Tell me about your nails

[Deleted]

Mine are a mess.  It feels like they are ALWAYS a mess. At this point, I am barely able to grow them to the part where the white part shows, and painting tiny little rectangles (landscape oriented, not portrait) looks weird. 

I feel so much more polished when they are done and look nice, but a manicure (even gel polish) tends to turn into a hot mess because of how often I work with my hands.   

Do you get regular manicures?  Diy? Gel nails? Keep them unpolished/under the radar? 

[Deleted]

I get a manicure about every two weeks, but get my nails buffed rather than polish. You can't chip buffing!

[WinterWine]

I am lucky to have always had nice nails that grow long. I used to leave natural but have gotten into polishing them over the last year. I have a shellac light I bought on Amazon and do it myself. I have a whopping 3 colors that I use bc I'm boring and gel polish is expensive!

I'm going to a wedding and did my nails this morning bc they make me feel more dressed up. It's been worth the $100 investment

[ijack]

I don't really wear color on my nails, I either wear clear or a very sheer pink.

[Deleted]

I rarely get manicures and rarely west polish. My nails are short. I just keep them filed.

[ddi741]

I get mine done every 2 weeks.  I have for about 20 years.  I have terrible, thin nails that do not grow.
I started with silk wraps. Now I get acrylic tips.  I tried the gel but like the acrylic better. I had some sort of reaction to the gel but I would say 90% of the people at the salon I go to, get Gel.

I get different polish every time I go.  Usually a color but sometimes a french manicure.  Last time I had hot pink polish, this time it's a red/coral color.  I love to get designs & flowers for special occasions.

[litebright]

I do my nails myself and about 85% of the time, I wear my polish well beyond looking nice. Right now they all have a small section of silver polish surrounded by uncovered nail.

Most of my maintenance is just trimming them. I keep them pretty short because the longer they get, the more they annoy me and/or break.

I get a mani or pedi once every few years, maybe. Usually as a gift. I enjoy them, but have no desire for that kind of regular expense.

[oswin]

I'll chime in as the weirdo who never does anything with her nails. I clip them about weekly to keep them short (as a former piano player I can't stand them to be at all long, aka sticking out almost at all). I've used nail polish maybe twice ever, and I hated having it on. My nails are plain and boring and I like it that way.

[RoxMonster]

I get gel manicures every two weeks. I've gotten regular manicures for years, and my nails always feel a lot better when I keep up on manicures and have some sort of polish on them. The gels last me two weeks and I haven't had any issues (I've gotten them for four years or so).

[ECB]

I used to do my nails ALL the time. But honestly... it's probably 10 years since I've worn polish. MAYBE once or twice in there, but that's about it. I have pretty good nails, but I keep them on the shorter side and never put polish on them anymore. I don't know why the change, TBH. I guess I just got tired of the upkeep, so to speak.

Toes, though... Almost always have polish and I get pedi's every few weeks.

[scout8]

My nails are always painted. I usually do them myself, but will get a professional mani a few times a year. I almost always go with a pale, sheer pink so that you can't see chips.

I keep my nails short, but I have super long nail beds so they look long even though they are short.

[crashgizmo]

I love nail polish. I've had acrylics in high school and I went the gel route for awhile, but now I just DIY with regular polish. My nails grow pretty quick, so about every month I cut them. They are pretty long now, so I'll probably cut them soon. I change the color about every week. Anywhere from light pink to silver glitter to black have been known to make an appearance. I also coordinate them to the holiday. Some people have Christmas earrings or sweaters, I have nail polish.

[212]

I get weekly manicures and keep them short. They usually start chipping the day before I'm due to go in, so I have about 24 hours of not cute. I'm ok with it.

[mlvmd]

I use polish on my toes but I apparently am a walking disaster when it comes to my fingernails. Every once in a while I put clear on but I normally just stick with buffing. My nails grown really fast too so I have to cut them once or twice a week or else they are like little talons.

[L]

I never wear colors on my fingers. I hate the gap that shows when a manicure grows out and my nails grow so quickly that this appears within two days of a manicure. This is also why I can count on one hand how many times I've had my nails professionally done - it always seems like a waste. I'll do a buff or clear polish occasionally and I always wear toe nail polish.

[womet]

Until a year ago, I would bite or pick my nails and they looked awful. I finally stopped that and started painting them to keep me from picking. I do them myself. My first coat is of Nailtiques 2 Plus for weak and damaged nails. Then I use 2 coats of polish. And I top it with a coat of HK Glisten and Glow top coat. I am amazed at the difference that I have seen since I started this. I acually have to cut down my nails now. You can get the Nailtiques on Amazon, and you have to order the top coat through their site. But it's the best.

[Deleted]

I've been polishing mine once a week.

