Tuesday 2 February 2010

Project Grow Your Own..presenting: Nails Inc..luded: Week 1

(Before you read the post, please note that photos herein are not pretty so you have been warned, if you're eating..come back later)

I assume that is the way most human beings come...that is of course, those who don't bite their nails.

My nail biting has been mentioned on this blog quite a few times by me and now I've decided it is time to stop.  I'm listening to Erasure's A Little Respect at the moment (which I feel is quite fitting) and whistling along like a wally but hey, that's the luxury you can afford when the Mr knows what kind of nut he lives with.

Anyway, nail biting - bad.  Plus, it looks really ugly too.  I'm not going to lie, I think my nails look horrible.  I don't have a problem getting my hands out on the tube and holding onto the rails to prevent me falling over as I'd rather people see my busted nails than me become acquainted with a dirty Tube floor.

I've been reading more and more nail related blogs recently..well not entirely nail related but blog where the owner/author does great posts on polishes and Konad art.  Check out the following blogs because these ladies are great for encouraging nail growth:


They're all responsible for me deciding to grow my nails and use the plethora of nail varnishes I have at my disposal.  I grew my nails once before and the method which worked for me was the "polish makes them look nice so you don't bite them" method.  It's working quite well so far, I put the polish on Saturday and haven't had the urge to bite them or anything which is good going for me.

I've used tonnes of things on my nails over the years to stop me biting them, firstly I had the Stop N Grow polish which was very weak.  They claim there is a bitter taste but it was negligible and didn't stop me doing anything.  I did like the way it was a polish though.

The next product I used was this sponge thing where you dipped your fingers in and then let it get to work.  It was really disgusting and had a bitter taste which was horrendous but I had to stop using it because it tainted all the food I ate and that wasn't nice.

Anyway..

These are my Week 1 nails:

I've used George@Asda's polish in Raincloud on them and then a Sally Hansen topcoat (I nearly typed overcoat, har har).   This worked last time when I swatched it on a nail so hopefully it will work for them all.  I will be posting about this once a week so I can track my progress and not fall off the wagon.

These are my Week 2 (early) nails:
I've used a Revlon colour here and a Sally Hansen topcoat again.  I really need to learn to put it UNDER the polish too.  The only reason I've posted two sets of nails is because I've changed my polish and I've already seen grown on both the ring finger and the right hand pinky.  It's funny..usually I would have had the urge to bite but I don't seem to have it..must be the visions of matte polish I'm having.

Pardon the ring finger, it's a bit miscoloured because it's the one I jammed in a car door and had to take anti biotics for and its taking its sweet old time going back to a normal colour.

 What do you ladies use to help your nails grow and have any of you ever been biters? Also, how long (roughly) do your nails take to grow because I'm eyeing up polishes as I type..

8 comments:

  1. I was a nail biter for years. I managed to grow them out when I had a year off work and had someone to bat my hand away from my mouth everyday. I loved my nails back then, I used to get asked if they were fake! Then I lost them in a fight with filing cabinets and the biting started up again. December 2008 I got engaged and decided I couldn't have a gorgeous engagement ring and disgusting nails so I grew them out yet again, and whilst I'm now at college and have to keep them reasonably short, they are of an ok length.

    It took me a little while to grow them, but once you start seeing growth and white you'll be excited! I know I was. The trick I learnt was to file down the white ever so slightly and get rid of any rough edged, hanging parts so you are not likely to try and nibble them off. Always carry a nail file with you, crystal ones are brilliant, because if you find a snag in your nail and try to tweak it with your teeth it's a no-no and you'll soon start biting away.

    Moisturise your hands and cuticles, so when your nails start growing and you can apply more polish you already have good looking cuticles and soft skin, another thing that makes bitten hands look bad.

    It will take time and a lot of patience, if you bite just try again. Don't give up!

    Good luck! x

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  2. I'm with you hun mine have snapped down to zilch am using OPI nail envy my old favourite to try and push them up - good luck x

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  3. oww your poor nails! Mine grow ever so slowly - when I grew them long for the first time it took about a month to get to a decent length

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  4. I have the same problem mine grow slow and weird. like very wide at the base. I hate them. I get frustrated when i grow them out and i'll rip em off! lol or they'll chip naturally. I use sally hansen nail growth treatment and that works fine enough, only wish they had a better natural shape. :(

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  5. Claire: Hey, welcome to my blog :) You've done well! I think once you get over the first few weeks of not biting, it gets a lot easier. Thanks for the advice!

    Louise: Is that OPI stuff any good? I'm going to Sallys today and they always have tonnes of nail care stuff like that so I will check it out. Good luck with growing them!

    Une Tasse: They look painful but they don't hurt at all..Mine have picked up a bit but I think that's because they usually don't get the chance so this is good. Next week will be the fourth week of growth..the next post about nails will explain it..

    Crissy: My natural shape is ok I think, I've never grown them long enough to have a look but they do grow nicely when I leave them to grow..I'm going to start using a SH intensive grower product as I've heard only good things.

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  6. I'm a chronic nail biter and have been since i was about 10. I remember using that awful sponge thing when i was little, i remember the taste was so foul but it still didn't stop me biting them, i'd just go *bite* 'UGH!!'.
    My actual nails don't ever look that bad because nowadays i only bite them down to my fingers edge, but i bits off my cuticles and the skin around my nails, so i'm always left with horrible scabs, bleeding wounds and similar :(
    So i'm afraid i can't offer anything to help, but just so you know you're not alone :)

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  7. my nails were really bad .. not as bad as urs but still.. so i just went to acrylic it way easier n look really nice as welll

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  8. Lillian: My boss at work does that, she stopped biting her nails but now the area around her nails is alway wankered.

    Fiza: I did consider that but the people who do it around here never match the nail colour to my skin so it looks too obvious.

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