sort of) job at McDonald's. I worked there for two years before but it's been a year since I last worked there. The length of my nails wasn't a problem, and I'm sort of okay with the no nail polish rule. I mean it sucks of course, but I'll be making money so it was fine. I'm only allowed one piercing per ear though, and I have six on each ear. Taking out my lobe piercings, three on each ear, is easy but the others are a little more fiddly. If I'm gonna be constantly switching earrings around, it's gonna take around an hour each time with the length of my nails. SO I decided to chop them off :( They also were a little unhealthy from lack of care the past few days. 

I also needed a change. I love love love my nail shape but actually shaping them was getting a bit annoying. When I first got into nails the square shape was my favourite but it never lasted long because the "wings" always broke off. I decided to try square nubs again and then as they grow out file them round, then finally back to my original shape. 

I know my nails are going to be so much healthier like this and while it kills me that I have nubs (I think they make my hands look like man hands) I'm excited to, once again, watch them grow out. I'm also looking forward to trying some nail art that's more suited towards square nails and that would have looked odd and out of place on my original shape. 

I soaked my nails in warm water for a few minutes then used a pair of straight nail clippers to cut my nails. I cut them a bit longer so I could file the rest. When you use clippers you risk damage to your nails so I recommend cutting them longer so you can file down to the length you want. Then I used a finer file to smooth out the edges and finished by doing my cuticles. Sorry there's some cuticle messiness in the pictures above, I was too keen on taking pictures haha. 

XO Natasha 

NUBS

OKAY. So two weeks ago I finally broke down and cut myself some lovely nubs. Only I hate them and my patience is being tested as I wait for them to grow out. Why did I cut them you ask? If you recall I had beautiful almond/stiletto/witch nails. They're a strong shape and I never had trouble with breaking. However, at the end of April/beginning of May I moved, and as a result of extensively using my hands, 6 of my 10 nails were ripped, most on both sides. I could have patched them all, but they would have been really weak and it would have just been a major pain in the ass. So, I figured I'd chop my nails off and start all over. 

Here's a vine of my before/after/filing process: https://vine.co/v/b2eDiD1rQAA 

I started by using my nail scissors to cut off the majority of the length, leaving about a 1mm free edge. Then I filed down and shaped that using a 180 grit file. Then I filed off the curtains (frilly things underneath your nails LOL - I call them curtains) with my 280 grit file and smoothed out the top edge with a 320 grit file. I left no free edge. 

When doing any major shaping I like to use a 180 grit first, and finish with a 280 grit. Smoothing with the 320 grit file isn't necessary, you can just use the 280 but I like the 320 because it's a tiny bit more fine. Also, my file is reversible with 280/320 so it's just easy. 

One of my rips was fairly deep but it's grown out nicely. Also I had quite a few splits, just from the nails ripping. Those I just buffed out as much as possible and kept them protected with my strengthener, polish, and top coat. 

I'm only using OPI - Nail Envy as my base coat. As an experiment to see how well it works, but also because I always use a strengthener for my base coat. I've heard Nail Envy doesn't work for everyone (nothing will) but it works amazing for me! 

The hardest part about cutting my nails was seeing next to no growth during the first week. I must have changed my polish 3 times and each time I saw no new growth. During the second week however, I started noticing a bit of a free edge. Then during the weekend I had the same mani for about 5 days and I noticed a significant growth between my polish and cuticle, and when I took my polish off yesterday I was quite pleased with my nail length. Well, as pleased as someone with a love for long nails can be with nubs! 

Have you ever done a major chop or given yourself nubs in order to give your nails a fresh start? 

XO Natasha 

Nail Care

Our nails can be extremely tricky to work with. Some people are blessed with amazing nails, however I am not one of those people (so sad). My "claws" if you will, require a great deal of care and attention. I cannot stress enough the importance of caring for your nails properly! Every little thing you do affects your hands, simply because they are the most frequently used part of our body. 

The very first thing I will say about nail care is DO NOT BITE THEM! Seriously. I probably say this once a day, at least. Biting your nails is is an awful habit, and I'm glad I broke it many years ago. Not only is it terrible for your teeth (mine are all bumpy along the bottom because of biting) but it's terrible for your nails! It causes them to split and just in general makes them extremely weak. 

Plus, biting your nails to excess can cause pain because of how deep you bite them, and that's not pleasant for anyone. It also makes your nails way harder to paint, and they don't look as pretty :( I know everyone would prefer pretty nails over ugly ones! 

DO NOT BITE YOUR NAILS! I have a rule with my friends... I don't paint their nails if they've bitten them :) Seems to work pretty well! I should buy them all nail clippers and files hmm... 

Another major part of nail care is fixing weak nails. This is probably the most common flaw of nails. Weak nails can happen for numerous reasons. You may be lacking something in your diet, your body chemicals may just give you weak nails, or it's just part of your DNA. Not to fear though, this can be easily fixed! In fact, strengthening weak nails is the easiest thing to fix when it concerns nails. 