[Deleted]

Aug 1, 2014 18:03:00 GMT -5 womet said:

Until a year ago, I would bite or pick my nails and they looked awful. I finally stopped that and started painting them to keep me from picking. I do them myself. My first coat is of Nailtiques 2 Plus for weak and damaged nails. Then I use 2 coats of polish. And I top it with a coat of HK Glisten and Glow top coat. I am amazed at the difference that I have seen since I started this. I acually have to cut down my nails now. You can get the Nailtiques on Amazon, and you have to order the top coat through their site. But it's the best.

Add a base coat of Gelish, and that's what I do too.

[ssmjlm]

My nails are decent.

My cuticles are a hot mess bc I bite them. I have some Christian Dior cream from sephora, but I'm not good about remembering to use it.

[spunkarella]

Mine are awful. I normally have a band aid around at least one finger because I pick my cuticles until they bleed. I trim my nails short and leave them bare. My nails look yellowy and gross when they get long.

About once a year, I decide to turn over a new leaf and resolve to get regular Shellac-type manicures. Then I get one and pick all the polish off in just a few days.

[womet]

Oh ans I use CND oil on my cuticules. I put some on each morning while I wait for my computer to boot up. And then in the evening.

[pattieice]

I keep my fingernails short and fairly square and only paint them pale pink for special occasions. My toenails are always painted with a DYI pedicure every two weeks or so.

For me my nails started looking better when I started using hand lotion every night before bed. I would use a big squirt of lubriderm right before getting into bed and tried to rub it into my cuticles. After a month or so my cuticles looked great and I had none of the dry cuticle skin that I tend to pick at.

[Deleted]

There is a lot of good info here. Yay crowd source-ing!! (<--is that correct?)

womet, that is such great information. I'm going to try your method. When I come back in a few months, look for a post that proclaims ""I've been WOMETTED!!!!!"

spunkarella, I'm pretty much the same with the cuticles, especially when I get stressed.

[lasagnasshole]

If you are worried about chipping, go with a light neutral color that won't be noticeable.

I just put on a single thin coat of Sally Hansen Total Salon Manicure in a super light pink called Shell We Dance? It looks pinker if you do 2 or 3 coats, but a single thin layer just gives the nails a polished/finished look. But since the color is so muted, chipping isn't noticeable.

[pooh8402]

my nails are okay, not great. they do grow fast and have a nice shape when they grow, but they are thin and weak. I can grow them about 1/8" past my fingertip before they start breaking on their own. I take biotin, 2500 mcg daily, and have done so for a few years now. I do my own manicures about every 2-3 days. my nails have to stay painted because I will bite them if they are bare. occasionally, I'll give them a break and just wear some Nailtiques formula 2 on them for a few days. not Nailtek, that's the knockoff.

I am a nurse, so I work with my hands and wash them several times daily. because of this, my nails chip quickly (hence the manis every 2-3 days) and my cuticles usually look like crap. I try to remember to apply Burts Bees lemon butter cuticle cream, they look so awesome when I do this frequently, but I forget a lot.

[dexteroni]

womet do any of those products require a UV light?

My nails have always been short, and I like them fairly short, but they chip and break easily and at least one or two is always even shorter than I would like. I have polish on them most of the time, always a sheer pale neutral.

[cosmowife]

I've noticed that when I force myself to put on cuticle oil right before bed, they really look much more polished (no pun intended). I rarely actually paint them - I never seem to be able to find the time.

[womet]

Aug 1, 2014 20:56:28 GMT -5 dexteroni said:

womet do any of those products require a UV light?

My nails have always been short, and I like them fairly short, but they chip and break easily and at least one or two is always even shorter than I would like. I have polish on them most of the time, always a sheer pale neutral.

Nope. I can sit down in front of the tv and have my entire manicure done and dried by the end of an hour long show. 

[dexteroni]

Aug 1, 2014 21:22:06 GMT -5 womet said:

Aug 1, 2014 20:56:28 GMT -5 dexteroni said:

womet do any of those products require a UV light?

My nails have always been short, and I like them fairly short, but they chip and break easily and at least one or two is always even shorter than I would like. I have polish on them most of the time, always a sheer pale neutral.

Nope. I can sit down in front of the tv and have my entire manicure done and dried by the end of an hour long show. 

Oh that's awesome. I'm going to try it. Thanks!

[Deleted]

I have been giving up on my nails... I have done very short gel nails, shellac polish, acrylic overlay, at home shellac kits ect. My nails are thin and polish chips off easily. I have found a product called Gelish that I liked quite well, you can get it at Sally's or on Amazon. I use it alone or as a base and top coat to polish and it helps keep the polish on. <script type="text/javascript" src="safari-extension://com.ebay.safari.myebaymanager-QYHMMGCMJR/c4e69821/background/helpers/prefilterHelper.js"></script>