Let's start at the very beginning...

Hi everyone!  *waves while trying not to look sheepish*

I hope all of you are doing well.  This has been a crazy fall here in my real life, so I sincerely apologize for the lack of posting.  We went on vacation right after my last post, and then we all came down with a horrible chest cold that I am still battling today (I think we keep passing it around, but I think it's coming to an end... thank goodness).  Then my grandmother passed away at the beginning of November and now my daddy is in the hospital and will be having bypass surgery within the next few days.  *sigh*

Needless to say, my mind and heart really haven't been in blogging.  Plus, my "to review" box is getting getting fuller and fuller which has a tendency to shut me down, rather than lighting a fire under my slacker ass.  Plus, I had chopped my nails down to nubs a few weeks ago and they had just got back to the point where it wasn't a pain in the ass to paint them.  My plan was to get back to blogging soon and then I did a total dumbass thing and nicked my nail while trying to clip them.

So I figured I could either neglect this blog for another 2-3 weeks and get even further behind, or I could use it to see if I could take my nails from the short, misshapen, raggedy messes they are, to healthy nails within the next few weeks.  As a thank you for helping to promote their Facebook contest, Barielle sent me a package including several nail treatments, so I figured this was a good time to try them out.

Here is a picture I took about 15 minutes ago.

You can see the nick in my ring finger nail.  You can also see my raggedy ass cuticles.  LOL.  So, over the next few weeks, I'm going to try and repair my nails and cuticles and I'm showing you all the process. 

I used the nail cream last night before bed and today, I used the protein.  I will be sure to keep you updated on my progress.  

Products were sent to me by Barielle

Nail Recovery Update

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you would probably remember that back in November of last year (right around Thanksgiving), I took the plunge, removed my last set of glue-ons, and began the arduous task of growing back my natural nails.  One of the major players in my nail regrowth was Dermelect nail treatments.  I was sent a set back in November, but thought I would just start using other products after I ran out.  After taking several months off from using Dermelect, and trying to find cheaper substitutes, I have to say that nothing works quite as well for me and I had to admit cheap ass defeat and buy another set of the Nail Recovery System.

If you've been considering using Dermelect, but have been reluctant due to the cost, all I have to say is while it is expensive, it's also worth every.single.penny.  This is good stuff, people.  :P  I would definitely pick up the entire Nail Recovery System which includes the basecoat, the ridgefiller (both HG, IMO), as well as the TC (which isn't necessary, but it is nice).  It also includes Rejuvenail Fortifying Nail and Cuticle Treatment.  This was not included in my original set of samples from Dermelect, but it is amazing. 

Here's a pic of my natural nails now and just for reference, here are all of my "nail recovery" tagged posts where you can see plenty of pics of what I started with in November 2009 (fair warning... it's not pretty. LOL).

I've been back using Dermelect for a few weeks now and I can already tell a difference in my nails.  While my natural nails grow pretty fast, they also have a tendency to peel and chip.  With Dermelect, I have less of both of these problems.  In my "after" picture, I do have a cut in my middle fingernail (that I have patched w/ nail glue), but as far as peeling and chipping, those issues have almost gone away.  In fact, my nails are at a point where they are driving me a bit bonkers and I may have to trim them down in the near future.

Also, I think I'm back to you regular-scheduled blogging.  I've given up on the new camera, sad to say.  It's great for regular shots and zoomed shots, but it sucks at macros.  I will have a few posts using the new camera (as I have those saved up), but I'm back to ye old Cybershot.  So if you are looking for a new camera and one of your uses will be nail blogging, the Kodak Z915 is probably not a good fit.

N/KOTD: Orly Goth (with Misa Got to be Real)

For the longest time (okay, maybe a couple of months.  LOL), I lemmed Dior Black Sequins.  The concept just seemed so awesome... black polish with silver glitter.  I saw it on Sephora over the holidays and then by the time I'd worked up the nerve to spend $20 on a polish, it was sold out.  I consoled myself by reading reviews stating that it was a bit underwhelming, but I still wanted the look.

Enter Orly Goth.  I'm almost certain Goth is in Orly's regular line up.  Or, if it's not, it's around enough in special collections (like Halloween and the current one at Sally's w/ Beyonce on the ad) that you can certainly pick it up.  Also, it's usually less than $5, especially from an e-tailer. 

.......drumroll.........

