And I stress... (Part I).

Veering off the standard "products, and skincare, and hairstyles, oh my!" path with this post. The plan is it's going to be a two parter, all about stress and anxiety. Cheerful, no?

Part one may well be super boring, this is going to be how stress manifests itself in my body.
Part two will be how I try and manage or control that stress.

The background, what prompted this?
The job I have can sometimes be really, really, really, stressful. Especially for someone who is not a stranger to anxiety. Before starting work, it was generally social anxiety but now I just feel anxious, all of the time. I can't remember how it feels not to be so tightly sprung that any little off the cuff comment is liable to send me into hysterics. And the effect is has on my body can be pretty odd too...

My head.
If there is a period that is particularly hard going my scalp becomes really really dry and itchy, everywhere there is hair. Like, right from the front of my hairline, right through to the hairline at the back! That wouldn't be so bad on it's own... but the dandruff. I get the worst dandruff when I'm stressed! It doesn't even need to be particularly bad patch, anything slightly out of the ordinary, anything that makes me feel slightly nervous and whatever colour cardigan I'm wearing will develop white shoulder pads. I get concerned that people see me and think it's snowing!

My face.
Pretty standard here. My skin gets a hell of a lot greasier, and I get a lot (a lot a lot a lot) of "under the skin" spots. I used to have skin that was pretty close to entirely clear, so developing a mass of spots out of nowhere is terrifying, especially seeing as I have no idea how to treat them! The worst part is they stay there, safely nestled in the layers of my skin until that period of stress is entirely over. It's rubbish. I recently had them for over a month!

My nails.
I have rubbish nails anyway, they're sensitive, peel off in layers, flake, and snap. When I'm having a rough time, I have to cut them all the way down so avoid them catching on things and tipping me over the edge (does is make anyone else feel sick when a loose part of the nail catches in something? I literally, physically gag.)

General Wellbeing.
Constant headache, hot and cold sweats, panic/anxiety "attacks" ( 2 or 3 a day is a safe bet), feeling like I can't take enough air to fill my lungs, waking up in the middle of the night (I have a terrible habit of counting, and it's usually 7 times). And I cry. I can't stop myself crying. Even when there is nothing in particular to cry about, my eyes will almost constantly water.

Does anyone else have any odd side effects to stress or anxiety?

How do you deal with it?

Nailing it!

At the start of the year I posted about how using household bleach had ruined my already brittle, peeling, dry, flaky nails, to what I thought was the point of no return.
This is the state they were in way back then:

Click to enlarge... They are in a shockingly bad condition, and this was after I'd trimmed the worst parts right down.

And four months on, this is how they look now:

I am so proud of them. This is genuinely the healthiest my nails have ever looked!

I believe it's wholly down to rubbing on Nu-Nale cream on my nails everytime I use nail polish remover, and using OPI Nail Envy every other day when I'm not wearing nail polish, or using it as a base coat to my base coat if I am.

Taken from Google Images

Taken from Google Images

When I'm in work, I'm constantly rubbing hand cream, a random Avon nail oil, and Sally Hanson Maximum Growth Serum over my hands and cuticles so that may well be contributing to the health of my nails also, but it's from the above products I've started to see a vast improvement!

OPI Nail Envy is available from Amazon.co.uk for around £8, an Nu-Nale cream is available from Boots for around £3.60\

It's safe to say OPI'm a convert. 

Essie, not so messy.

I gave in, and I bought another Essie polish. That's three I have now, two I have used, and one I have hated. So I wasn't holding out much hope. In fact I was vaguely hoping that I would be right so I could cyber-screech "I knew it" at everyone who tried to convince me otherwise.

But when you're wrong, you're wrong. I'm not afraid to admit, I was wrong.

Normally I would write off a product entirely on a bad experience, but the name of this shade (Fishnet Stockings) sucked me in. That, along with Lydia's continuous positivity toward Essie, and being at a loose end for the third item in my boots 3 for 2 made it difficult to say no. And I tried! I walked around with it in my hand for a good 15 minutes attempting to talk myself out of it.

Long story short, it's one for my permanent collection. There were no bubbles when it had dried fully this time! Score! The downside for me was that it seemed to take quite a while to dry, but for a finish this lovely I'll make my peace with that.

I like navy, deep red, and natural, pale pinks. If you can recommend any Essie shades for me to try next don't be shy!

 

Space nails.

I just gave nebula nails a go. I'm really pleased with how they turned out! Not the best but not hideously terrible for a first attempt.

I'm going to see how long they last and then maybe do a tutorial.

It took a fare few varnishes but it was completed so so quickly. It may have even been easier than painting a single colour and getting it all even and to stay on my nails and not all over my cuticles and fingertips!

Rimmel 14 day nail rescue - the results!

So today was the day I removed my the treatment from my poor broken nails.

And the verdict is: it's okay. To be fair, some of my nails look a lot better than they did originally. Some of them look exactly the same.

To hand it to Rimmel, the treatment was up against talon disaster. I've started using OPI Nail Envy today - will that stand up to the test? We'll soon (in 14 days) find out!

