Nail Care | Beauty and Fashion Tech

Jan 8, 2013

Makeup Wars, Beauty Resolutions

January 8, 2013 By Carleenp 10 Comments

What do beauty bloggers do for new year resolutions? Find out in this edition of Makeup Wars!

I usually am pretty good with resolutions, at least for a few weeks, lol! Let’s see if I can stick with these this year.

(1) Take Better Care of My Nails

I love nail polish, and when my nails look like the photo below, I am happy. But more often than not, I have broken and damaged nails. Typing all the time doesn’t help them either. So, I need to do more to work on applying nail strengthening products and generally keeping my nails looking nicer. I am still deciding on what products to use (I would love suggestions!), but I am kind of eyeing the Strong Nail System, which includes cuticle conditioning as well. I also might wear more glitter polish. the glitter seems to help protect the nail to some extent, and it wears longer for me, although it is a bit of a pain to remove.

(2) Do Regular Glycolic Peels

I have oily acne prone skin, along with some melasma. I always see huge improvements in my skin when I do regular home peels twice each week, yet I have been bad about dong them recently. So, I plan to go back to twice per week treatments with either Kate Somerville Resurfacing Pads or the Brazilian Peel, which are my two products of choice that I have seen good results with. When I use either of those regularly, I usually get compliments that my skin is looking good. I also am going to return to doing twice weekly or sulfur masks with DDF, which also tends to keep my acne at bay. You can read my review of that here: DDF mask review.

(3) Try New Makeup Shades

You would think this would be easy for a beauty blogger who is always testing products, but I tend to get in a rut of wearing the same neutral shades over and over. I recently experimented with more colorful eye shadow shades and liked it as long as I avoid too much shimmer or glitter (that makes my wrinkles show up too much). I plan to do more experimenting and also try darker or brighter lip shades than I normally wear. I might try the Kat Von D Star Kissed Lipstick Set below for a variety of shades to try. I might also dig out some of my bright MAC lipstick shades.

(4) Finish My Home Laser Hair Removal

Way back, I tested the Tria Laser on my lower legs and saw good results after about 9 months or so, even with somewhat inconsistent use. But I didn’t use it anywhere else because I wanted to have hair for testing other products. Now I wish I had done the full legs, or at least my bikini area and underarms. So, I am going to go back now and do those areas! I already own the Tria and love it, but if starting over, I would consider the Silk’n Flash and Go since it is cheaper and can be used on the face. For a comparison of the two products, see here: Tria v. Flash and Go.

(5) Run 5 Days Per Week and Improve My Overall Condition.

I already run marathons and half marathons on 4 days per week of training, but I want to run a 4:20:00 (or maybe even 4:15:00) marathon this summer at the Missoula Marathon, and I need to increase my mileage in order to do so. So, I am going to add another day of running and also add an extra strength training session. Hopefully that will do the trick! Plus, as I get older, the pounds tend to stay put, so I could use that extra conditioning in general. Related to this is that I want to get my neglected running blog, Run Gadget back up and going again!

Want to see more beauty blogger’s new year resolutions? Click on through the links below!

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Filed Under: Acne Products, Diet and Fitness, Lip Products, Makeup, Makeup Wars, Nail Care, Nail Products, Skin Care Tagged With: acne, Brazilian Peel, DDF, Fitness, Kat Von D, Kate Somerville, Lip Products, Makeup Wars, Nails, Skin Care

Sep 12, 2012

The Nail Biters Guide to Beautiful Nails

September 12, 2012 By Guest Post Leave a Comment

I have a confession. It’s not pretty, but I have been a nail-biter since I was about six-years-old. For twenty years I have been a victim of horrible short nails with painful hangnails that don’t look nice, and funnily enough they don’t taste too good either.

When I started blogging just over two years ago, I was still the hardcore nail-biter that I had always been, and then everything changed. For me, being able to grow my nails to a decent length has been the biggest benefit from being a beauty blogger. Of course, I’ve met some incredible people, but I’m no longer ashamed to show those people my hands, or should I say, my nails!

In the past, I’ve found a lot of write-ups about nail-biting that try to freak you out by going on about the hygienic side of things, or they try and promote those horrible tasting nail varnishes that apparently put you off biting your nails. Personally, I’m not convinced that that type of advice is really that helpful.

So, I wanted to share with you my tips, aimed at fellow nail-biters, for achieving beautiful nails:

Polish, Polish. Whilst your nails are short, wear a pale nail polish rather than a dark one. Darker shades tend to draw more attention to your hands, and for now, you probably don’t want that. Lighter shades, however, are more discreet. So, save your darker polishes for when your nails are a bit longer and neater.

You might wonder why I’m encouraging you to wear nail polish, but I always find that whenever I wear nail polish my nails tend to grow much more quickly. However, do remember to look after your nails; give them a break from polish every so often, and don’t forget to nourish and buff the surface regularly.

Strengthen. Instead of buying a nail polish that tastes bad, think about what your nails probably need right now. When you bite your nails, they become weak and brittle. This means that when they begin to grow, they are going to be more prone to breakages. For this reason, you should work at strengthening and nourishing your nails using a specialist strengthening and hardening polish. There are a lot of these types of polish on the market, and they can be picked up fairly cheaply. Another option is to buy colored nail polishes that come with added hardeners that protect your nails. They should tell you on the bottle if they have them.

Be Prepared. Always carry a nail file around with you, even if your nails are still fairly short, so that if you find yourself subconsciously gnawing on the corner of your nail, you just need to get your nail file out and smooth off the gnawed edge to get rid of the jagged edges.