Swoon.  I swear, I want to marry this polish and have it's babies.  I love it that much.  In fact, I usually change my polish everyday or every other day, and I've had this one on since Saturday morning and honestly, it's not going anywhere for at least another day (I did add a konad, but more on that in a minute).  This was one regular coat and one thin coat to even out a couple thin spots.  The application was perfect.  The formula was great.  :) 

For anyone that was looking at Dior Black Sequins, you may want to seriously consider picking up Goth.  Sure, it's not HE, but it's truly amazing.  It's multi-sized, round, silver glitter suspended in a black jelly-ish polish.  It's not a true jelly as you can make it opaque pretty quickly, but it does have jelly qualities.  The best part?  The glitter does not get lost in the black polish.  There's also a uniform randomness to it.  I guess that sounds ridiculous, but unlike some other polishes *cough* Funky Chunky *cough*, you don't get a little bit of glitter here and a little bit of glitter there.  There are places that have more and places that have less, but your entire nail is convered with a smattering of silver glitter.  I know Essie SSN is supposed to mimic a night sky, but this one truly reminds me of the sky at night.  Pitch black with shimmers of silver.  Sigh.  I think this has got to be the sexiest polish I own.

Also, like I mentioned, I added a konad, as yesterday was Valentine's Day (happy belated Valentine's Day, btw).  I had shows all weekend, so I didn't get a chance to switch to red, so I did the best I could w/ Goth.  I think it turned out amazing, if I do say so myself.  :P

This is plate m73 and I used Misa Got to be Real for the silver.  I am totally in love with this mani.  Pardon the pun.  LOL. 

PS- Here's a bonus pic of my nails now.  I know a few people were interested in seeing them w/o polish.  I think it's been 12-13 weeks since I removed my glue-ons.  It's still going to take a little bit of time to totally un-do the damage, but I think they look pretty dang good.  :)

KOTD: CC Fashion Addict with ChG Grape Pop and Migi White

I've actually had naked nails now for about 3 days, so it was nice to get back to polishing them.  I'm letting my nails be sans polish more and more lately, so I'm hoping this isn't becoming a bad habit.  I've been dealing with some personal crap (church crap, not relationship crap) lately, and it's really taken the wind out of my sails.  Plus, several weeks ago, my laptop migrated from the kitchen table to the living room.  I need to stick it back on the kitchen table because it's so much easier to polish my nails and then immediately do an update.

Anyway, this is CC Fashion Addict with ChG Grape Pop and Migi Nail Art White.  Plate is m57, and I did a layered design with the zebra pattern and then the accompanying flower.  I've recently discovered a love for holo polishes, as shown by my recent obsession and acquisition of holo OPI MPJ.  I've had a few holos in the past, most notably OPI Exclusive, but I ended up giving most of them away, as I didn't like them.  Yep.  I have up Exclusive.  I'm a dumbass, though I just gave it to my sister, so I can get it back if I need to.  However, lately, I've been loving all things holo.  Don't know why.  Probably the same reason I've been gravitating more towards cremes than shimmers.

Fashion Addict is from CC's 2009 Catwalk Queen collection.  It's a light lavender holo, that reminds me very much of CC Worth the Risque, only a very light purple rather than silver.  I decided to pair it up with ChG Grape Pop, from the U&A collection, in a zebra pattern and then an accent flower in Migi Nail Art white.

I love this one.  It makes me happy, and goodness knows... I can use some happy right now (I'm not trying to be vague.  In fact, I don't mind spilling my guts on what's been going on, I'm just tired right now and don't feel like writing a (longer) novel).

BTW, yesterday was my 10w anniversary of getting rid of the glue ons.  My nails still aren't 100%, and I'm still getting breaks because they are so thin in places, but I think they look pretty dang good.  :)

Dermelect Review and Surprise!

As I'm sure you are all aware, I took off my last set of glue-ons a little over 5 weeks ago.  I'd been wanting a break from them, but I didn't know where to start.  Enter Dermelect Cosmeceuticals.  As luck would have it, I received an offer to try their products, right as I was ready to try to grow out my damaged natural nails.  I was happy to try them, but I honestly thought I'd try it for 2 or 3 weeks and then give up and go back to my glue-ons.  I'm very, very happy to say that was not the case.  I was able to basically rebuild my natural nails over the last 5 weeks and I credit Dermelect products for much of my success. 

I'm going to show you where my nails were 5 weeks ago (though, I'm sure you've seen this a gazillion times) and then walk you through the Dermelect products I used, reviewing each product in the process.  I'm also going to show you my naked nails so you can see the difference in the color of my growth.  So... here goes...

This pic is my natural nails on 11/20/09.  I remembered being horribly embarrassed by posting it, but I wanted to show you all just how bad my nails were.  At this point, I was hoping my nails would rebound, but I was extremely doubtful.

In comparison, here's a pic I took of my natural, naked nails on 12/26/09

In this picture, you can really see the difference in the color of my nails.  The upper half of my nails (the older growth) is a really weird, unhealthy, pinkish yellow color.  It almost looks like a healing bruise.  The lower half (the new growth) is a pretty, healthy pink/purple color.  I haven't seen that color in over a year, as sad as that may be, and I really thought my nails were done for.  As dramatic as it may sound, I really thought I'd be wearing fake nails for the rest of my life. 

