No More Nail Wails

Hive, I am here with a true success story. A testimonial if you will.

Way back in August, which is marked in my mind by the number of months away from my wedding (just under six months), I read a blog post. This blog post changed my world. I'm not exaggerating. Things changed after that moment.

Mrs. Macarons, then Miss Macarons, wrote a post about nails. She talked about having trouble growing her nails. I could relate to that post. It spoke to me.

As a nervous nail biter , a pianist, and and a scientist, my nails had always been short thanks to years of lab work , recitals, and nerve-inducing situations (med school interviews anyone?). I figured they would always be that way since fake acrylics weren't for me. But when I read her post, I knew there could be more for me.

I purchased the product from the website she mentioned the very next day. It was cheaper online that it is in CVS. I started using it as a base coat and top coat over my nail polish. Over the last few months, my approach has evolved, and I'm so pleased with the results, I simply have to share.

Personal photo: These were my nails in August. Tiny tiny nail beds with short short nails. No wedding bueno.

Personal photo: I started with Formula 2. It seemed the best geared toward getting my nails back healthy.

I must also mention another contributor to my short nails, they break. They weren't brittle, but I'm not the most easy-going on my hands. I would hit the edge of my nail on something hard and it would break. It happened too often. Even after I began using Nailtiques and the nails began to grow, this kept happening, so I needed an extra layer of protection. Enter Sally Hansen!

Personal photo: This acrylic gel went on my nails right over the Nailtiques but before I applied polish. It came off easily with nail polish remover, but added a great extra layer of strength, so no more hard surface breakage!

Personal photo: Keeping my nails healthy from the outset of growth became appealing as well, so I bought cuticle oil. I put it on my cuticles every day that I don't do my nails, so about 4-5 times a week.

Once my nails stopped breaking and were actually growing, I was so excited to share with the hive, but I waited. I wanted a more dramatic reveal. So here are the nails over the past few months.

Personal photo: September Nails

Personal photo: October nails

Personal photo: November nails

Another added bonus of the nails is that the fiance loves them. I mean he loves them. Neither of us knew he liked long nails, but he definitely does. And people keep asking me if my nails are fake, which I take as a huge compliment.

Just to drive the point home, here's a look again at my nails the day I bought Nailtiques and a picture I took right before sitting down to write this post:

Personal photo

I'm excited to see how long they will be come February. I'm glad I won't end up having to get fake nails since they're not my thing.

If your nails concern you and my testimonial has touched you, jump on the Nailtiques bandwagon. I don't know what it is with me and bandwagons, perhaps it's the idea that it's a bit like a parade, and I lurv parades.