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. 

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!

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.