Nails & Needles

Nail and Hand Care: Nails

Every nail enthusiast has their own tips and tricks for keeping their nails and hands in tip top condition. In this series of posts, I thought I’d show you what works for me. Some of these I’ve discovered through other people’s blogs, some I’ve found on my own.

There’s been a bit of trial and error before I got far enough to say with certainty that this thing or that thing is beneficial to my nails and/or my skin. Some of the items below are actually still in that testing stage, but things are looking good for them, so they’re included anyway.

1. Mandelolja APL (almond oil). Small-moleculed oils are perfect for your nails (and not bad for your skin either!). The small molecules means that the nail can absorb them properly, which means they become more supple and springy and won’t break so easily. (Think dry wood vs fresh branches that still contain moisture. You can thank Viola for that comparison!) The bottle is a little clumsy, so I used an empty nail polish bottle and poured some oil over into it. Bonus points for the brush in the lid thus making it easier to apply! Especially when I’m wearing nail polish, I like being able to get under the nail edge, so the brush helps.
2. Hair Volume. I’ve only been using these for about two weeks thus far, so can’t really tell if they make a difference or not. It’s a dietary supplement and “is based on vitamins, minerals and innovative hair growth factors from apples.” B Vitamins, silica and zinc are supposed to be good for both hair and nails, so can’t hurt, right? It’s one tablet a day and each pack lasts 30 days. Quite pricey, though (even with my employee discount at work), so I’m not sure if I’m going to keep using it all the time, or just do a 30-day treatment every now and then.
3. Scratch Nail Food. This one lives in my mini nail kit. It’s the first nail oil I started using, and my favourite. It contains mainly sesame seed oil, which is another small-moleculed one, but also myrrh and lavender. Unfortunately, this is really expensive, so I’m not sure if I can justify buying a new bottle when this runs out. The only real difference to my almond oil is the scent, which is quite nice, so I’m thinking I’ll fill up the bottle with almond oil once there’s just a little bit left. That way, I should still get some of the scent with the new “batch.” I try to use this or the almond oil at least twice a day, sometimes even three times, to make sure my nails don’t get brittle and break.
4. OPI Original Nail Envy. I’ve been using this nail strengthener for about six months now. It was the first product I bought to try and strengthen my nails. At first it worked nicely, though my nails would still split, so then I switched to nail oils for a while instead. However, using only those, I still wasn’t able to grow my nails out like I wanted to. In the end, about six weeks ago, I started using both the nail oils and the Nail Envy at the same time. Finally, I saw results I really liked. Long, strong, non-splitty nails. Brilliance! What I do is, I start by massaging in some nail oil and waiting a little while to let it really absord. Then, I apply two coats of Nail Envy and let that dry before starting with my base coat &c.

1. ACO Sense & Care Nail Polish Remover. My favourite nail polish remover ever! And I can buy it at work! See, I’ve tried a few other removers, but all of them leave this yucky, oily film that I absolutely cannot stand. This one doesn’t! Plus, it’s the best of the ones I’ve tried at the actual removal of nail polish too. Double win!
2. Medical compresses (non-sterile). Another thing I buy from work. They come in different sizes and I use them for both nail polish removal and when cleaning off my make up. They’re super soft and don’t leave fuzz behind.
3. NailTek Foundation II. Another thing I first heard about on nail blogs. I buy it off eBay. It’s my favourite base coat so far and the first one that actually makes my nail polish stay on. My current bottle is almost all out, though, so I need to buy a new one. I’m going to wait until I’ve properly tried out #4 in this picture, though.
4. Seche Base. Another base coat. Reminds me a bit of NailTek, but it dries shiny with a bit of shimmer (as opposed to matte like the NailTek). When it dries, that is. With some polishes, it seems like this never properly dries, so I’m not quite friends with it yet. When I have managed to get it to work, though, I’ve been very impressed, so I’m going to give it some more chances to prove itself.
5. Seche Vite. This is pretty much everyone’s favourite quick-drying top coat, and for good reason! It dries super fast and gives massive shine. For a while, I didn’t quite get along with this, but then I learnt the trick of “tucking” your nail polish under your nail and then doing the same with this. Once you know to do that, this top coat is hard to beat! The biggest beef I have with it now is that it does tend to chip, especially in conjunction with some polishes.
6. Essie No Chip Ahead. This is my most recent acquisition and I bought it to see if it would help with the chipping issue I sometimes have with Seche Vite. I’ve had mixed results so far, but then one of those times, it was with a Butter London polish, and those don’t get along with Seche stuff to begin with. But yes, still a trial run with this one.

And this is what my naked nails look like now! Slightly discoloured, I know, but a lot better than they used to!