Nail Care And Nail Polish
1. To promote nail growth give yourself a hand massage every day. Tug gently on each finger. This stimulates blood flow to the nail bed.
2. Make nails of any length look longer. Push the cuticles back nightly or use.a cuticle cream – or both, as the cream sloughs off excess skin around the nail.
3. Here’s how to repair broken nails or strengthen cracked ones. Glue a tiny piece of tissue to the underside of the nail. The fibers reinforce the nail and protect it from breaking further.
4. Dry, brittle nails? Massage nails and cuticles three times each day with a rich hand cream to keep them moist and supple.
5. For salon-perfect press-on nails, paint your press-ons the night before you plan to wear them. To prevent them from sticking to the surface you paint them on, purchase ten springclip barrettes and attach a nail to each first, using the stick-on tabs that come with the nails.
6. Plagued by pesky ridges? Get a buffing cream. Once a week, dab it on your nails, then smooth the ridges away a fine textured nail-buffer. Next apply a coating of nail strengthener to ensure a crystal smooth edge.
7. Weak nails always chipping and breaking? Apply a nail hardener once a week. Follow with two coats of dark polish and a clear nail polish cover. Finally, add a layer of base on the under side of the tips. The more coatings, the stronger your nails.
8. Broad nails? Create the illusion of slender length when you polish. Leave a slim, unpainted line at either side.
9. Leave your old polish on when you file your nails. This helps protect them from tearing as you file. Remove the old polish when you are finished.
10. When polishing nails, spread out the fingers of the hand you plan to begin with first before applying polish. This will reduce chances of accidentally marring a painted nail while applying polish to the other. Then begin with your little finger and finish with the thumb. This frees up your thumb and index finger until the last minute in case you have an emergency.
11. If you mess up a nail big-time while applying polish, soak it in polish remover, wipe with a cotton swab and start all over again with a clean, fresh nail.
12. Yellow-tinged fingernails? Over use of dark polish is the likely cause. Remove existing stains by buffing your nails, then soak them for five minutes in lemon juice or a denture cleaner. For stubborn stains, use a Q-tip soaked in hydrogen peroxide on the top and underside of your nails.
13. If you must use dark, deep colors on your nails, always protect them from yellowing with a base coat.
14. Guard against nail peeling, breaking, or splitting by deep-conditioning them once a week. Rest them in warm corn or olive oil for five minutes.
15. Always protect nails by wearing rubber gloves whenever washing dishes or performing other household chores. Nails expand when they get wet and contract when they dry out making them prone to cracks and splitting.
16. Here’s a quick trick for those who want polished nails for some occasions, but can’t be found out at work or in other environments. Spread a thin layer of Elmer’s glue over the surface of each nail, extending the glue slightly past the tip and sides. When the glue dries, paint each nail with a coat of dark polish. The glue won’t be visible and your nail will look normal. When you’re ready to remove the polish, simply begin peeling the glue back from the tip or side of your finder, and the polish will come right up with in a strip. This method eliminates almost all tell-tell traces of polish around the edges of the nails and prevents them from becoming tinted by the polish.
17. Allow nail polish to dry for 30 minutes, no matter what the label says, to insure the polish hardens beyond all possible damage.
18. Prevent smudging freshly painted nails with quick drying coatings or sprays. But, beware! These only harden the surface and the underlayers still need to dry, so nails can still be scratched and smudged if you are not careful.
19. Avoid removing polish too often as this dehydrates your nails, weakening them and making them brittle.
20. Call attention to well-polished nails and heighten the illusion of feminine hands with nail decals. Simply soak the decal in warm soapy water, pick it up with a pair of tweezers and position it on your nail. After the decal dries, apply a coat of clear polish to protect it.
21. Another secret to jazzing up nails is to apply glitter over your polish, or a glitter polish. Always paint a clear polish on top afterward for protection.
22. Grow your own nails by simply wearing clear nail polish all of the time to protect your nails from breakage and reinforce them. Use two layers, and then make the polish invisible by dabbing a small dot of nail polish remover on the ball of your thumb and dulling the surface of each nail with a touch.
23. Best way to remove nail polish? Get a polish removing sponge or cut a hole in a regular sponge. Soak the sponge in polish remover and dip your finger into the hole in the sponge. When it comes out, the polish comes off!
24. For painting toes, toe separators, available at any drugstore, are a must. Otherwise, you will smudge the nails or get polish on your tootsies.
25. Want to keep your polish unmarred? Don’t pick at staples or shrink-wrap cassettes or other such items. Don’t try to crack nuts with them. And above all open ring-top soda and beer cans — and if you must, use the side of your thumb, not your nails at all.
By Jean Marie
This article was originally published in Transformation 58 2006