Honestly, it hurt to have my natural nails show.  Not just emotionally (and I can't tell you how embarrassing it was), but also physically.  My natural nails were so damanged and paper thin, that it actually felt good to wear glue-ons.  It gave my nails protection.  By using the Dermelect prodcuts, I think I was able to make my nails feel stronger and I no longer needed to rely on the glue-ons to keep them covered.

Here's what I used (click the name to link to Dermelect's site for more info)

Dermelect Launchpad Nail Stregthener

Pic is one coat of Launchpad
I love this product.  You don't think about it much when it's on, and then you can realize when you don't wear it.  I found it to be very soothing on my damaged nails.  It also made a great base for everything else I would apply on top of it.  This product contains a unique multi-peptide derived from New Zealand wool which delivered keratin to the nail plate (taken from Dermelect's website).   This product helped to strengthen my nails and reduced chipping.  It's definitely a great base to help you rebuild your nails.

Dermelect Makeover Ridgefiller

This is one coat of Makeover over one coat of Launchpad. 

Of all 3 Dermelect products I tried, this one is my hands down favorite.  It not only is a great ridgefiller, but it's also a concealer.  I've tried several ridgefillers, and none of them did what this one did.  It helps to hide the damage on your nail.  That was a big plus for me in the beginning.  The color itself is a beautiful pink irridescent shimmer, so if you don't want to polish your nails (and I didn't for over 2 weeks), you don't have to.  This one has all the good things you find in Launchpad as well.  Also, you can use this to basically build up any damaged nail beds.  In the beginning, I used this to cover up the areas on my nails where there was just nail bed (click link to see a picture).  That was so important to me. 

Last is Dermelect High Maintenance Top Coat

This is one coat of High Maintenance over one coat of Launchpad, one coat of Makeover, and one coat of NARS Dovima (I wanted you to see it over a polish).

If I had to pick a product I was a a little torn on, it would have to be High Maintenance.  I like it, but it's not my favorite of the three.  Though, when I started this process, I really appreciated it.  I loved the fact that it was so thick (as thick as Seche Vite, or thicker even).  It really made my feel like my nails were super protected.  The downside was that I had some problems with bubbling (though over the NARS, it's perfect).  It also is slow to dry (just like a normal TC, though), so if you want to be able to do things quickly after your mani, simply apply a thin fast drying TC (I like Out the Door) over the High Maintenance.  Even now, I really do like the fact that it makes my nails feel thicker and stronger and it also protects them from UV light.  And while I don't use it with every mani now, I think in the beginning of the nail recovery process, it was essential and if you are rebulding your nails, like me, then it's an important part of the system.  Plus, it's super shiny, so it looks great over polish. 

I really recommend using this system if you are interested in rebuilding your nails from damage, whether that be from acrylics, glue-ons, or some other form of damage.  I was fortunate in that I was sent samples, but I honestly think that if I'd known about these products months ago, I would have definitely bought them and tried them.  I had been searching for something to help heal the damage, and I was having no luck finding a system.  In fact, I'm recommending them to my mother, who after 2+ years of chronic glue-ons usage is looking to rebuld her damaged nails/nail beds.

Which brings me to my SURPRISE!  In conjuction with my review of their products, Dermelect is offering a 20% coupon to my readers for all of their hand and nail products (click to go to their store).  This code is PP20 and is good through January 4, 2010.  In the interest of full disclosure, I receive no kick-back from this code.  It's just a gift from Dermelect to my readers.  I will also post a note about this code on the right side of my blog.  Also, please feel free to pass this code on. 

Thank you so much for your time in reading this post and all your support during the last 5+ weeks.  My nails still have a way to go, and I plan on using these products until all the old growth is gone and beyond.

Nail Recovery Update - 4 weeks

Sorry of the state of my nails, but these are completely naked just after I removed Zoya Indigo.  Some of it wanted to stay around.  :P

Can you believe it's been four weeks since I took off my glue-ons and showed you my damaged nails?  I was determined to try and get my natural nails back.  As much as I liked the look the look of my glue-ons, and my acrylics before them, they just weren't healthy of my nails.  Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against glue-ons, but the constant cycle of gluing them on and removing them was really taking a toll on my nails.  They never had the opportunity to recover from the damage caused by the acrylics.

So I think being contacted by Dermelect to sampled their products was absolutely perfect timing.  I was getting sick of the glue-on vicious cycle, but I didn't know how or where to start it.  Once I got their samples, I just took off my glue-ons and jump in with both feet, and I'm very thankful I did.

