Beauty

[justashopper]

Hi Beauties

I have natural nails.  I tried fake nails back in the day at the salon and at home with press on nails.  That actual brand :-)  Don't get me wrong, the fancy gels look great.  I still have not tried though.  Mostly because I don't want the upkeep.  So for that reason i try to keep my own nails looking good.  

I have short nails that I clip and shape to a rounded square tip.  They look neat and I polish them with light colors to help hide chips etc. However, my nails always peel and break. No matter what brand of hardener I use.  I have tried TIPS, IONails, Perfect Gel Coat and they all help for a while.  

I recently bought the Orly Nailtrition and the Nail Retouch. Nailtrition is a daily treatment to be used for a week and then a break for a week.  The Nail Retouch is a ridge filler.  I like both. My nails looks great.  I just hope it lasts.  I think next week when I take the break from Nailtrition, I will go back to the Perfect Gel Coat. The original pink is a fave of mine.  

If you have natural nails please let me know your tips (no pun intended :-))

[Iwantcoffee]

I wear my natural nails short and unpolished. 

I've been using jojoba oil on my nails and cuticles.

Never worn faux nails or had professional manicure, but I enjoy seeing creative nail art and beautiful manicures. There is a new salon locally and the nail techs do beautiful work.

[santorini]

I have natural nails too.  I keep them polished (I do it myself) and I end up changing colors at least twice a week.  Unlike the poster above, I have no love for the crazy nail art, especially on TV hosts.  It's so distracting and, in my opinion, awful looking due to the enormous lump of fake material that forms the long, pointed dagger.  Yuck.

[smoochy]

great post! I ended my love hate relationship with gels and acrylic six months ago. Decided to baby my sad damaged nails still they grew out. Ive used every product known to man-nail & cuticle creams, oils, hardeners, some of the ones you mentioned. Those things plus keeping them trimmed to fingertip length as the damaged portion grew out, finally worked. Now my nails look pretty good. I regularly use Cuccio nail oil and a nail cream from Amazon. A clear hardener as a basecoat. Then for a clean milky pale look, Londontown Kur Illuminator, two coats. Today im wearing Essie Bahama Mama topped with Essie Special Effects in Mystic Marine. The Sally Hansen Insta Dry top coat is my go-to. Dries nails instantly. They dont chip!!

[santorini]

Beautiful nails, @smoochy!!

[ajsidney12]

Natural nail girlie here too!  I have never had fake nails, tips or even a professional manicure. But, back a long time ago Mally used to sell a LED gel nailpolish kit. The long lasting polish process was awesome, but removal was so destructive to my nails. It was conflicting to me because polish usually only lasts a couple days on me and I felt better about my nails looking great, but my nail damage and use of acetone was not worth it. I love nailpolish and tried to find long lasting polishes (or so they claimed or their reviews stated so). I tried OPI, ESSIE, good old Revlon, Butter, Londontown, all the longwear top coats, and Sally Hansen Xtreme wear. SH was my holy grail until something changed with the formula, at least to me, and needed to move on.

I now use NAILS Inc. only. They have a current kit on Q that I love and although others have had different experiences with it, I have nothing but praise.  I usually only use one coat (maybe two for darker colors) and it will last without chipping for most of the week. I type a lot, and even though the nails are short and I know I should be typing with the finger tips, I still hit my nails.  I am very satisfied with this line and have purchased more of their products from other retailers.  

[smoochy]

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@santorini wrote:

Beautiful nails, @smoochy!!

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thanks 😊 you cant see it but my index finger nail got a horizontal crack in it- pretty far back. But I stabilized it with nail glue. 

In my old age my nails are dry and brittle. Constant challenge to keep them moisturized with products

[smoochy]

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@ajsidney12 wrote:

Natural nail girlie here too!  I have never had fake nails, tips or even a professional manicure. But, back a long time ago Mally used to sell a LED gel nailpolish kit. The long lasting polish process was awesome, but removal was so destructive to my nails. It was conflicting to me because polish usually only lasts a couple days on me and I felt better about my nails looking great, but my nail damage and use of acetone was not worth it. I love nailpolish and tried to find long lasting polishes (or so they claimed or their reviews stated so). I tried OPI, ESSIE, good old Revlon, Butter, Londontown, all the longwear top coats, and Sally Hansen Xtreme wear. SH was my holy grail until something changed with the formula, at least to me, and needed to move on.

I now use NAILS Inc. only. They have a current kit on Q that I love and although others have had different experiences with it, I have nothing but praise.  I usually only use one coat (maybe two for darker colors) and it will last without chipping for most of the week. I type a lot, and even though the nails are short and I know I should be typing with the finger tips, I still hit my nails.  I am very satisfied with this line and have purchased more of their products from other retailers.  

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thats a product line I haven't tried. Now I want to after hearing about your results

[FLGranny]

Especially the ones doing the cooking shows. The vision of someone sticking their fake red daggers into my food is a turnoff.

[Janey2]

My nails are hard, but break in the corners which when broken lead to a very short nail. Always trying new products to combat this. I finally found something that works, Londontown Luxe Length Nail Gloss. I followed the directions exactly and now use it alone or sometimes a basecoat. It gives an almost plastic coating on the nail and a very slight rosy tint. Best product I ever purchased for my nails.