These are the "after" pictures for the Rimmel 14 Day Nail Rescue... I'm going to be lazy and double them up as the "before" pictures for the OPI Nail Envy treatment. If anyone can suggest anything else to help them I would be most grateful!

Rimmel 14 Day Nail Rescue - At The Mid Point.

You may have seen my post last week about my completely RUINED nails after bleaching the house.
I've been using Rimmel 14 Day Nail Rescue to try and save my poor damaged talons.

To be fair, I misread the instructions on the bottle. It says to paint one coat on day one, a second coat on day two, and leave for 7 days.

I painted a new coat on every day. For 7 days.

It that time I noticed - super shiny - may work well as a top coat? And I noticed that there was a LOT of nail varnish on my nails, but that's again, because I am a moron.

So here's the midway result - or what what have been the midway result. I've decided I'll start it again, doing it properly (I've read some reviews on it where people are thrilled with the results so maybe there is something in doing it right?)

Not thrilled.

I have OPI Nail Envy to use, but that's allll they way at home, and I'm currently snowed in at my boyfriends house.

If anyone has any tips for flaking/peeling/brittle/bendy/sensitive nails (unfortunately, I have all of the above) I would be very, very grateful to hear them.

Bleach; it'll take off more than germs.

So, I've had the week off what with it being my birthday and all (expect anti-aging product reviews soon), and so I've been lumbered with the ever glamorous task of cleaning the house.

I don't mind cleaning the house, I like to don my rubber gloves and frilly apron, pop all of my hair into a turban and scrub away in full make-up, pretending it's 1956.

On this occasion, something went awry. Something went very, very awry. I still wore my rubber gloves, and I (as usual) followed the instructions on the bottles (mainly because I'm a bit scared of passing out from fumes and being found facedown in a bowl of grubby water when my boyfriend comes home).

But, after cleaning the skirting boards with my bowl of 1:4 bleach and water I removed my gloves to make tea and have a cigarette - I've fallen off the wagon - to discover my nails had been RUINED. Even through the gloves.

RUINED. I have super sensitive nails as it is, always flaking or peeling a little, but I don't think I've ever seen them this bad. It's such a shame because they were a decent length and it a decent condition too. I have stubby little fat boy hands so I rely on my nails to feel a bit more feminine.

Of course, I immediately ordered OPI Nail Envy which should be here within the week. In the mean time, I rummaged through my existing nail products and emerged with these:

I'm not holding out any hope. I've started the Rimmel 14 day Nail Rescue and I'll see it through to the end in the hope that maybe, just maybe, I've found a miracle that can be applied with a brush. Along with that, I'm using an amalgamation of the Avon Marine Strength nail oil, and Argon Oil (not pictured). I'm also using Flexitol Cuticle And Nail Cream to prevent my cuticles drying out from the various nail products.

Not my picture believe it or not, but that's it nonetheless. This stuff is actually a godsend. I always have a tube in the emergency beauty bag I have in my handbag, and it smells so... innocent?

Anyway, along with these I always have hand cream in reach and I'm back on the Calcium, Biotin, and Perfectil suppliments.

Fingers crossed.

Festive talons!

Good Tidings, Seasons Greetings, Nadolig Llawen (for the Welshies)!

I have been terribly naughty, and almost entirely neglected my poor blog. Next week (with a week off work) you can expect about 12 posts a day, making up for lost time!

Now, on to the actual subject of the post... Christmas nails! I'm not one for fancy, snazzy designs, mainly because I'm absolutely useless. So, a tried and tested solid favourite instead! Red sparkles!

I used Sally Hanson Insta-grip base, then Rimmel 60 second in red (I can't remember the exact shade), a gold glittery Rimmel (again, don't know the actual shade, useless!) over that, then Sally Hanson Insta-dry top coat.

I'm not sold on the Rimmel colour... I only painted them yesterday and they've already started chipping! That's usually the case with that particular polish though, sadly.

Also, the Revlon glitter was FREE. Yes, FREE! Both Superdrug and Boots have a buy 2 get 1 free offer on Revlon products, with a free nail polish on top! 4 for 2, not too shabby.

Again, I digress. Back to the matter in hand... Look how sparkly!

Nails This Week.

A lot of blogs I follow post a nails of the day picture... But I haven't got the patience (or skills) to paint them daily. I tend to choose my outfits for the week, then decide which nail colour would be most suited. What I look for most is staying power. I use base and top coat every time. The ones on this post are new products to me so I can't really comment on how much I like them or how well they work just yet. That will be a post all of its own, later on.

The nail colour itself? It's a Maxfactor Mini nail polish in 26 Cappuccino. The colour is so close to perfect! Bright enough to be fun, and neutral enough to still be professional. I used two coats between Sally Hanson Insta-Grip base coat and a basic Rimmel top coat and the coverage is quite impressive.

I'm not very good at painting my nails so it does kinda look like I put the brush in my mouth, closed my eyes, and aimed it at my fingertips... I assure you, I didn't.

Will it stay put for the week? We'll have to wait and see.