For those who know me, know that I am known for my nails. Yes I have an obsession but honestly now a days who doesn't. I think its like the "it" thing to do now is nail art. Everyone is doing them from celebrities to the "normal folk". I love doing my nails, its something that calms me down and it lets me be creative. I love how I can do my nails while watching a baseball game. Some questions I get are "how long does it take you to do that design?" I always answer back and say it does take time but I watch all the Yankees games. If I am home and there is a game on, I'm definitely watching them play. Usually now if its not a Yankees game I'm usually watching a Mariners game. These games are usually 4 hours long so if I'm not blogging like I'm doing now, I am doing my nails.
Being that I do my nails so many times a week and I usually like experimenting with different colors dark and light alike, my nails get stained. You can help avoid it a bit by always using a base coat which I always use but eventually, it doesn't matter. Eventually if you don't let your nails rest without polish, your nails will get stained. Mine are no different. So I always try to whiten them before I paint them again. To do this I started to do research and also took some tips from my Dad. Just as in any whitening toothpaste you will find baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. I figured it can't hurt to try this method. What you do is put baking soda into a little bowl and then add a little bit of hydrogen peroxide enough to make a paste with the mix. I then take the paste and rub it into my nails. I make sure to cover my nails completely on the top of my nails and on the under part of the nails. This will help the stain get removed from both areas. I take a nail brush and begin to brush the paste and I do this for about 5 minutes for each nail to make sure that I get enough of the mixture into my nails. For a boost of whitening-- you can add lemon juice. I usually just put the juice that comes in that little bottle that looks like a lemon but if you have a real lemon, that works as well. I honestly am not sure if one works better than the other so I just stick to the lemon juice in a bottle since I can preserve it better.
After this I soak my nails in the mixture for a little while longer and then I rinse. I usually do this right in the shower just so that if I make a mess its in the bathtub. I try to do this every time I remove my nail polish and before I do anything else to my nals. Maybe once every 2-3 months I will buff my nails with a very fine buffer. I do not like to do that all the time because it will make your nails weak since you are making them thinner. If you have nails that constantly break-- I would say that buffing them isn't an option. I don't recommend this at all. Another tip to making your nails strong is taking Biotin which will not only help your nails grow but its also for your skin and hair so its an all around beauty vitamin.
If you don't have really bad set in stains but you noticed that after you painted your nails
red or some other dark color and your nails got a bit stained, I recommend try first with whitening toothpaste. You can just squeeze out enough toothpaste to coat your nails and then take a nail brush and brush the toothpaste in while it foams, let it sit there for about 10-15 minutes. This should remove new stains that haven't really set in and were caused by just using a dark color. For something more serious like me, you may need to try the baking soda/peroxide mixture.
Do you have any tips to get your nails white? I would love to hear if there are different things that work. Let me know, I am always willing to try new things.
Nail care! This is a first for me on my blog but for those of you who know me, I am all for nails. I make my own franken nail polish. I love doing different designs and things of that sort. I have a large collection compared to your normal person but being a nail addict, I've seen that I don't have nearly as large of a collection as other people I've seen before. So that being said, I take care of my nails a lot. I don't really take vitamins for my nails but I do know some people take Biotin which is good for nails, hair and skin. Its not a bad vitamin to take but I'd be afraid my hair would just grow way too much since its already down to my waist. I do this routine at least once a week if not more. I do paint my nails more times a week but when I repaint, I just remove the color and then repaint.
My routine starts with nail polish removal. I usually take normal nail polish off with a non-acetone nail polish remover. If I have something like glitter, then I will go in with Pure Acetone which makes it easier to take off glitter. I don't like to use it on my nails all the time because its so strong, it dries out my nails a lot. Once the nail polish is done, I go and take a shower. This is easier than soaking my nails. Once in the shower, I go in with a whitening scrub by Develop 10. This comes with a scrubbing brush. The instructions say to leave it on your nails for a bit, rub it in for about 10 seconds and then go ahead and scrub off. When you scrub, it creates more of a soapy feel and let that sit for a bit more before the whole thing gets washed off. Once I wash my nails, I finish showering and the water helps loosen my cuticles which makes it easier to push back later.
Once I get out of the shower, I put cuticle remover on. I leave this on for about 5 minutes and then push back my cuticles. The cuticle remover that I use is the Sally Hansen one. This one is really good. Its more of a gel and will stay put on your nails and you can do other things like text or change the remote. Thats really all you can do but still something. I go ahead push my cuticles back, I really never cut my cuticles. I don't like it since its really not good to do. Once my cuticles are all pushed back, I wash the gel off with soap and water and use the scrub brush while doing it, just to make sure that any dark polish residue or dirt is removed completely. Now that my nails are fresh, I file if needed, usually just a little bit of a small buffer around the edges to make sure that they are even and not all raggedy.
Once all of that is done, I am ready to paint my nails. I first use Orly Primetime which is not a basecoat but a primer for the basecoat. This basically just primes your nails. Makes sure that all the oils are removed, and any dirt that you may have on your nails. Once thats on, I then put on a basecoat. Lately, I've been using Essie Millionails. This is a nail treatment that is good for your nails. This helps them not be brittle and over all strengthen your nails and give them more of a healthy, polished look to them. This nail treatment really does wonders for my nails. After that, I choose a nail polish or two or three and paint away. I usually in with two coats unless its a sheer polish. If I am up for it, I do some designs with either a dotting tool or striping take and then I wait about 10 mins. After that I will then go in with a top coat. Right now, my topcoat of choice is Seche Vite. After I apply this, I let it dry for another ten minutes and then I add cuticle oil. After that I am good to go.I can go right to bed and not have to worry about my nails messing up or getting those smudges that you hate so much.
This is my whole routine. I know it might be a lot but once you do it and get into a routine, its really easy. This is something that I do on a weekly basis and my nails look great. They are long, strong and always looking great. If you were wondering how my nails look, my Instagram account has my nail pictures. Instragram: @Princesalauren
Do you have a specific nail care routine that you do? I want to know what you do, what you love. Would you want me to post tutorials of different nail designs? Let me know!
