Nails are one of those tricky things. You want them to look perfect, but you just can’t find the time to look after them properly. Decent nails require moisturising and cuticle massage twice a day if you really want to see the results. Even if you have the time to do this, it’s easy to forget to unless you build it into your routine.
There are alternatives to having to invest time in a nailcare routine. I unfortunately have never quite managed to get the hang of these alternatives. For starters, there’s always the cheap stick-on nails you can buy in the supermarket, although I tend to find they don’t last that long. Or, you can simply paint your nails in the hope that no one will notice how short or uncared-for they are. Usually this doesn’t really work on me either! The third alternative is to have proper fake nails applied, acrylic-style, which can look good but which is also very damaging to your real nails, thus perpetuating the problem.
For years I alternated between bearing my own pathetic excuse for talons, wearing falsies or wearing strange coloured nail varnish. I never felt particularly confident about them and longed for my nails to look glossy and healthy. When I started proper work, I soon noticed that the women in my office paid particular attention to what types of manicures and pedicures they had.
Feeling rather down in the dumps, I decided it was time to do something about my nails. I headed online to find out whether there was a better way that someone like me could get the kind of nails I longed for. In no time at all I was reading up on gel nail polishes. A gel polish is a sort of souped-up version of a normal nail polish. It’s ultra hard wearing and won’t chip once dry. You apply it in the same way as a normal varnish, but because it is thicker it creates a fuller-looking nail. After application, the nail is ‘cured’ under a small lamp, to set the gel in place. The results are shiny, long-lasting nails which look like they have been done in the salon. The beauty of it is, you can do them yourself at home!
I bought a starter kit off the Internet and nervously applied a set of deep red gel polish to my nails at the weekend. The results were amazing! My nails looked and felt natural, but healthy and strong rather than weak and brittle. It was so easy to apply the gel. Going into work on Monday was a treat, because everyone wanted to know where I had had my nails done. The look of surprise on their faces when I said I had done it myself was priceless! I will definitely be using my starter kit again and I might even splash out on some different colours. Finally, a nail solution that works!