To fix your weak nails, first go out and buy a decent strengthener. I recommend Pro FX Mineral Botanical Strengthener - you can get this massive bottle (I'm talking 75ml/2.5oz) from Walmart for just $5 - what a deal! See my post on all Pro FX products here. It looks milky in the bottle but dries clear - a little textured though. 

If you don't want the Pro FX strengthener, I'd suggest Sally Hansen. Now, I'm all for finding bargain polishes, and some extremely cheap drugstore brands are still great quality. But when it comes to strengthener, don't cheap out. Spending the extra money is what will get you BEST results. (But like I said, Pro FX is super cheap and you get a ton so it's the best value for your money and I find it works just as well as Sally Hansen or other top brands.) 

To use strengthener, apply two thin coats. Then apply another thin coat every other day. Do this for about a week, until you've got about 5 coats in total (two the first day, plus 3 more from the other days). Once the week is over, take it all off and start again. This is if your nails are extremely weak and need a major intervention. Otherwise only apply a couple coats of strengthener every few days - in between polish paintings, or even as a basecoat. Strengthener is one of my favourite base coats, because it strengthens your nails while you still have a beautiful colour/design on top! 

Other problems with nails include: splitting and cracking/breaking/chipping. I grouped these last 3 together since they're so similar. There are many causes for splitting, cracking, breaking and chipping. Some of it may be due to genetics, or because of improper use of tools. My main problem with nails is splitting. Your nail is made up of several layers, and when your nails split, these layers are separating, causing your nails to become extremely thin, and unfortunately strengthener can't fix this as it's at the tip of your nail. 

Splitting makes nails look extremely ugly (at least in my opinion) because it creates a crater at the tip of your nail. There are a number of different things you can do to fix this. First of all, do NOT pick at your splitting nails! I know I'm guilty of this, and I really need to stop but I just hate that they always get caught on things! Try to file the split down so it's level with the rest of your nail and apply a base coat before applying any polish. 

• What I do for my splitting nails is apply a base coat of strengthener, then apply a coat of ridge filler that's just a bit thicker in the area where the split was so the whole nail surface is smooth and even. The strengthener will protect your nail in the meantime as you let your nails grow so you can slowly file down and remove the split area. 

Another solution is to just cut off all your nails so you remove the split tips altogether. This is extremely annoying though because I absolutely hate waiting for my nails to grow out again, but sometimes it's the only option. 

If you are completely against trimming the claws, you can invest in Orly's Nail Rescue kit. Or, if you already have the materials you can make your own "kit." The materials are: nail glue, acrylic powder, and a fine file. To use, put the glue on the split part of your nail (this also works for ripped nails!) and immediately dip in acrylic powder. Wait for the powder to dry, then file to blend in with the rest of your nail. 

Cracked, prone to breakage and chipping nails exist because the nails are too weak and dry. We've already discussed how to strengthen them, so onto how to make them less dry. First of all, you need to drink lots of water! Your nails are dry because your whole body is dry, lots of water every day will help this. Secondly, the frequency of your hands being in water dries out your skin and nails. Anyone who consistently washes dishes will be all too familiar with this, so the key is to moisturize after you've been in water for a long time. Actually, just moisturize a lot in general. Remember we're trying to make your nails/hands less dry. 

There are some products/tools that greatly affect the brittleness (is that a word?) of your nails. The first and most dangerous is acetone. Most nail polish removers are acetone based, because this is the ingredient that removes your polish quickly. If you use an improper technique to remove your nail polish, this can be the main cause of splitting. The proper technique is to stroke the cotton ball in only one direction: from your cuticle to the tip of your nail. If your nails are extremely prone to splitting and you're using the proper technique, you may want to switch to a non-acetone polish remover. This is what I've done because the use of so much acetone makes my nails extremely dry. 

Another thing that contributes to splitting/breaking is improper filing. By this I mean using a file with a very coarse grit. Finer grits are much better for your nails. Also, when cutting your nails, whether you use a clipper or nail scissors, make sure your nails aren't going to chip/rip. By this I mean you may want to soak your nails in water first so they're softer and aren't dry/brittle when you clip, causing chipping, breakage, or splitting. 

The last and maybe most important thing to help your nails (as well as not bite if you are a biter) is let them breathe. Give your nails a break every once in a while! I'm sure you all know lots of polish will make your nails yellow. They turn yellow because they don't have the proper nutrients since they're constantly suffocated by polish. Let your nails be completely free of anything - even strengthener - for at least one day out of the week. This is the best thing you can do for your nails since (believe it or not) they aren't meant to be painted! 

Hope this helps those who weren't sure why certain things were happening to their nails despite their best efforts to make them healthy. Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions below!