I was totally ready to get back to basic skin care education on this week's blog, and since I have a bandage on my Left hand pointer fingernail, I thought I would share the knowledge of what I learned this past week about acrylic nails. Last night, as I read fellow bloggers advice on the topic of "pain in the nail bed under acrylic nail"--I thought I really need to share this information with my followers who may be acrylic nail novices like myself or thinking about getting them. It is a good topic, because fingernails are produced by living skin cells in the finger. Fingernails are composed largely of keratin, a hardened protein that can also be found in skin, hair and eye lashes.
As a Doctor, I have never been able to have long fingernails for obvious reasons. Think about some of the exams a Doctor performs! Plus, this time of the year, I am a gardener, and I love to dig in the dirt! But for a recent big event, my daughter's wedding, see my story my-beautiful-daughter-bride-part-2 I went all out and got acrylic nails, with a french manicure.
When I went to the nail salon for the service, I watched the nail lady build my beautiful new nails, on top of my short dull nails. First she glued the acrylic tips on top of my natural nail with some kind of super glue. She assured me they would not fall off and last 2 weeks until they had to be filled. She used a white powder and a brush with some liquid to build a nail matrix that when it dried looked like a natural nail bed. She then used gel nail polish and painted my tips white, and I had a gorgeous classy french manicure--I thought they looked so fantastic. I really did love how they looked.
Fast forward to yesterday, which was about the two week mark since the nail lady built me my beautiful nails. I have been cleaning out my garage in preparation for another big life event---more on that in the future. I was protecting my beautiful nails with latex free gloves, but working hard and deep cleaning my garage. When I retired for the evening, I felt some pounding discomfort on my left hand pointer finger. When I looked closely, it looked like the fake nail matrix was lifting somewhat at the base. The pain was more in the middle of my nail bed.
Thank goodness for Google, because at 10 PM, I needed to know what to to do with my "nail bed pain". I learned that you can remove the acrylic nail by putting your finger in nail polish remover,(pure acetone). I did that, and got quite a burning pain. Ouch! I figured I must have done something to my natural nail during the cleaning work in the garage. So, I got my clippers and my scissors and proceeded to work on removing the gel and acrylic tip. That was also painful. I actually took a pain pill and went to bed.
I had a lot of cleaning to do today, so I figured I would start fresh today with "Operation Acrylic Nail Gone Bad". I was able to remove most of the gel and acrylic, and underneath, I have a crack in my real nail in the middle of the nail bed. I used the method many bloggers suggest via my Google search. That is, I placed a saturated cotton ball with acetone and used aluminum foil to keep it on the nail for 20 to 30 minutes. It does help. I have seen women in the nail salons with aluminium foil on all their tips, but never knew what they were doing----now I do!
And the acrylic tip nails can be a little difficult to learn to do basic things, that you normally do without thinking about it. For the past 2 weeks, I have had to learn to type both the keyboard and text on my phone differently. I kept hitting the wrong button or key. I found it hard to do simple things, like put earrings in, or clasp a necklace. Opening a tab on a can or flap on a box is harder than you think. And getting a contact out of your eye with a dagger nail.....that is a little tricky for sure!
So, as much as I loved how they look, I won't be continuing to get my pretty acrylic nails. I read some women have them continuously for years and years, without ever taking a break. This requires going to get them filled every 2 weeks. Many describe it as an addiction, but hey, they could have worse addictions, and if they love it---why not?!
Here's to Good Health and Much Happiness,
Your Friend, Dr. Younger You :)
As a Doctor, I have never been able to have long fingernails for obvious reasons. Think about some of the exams a Doctor performs! Plus, this time of the year, I am a gardener, and I love to dig in the dirt! But for a recent big event, my daughter's wedding, see my story my-beautiful-daughter-bride-part-2 I went all out and got acrylic nails, with a french manicure.
When I went to the nail salon for the service, I watched the nail lady build my beautiful new nails, on top of my short dull nails. First she glued the acrylic tips on top of my natural nail with some kind of super glue. She assured me they would not fall off and last 2 weeks until they had to be filled. She used a white powder and a brush with some liquid to build a nail matrix that when it dried looked like a natural nail bed. She then used gel nail polish and painted my tips white, and I had a gorgeous classy french manicure--I thought they looked so fantastic. I really did love how they looked.
Fast forward to yesterday, which was about the two week mark since the nail lady built me my beautiful nails. I have been cleaning out my garage in preparation for another big life event---more on that in the future. I was protecting my beautiful nails with latex free gloves, but working hard and deep cleaning my garage. When I retired for the evening, I felt some pounding discomfort on my left hand pointer finger. When I looked closely, it looked like the fake nail matrix was lifting somewhat at the base. The pain was more in the middle of my nail bed.
Thank goodness for Google, because at 10 PM, I needed to know what to to do with my "nail bed pain". I learned that you can remove the acrylic nail by putting your finger in nail polish remover,(pure acetone). I did that, and got quite a burning pain. Ouch! I figured I must have done something to my natural nail during the cleaning work in the garage. So, I got my clippers and my scissors and proceeded to work on removing the gel and acrylic tip. That was also painful. I actually took a pain pill and went to bed.
I had a lot of cleaning to do today, so I figured I would start fresh today with "Operation Acrylic Nail Gone Bad". I was able to remove most of the gel and acrylic, and underneath, I have a crack in my real nail in the middle of the nail bed. I used the method many bloggers suggest via my Google search. That is, I placed a saturated cotton ball with acetone and used aluminum foil to keep it on the nail for 20 to 30 minutes. It does help. I have seen women in the nail salons with aluminium foil on all their tips, but never knew what they were doing----now I do!
And the acrylic tip nails can be a little difficult to learn to do basic things, that you normally do without thinking about it. For the past 2 weeks, I have had to learn to type both the keyboard and text on my phone differently. I kept hitting the wrong button or key. I found it hard to do simple things, like put earrings in, or clasp a necklace. Opening a tab on a can or flap on a box is harder than you think. And getting a contact out of your eye with a dagger nail.....that is a little tricky for sure!
So, as much as I loved how they look, I won't be continuing to get my pretty acrylic nails. I read some women have them continuously for years and years, without ever taking a break. This requires going to get them filled every 2 weeks. Many describe it as an addiction, but hey, they could have worse addictions, and if they love it---why not?!
Here's to Good Health and Much Happiness,
Your Friend, Dr. Younger You :)
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