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.

Bridal Hair 101 - Au Naturel

Au naturel is defined as

adj.
1.
       a.   Nude.
       b.    In a natural state: an au naturel hairstyle.
2.    Cooked simply.

I won't be naked at my wedding, if only because my dress is too pretty! I certainly won't be whipping up a simple meal for possibly 300 people! So all that's left is an au naturel hairstyle. This simple hairstyle I will have won't actually be simple, it will just be natural.

As an African-American, we have a myriad of hair issues that run the gamut depending on the state of our hair. I must admit I feel especially proud of my decision to have natural hair. To stop straightening my hair and let it just be itself wasn't easy. Anyone who's ever contemplating keratin treating curly hair or putting curly perm in straight hair should feel my pain.

After deciding to be natural, I had a number of styles. Time to dig into the photo archives on this one.

Personal Photo: This was an interesting style. It's slicked down and wavy, I wish I had a better picture of this style because I liked it.

Personal Photo: This was some of my favorite hair right at the end of college. I was wearing it curly and free. 

Personal Photo: This was during medical school, more purposely kinky than curly, even more free.

Personal Photo: This was last New Year's Eve (duh) with my new dreadlocks. I was wearing a tube top, so now you understand better why I must have pretty clothes in order to not be naked, haha.

Personal Photo: This was me in Florida this past April. The locs were getting longer. More tube tops...

It's funny that I'm always saying Mr. Kettle needs to put on pants. Apparently, he's not the only one who needs to wear more clothes...

Personal Photo: A recent photo of my hair dyed red and even longer.

I can't wait to see how long my hair will be by the time we have to style it for the wedding. You never know because most African-American women don't have hair that grows at fast rates. I expect mine will be just past my shoulders by then. That should be enough to play with.

My hairstylist told me to check out hairstyles I might want and we'll figure it out through hair trials in the weeks preceding the wedding. She can work magic so I'm not limited to just styles specifically for locs.

Some basic things about my locs:

• Don't call them 'dreads'. They're dreadlocks or locs. The first time has a derogatory slant to it and doesn't support the loving culture shared by those with natural hair.
• I like playing with my hair. I'm always pinning it up or pulling it back into semi-intricate styles.




Personal Photo: A not-so-good shot of one of the complicated styles I come up with for myself. I swear it's a great style.


• I get it done once a month. That means going to a shop and letting my stylist wash, condition, and re-twist my hair.
• It drives me crazy that I can't wash my hair more often, but it's the nature of the beast when you can't do your own locs. I do use a hair oil that keeps it smelling good at least.
• The freedom to get up and go whenever because my hair is now incredibly manageable has improved my life more than I can tell.

I'm not the first bee to have natural hair and have an interesting path to the altar in terms of that natural hair. Shot Out To Mrs. Swan with the natural hair! Check her out if you haven't yet.