This is beneficial in two ways:

1. It looks a little bit nicer if your nails have a (sort of) smooth and clean edge
2. You are ultimately removing further temptation to chew or pick at your nails.

Having a nail file with you at all times also helps for those annoying moments when you break or chip a nail, because a broken nail is just another huge temptation.

Glam it Up. Nail Art is the absolute secret to my No Nail Biting success. Nail Art is incredibly on-trend at the moment and thankfully it’s showing no sign of letting up, so why not give it a go. You don’t have to attempt any super-difficult pieces of art, just invest in a Nail Art Pen and dot or stripe to your nails delight! The trick here is that if your nails look genuinely pretty (and especially if people comment on them) then you’ll trick yourself into not wanting to ruin them. Hence you won’t bite them - well, you might, but it hopefully won’t be as often!

Blog It. Practically everyone has a blog, and if you don’t yet, now might just be the time to start. Dedicate yourself to posting at least once a week with an image of a Nail of the Day (NOTD) showing which nail polish you’ve been sporting, or even some Nail Art that you’ve tried. It doesn’t have to even resemble the work of a professional Nail Artist. The point is that it should inspire you to not bite your nails, because you need them to look good for next week’s blog post.

Be Kind. Most importantly, don’t beat yourself up if you do bite your nails. It is not the end of the world. Nail biting is a habit, which for many of us is really difficult to crack, so take baby steps and accept that you’re probably not going to stop overnight.

What little tricks do you use to try and curb your cravings for nails?

BIO LINE

Kat is a freelance writer, who regularly contributes to MakeupMew.com. She believes that everyone is beautiful, and make up just helps to enhance that natural beauty. She also runs a beauty/lifestyle blog; Barefoot Girl.

Filed Under: Nail Care Tagged With: Nail Polish, Nails

May 15, 2012

Get Beautiful Nails

May 15, 2012 By Carleenp Leave a Comment

Many people say that they can judge a person’s health by their hands, so if your nails are dull and constantly broken, what does that say about you? If you want beautiful nails and you are tired of going to a manicurist, make sure that you take a moment every day to care for your nails yourself. Regular nail care can make a huge difference to the appearance of your nails and to how others see you.

30 Days of Beauty, Day 14, Tips For Great Looking Nails

Try these tips to keep your nails looking great.

(1) Start by stashing your nail clipper. The problem with nail clippers is that they subtly splinter your nail by apply pressure before they cut. While this is a fast way to even out your nails, it causes more damage and splitting in the long run. Save a nail clipper for times when you have a snagged nail. Instead, use your emery board to shorten and to shape your nails. A good emery board can help you keep your nails looking lovely no matter what kind of damage you have to get out.

(2) Condition your nails. Just like your hair, your nails can get dried out and split. Take a small amount of natural oil and rub it into your clean nails. Do this right after a warn shower so that the oil will soak in. Not only will this keep your natural nails shiny, you will also find that it keeps your nails more flexible. This in turn prevents breakage. Some oils that you can use include vegetable oil, coconut oil and olive oil. Vitamin E is perfect for conditioning your nails, and if you take it orally, it can also strengthen your hair.

(3) Remember that any kind of color or gloss on your nails damage them. While you don’t have to forgo nail color entirely, simply take care to ensure that your nail coloring doesn’t hurt your nails too much. For example, when painting your nails, put down a clear coat first. This prevents the color from staining your nails. Similarly, after you use a nail polish remover, condition your nails with oil as described above. Nail polish remover dries out your nails a great deal and causes more damage later on.

(4) Another tip that can save your nails is that you need to be mindful of them. Plenty of people use their nails for tasks that are better suited to other tools. If you want your nails to look nice, you need to treat them well. For example, if you need to open a letter, use a knife or a letter opener. Do not use your nails to perform this task as it can damage them by putting pressure on the nail bed. Similarly, do not use your nails to pry things open or to split seals on condiment bottles. Just reach for a tool instead!

(5) Kelly from Vampy Varnish provides this tip:

“When painting your nails, thin and slow is the name of the game. Make sure your coats are thin because thick coats tend to bubble or peel quicker. Work slowly, allowing a few minutes in-between each coat for drying time. This will ensure your manicure will not bubble, dry quicker and last longer.”

(6) For cuticle clean up, both Kelly and Stephanie Louise Telford of Stephanie Louise- All Things Beautiful recommend using a small brush. Pictured below is the brush Kelly uses. She says:

“Post nail polish painting clean-up can be a pain! One way to clean up a messy cuticle area is to buy an inexpensive, small paint brush (you can find them at a craft store for $1-3). Dip it in remover after your manicure has dried and slowly clean up the mess. This works much better than those nail polish remover pens!”

Stephanie suggests this:

“Love painting your nails but hate the mess afterwards? Use an angled eyeliner brush or paint brush dipped in pure acetone for cleanup. Rub gently to remove excess & wipe the brush against a clean towel to avoid buildup. Work slowly & with a small amount of the acetone to avoid flooding the cuticles. “

(7) Stephanie also gave this tip for treating your cuticles right:

“To heal dry or damaged cuticle reach for a moisturizing lip balm. The best way to treat them is by rubbing a cuticle balm into your nail bed & cuticles nightly. You can also use my personal favorite which is petroleum jelly mixed with a bit of cocoa butter. Rub it in well & in the morning it will rinse off in the shower.”

With just a little bit of time and care, you will find that caring for your nails is simple. Take some time to care for your nails every day, and chances are good that your nails will look better than ever.

Tomorrow: Day 15, Makeup Shopping and Organization.