Of Life and Lacquer

It’s not like I’m some nail guru, but because I technically have a nail blog (is this REALLY a nail blog??), people tend to ask me about what I do to care for my nails. I am more than happy to share what I do with my nails, but please bear in mind that this is what works for me. What works for me, may not work for you. So the following is a list of my HG products:

CND Solar Oil

This stuff is like liquid gold to me. I have tons of bottles all over the place, and I always keep one in my purse. This cuticle oil is by far the best product that I currently use on my nails and cuticles. It soaks in quickly and doesn’t leave my hands and fingers greasy like other products. If I could only keep one nail/cuticle care product, it would be this one.

Barielle Intensive Hand Treatment Cream with gloves

This Barielle hand cream is the shiznit. I try to use it every other day right when I go to bed. This cream is incredibly thick and lightly scented so it doesn’t bother me. Once I rub the cream all over my hands and fingers, I add a little bit more to my fingertips and then I slide on the gloves and go to bed. When I wake up the next morning, my hands are soooooo soft. I adore this product.

Nail-Aid

Every time I start to grow my nails, I reach for my nail-aid to help strengthen them. I am deathly afraid of those horrible breaks people get when their nails are long so I always use this as a base coat. I use the Collagen nail builder when I am trying to get my little nubs to grow faster as well. The 3 Minute Artificial is a great base or top coat, and it supposedly makes nails 11 times stronger. I can’t substantiate those claims, but my nails are definitely stronger when I wear either of these.

Sally Hansen Cuticle Removers

I honestly have not been able to find cuticle removers that are better than these two. I use both of them and don’t really have a preference. They are both manicure staples for me because my cuticles are my #1 nail problem. When I was a kid, I used to bite my nails and chew off my cuticles. You can’t even imagine how horrible my fingers and nails looked back then.

Now, for something that is a little different, I take a biotin supplement which is supposed to be good for your hair and nails. Some people will say that it makes no difference and that there’s no scientific evidence, but I know it makes a difference for me. As soon as I start taking biotin, I notice that my hair gets stronger, doesn’t fall out as much and my nails grow like crazy. For this same reason, I like to take protein powder supplements. I started drinking protein shakes when I started working with my personal trainer, and I also noticed what a huge difference it made when it came to my hair. In case you’re wondering why I’m taking about my hair so much: one of the symptoms of having PCOS is that some people experience heavy hair loss. My hair has thinned a lot over the year even though most people say they can’t tell at all. I used to have super crazy thick hair and now I don’t so I want to make sure I take care of the hair I have left! lol

Now, for my gym rant. So I started going to the gym again and I’m sad to say nothing has changed. Why do people go to the gym to stand on machines and admire themselves in the mirrors? It’s like I’m an alien in there sometimes because I go to work my ass off–literally. I sweat a lot. If you annoy me, maybe I’ll fling my sweat at you.

Look at the sweat on my t-shirt. (No, I’m not trying to pull a Flashdance with the off the shoulder thing–my tshirt is just too big. lol)  Does this look like the sweat of a person who wants to listen to you blab with your friend or even worse, on your cell phone? I just want to throw a 5lb free weight at their faces sometimes. I have way too much rage at the gym. I guess it’s good that I’m taking it all out on the treadmill, huh?

So there you have it. These are just a few things I do for my nails. Do you have any holy grail nail products that you can’t live without? I’m always open to trying new things so please share. Talk to you later!