As you can tell, my nails are no where near perfect, however.  There is still damage in the top 1/2 to 2/3rds of my nails.  As a result, the growth I'm getting now isn't healthy.  It's splintered into many layers (you can see some of it coming up over my index finger).  However, the new growth seems to be much better.  It's that pink-y-purple-y color of healthy nails.  I'm hoping that once all the old, damaged growth grows out, my nails will no longer be layered.  *fingers crossed*

I'm so happy in my decision to say adios to the glue-ons.  I love polishing my nails every night (as I'm sure you can figure out from the daily NOTD posts.  LOL).  I also love the fact that I'm not a slave to the glue-on routine.  The 15 minutes it takes for me to complete a polish change on my natural nails is low maintenance compared to my glue-ons.  I can't wait until I can finally show you all long (for me) and healthy nails.

And as if you haven't seen this pic enough, I just wanted to remind you girls where I started, and I'll post the above pic below it so you can see a direct comparison...

Please enlarge them just so you can see the difference.

Thank you all so much for supporting me during this process.  I'm sure I'll be posting even more nail recovery posts in the next few weeks/months, but I just wanted to give you all an update as it's my month anniversary.  I plan on doing a review of my Dermelect products very soon, so if you are interested, please stand by.  If you want to see all the posts in my nail recovery process, please click here.

NOTD: Essie Aruba Blue

It's been 3 weeks today since I took off my last set of glue-ons.  Except for my swatching of the new ChG collection, I've had very little nail polish on my nails.  All I've worn for the past 3 weeks has been the Dermelect treaments and top coat.  I was okay with waiting to polish my nails until I reorganized my stash last night.  For one, I thought I had 150 polishes and I had almost 300, so I figured I'd better get cracking if I was ever going to use them.  And, I fell back in love with some of my forgotten babies.  So, even though my nails are not back to being polish-worthy, I figured I'd show them some love nonetheless. 

I fell in love with Essie Aruba Blue while watching The Devil Wears Prada.  Emily Blunt's character wears it through much of the movie.  Of course, at the time, I didn't realize it was Aruba Blue.  I just happened to stumble on that bit of information while reading ALU.  I think I fell back in love with it at that moment.  I had to hunt it down and make it mine. 

Honestly, though, I don't think I've ever worn it.  Amelia, my daughter, has, but I haven't.  So I rectified that today.  Here's one coat of Essie Aruba Blue over one coat of Dermelect Makeover Ridgefiller.  I also have one coat of INM Out the Door TC. 

The color is a gorgeous medium-to-dark, bright, blue shimmer.  IRL, it's more like bottle color, but it still has that same gorgeous glowy quality.  I had no application issues and it was actually opaque in one coat.  It's in Essie's regular line and you can pick it up at your favorite e-tailers, eBay, BS, and at Essie.com.  The cheapest place I've found is TD. 

As for my nail recovery, I think it's going pretty well.  Most of my nails are growing out without any problems, and I think all of them will be fine in the end.  Just to remind you, here's where I started...

They aren't perfect, but I think they look tons better.

Almost 2 Weeks Without Glue-ons

I'm pretty sure tomorrow is the 2 week mark since I removed my glue-ons.  As always with these posts, I'm going to show you where I started, so if you get sick of this picture, I'm sorry.  I just feel it's necessary for comparison purposes.  So anyway, here's where I was when I took off the glue-ons.

And here's a picture of my nails I took about 10 minutes ago.  This is with my full regimine of Dermelect, as well as a quick-dry topcoat.  I also have on Mango Mend, as I find I'm using that stuff like crazy now.

I think they look tons better, but I'm also ready for them to be longer already.  I have absolutely no patience, so this process is becoming difficult for me.  Yesteday, I actually considered putting on a set of glue-ons.  It was fleeting as I realized I didn't want to take any steps back. 

This is with almost 2 weeks of Dermelect, Nail Nutrition, and Mango Mend.  The Dermelect products are the Launchpad basecoat (green), the Makeover ridgefiller (pink), and their High Maintenance top coat.  I also use a thin quick dry coat, Beauty Secrets, over the HMTC to prevent bubbling.  However, I've found that if the ridgefiller is too thick, you'll get bubbles no matter what.  Also, there is no color on my nails in the picture.  That's strictly from the ridgefiller.  It's a pretty shimmer pink, so it acts as a concealer as well as a ridgefiller.  Most ridgefillers I've tried have been thick and white, so this is a nice change.  I love that I don't have to wear a color unless I want to. 

I'm using Sally Hansen Nail Nutrition several times a day to help encourage growth, but the Dermelect is what helping them look healthier. 

Also, the other day in my comments section, I mentioned my mother's damaged nails.  She is so impressed by the results I'm getting with this combo, that she is considering buying Dermelect products, depending on my final results. 

I'll keep updating on my progress as I go along.  I'm hoping by Christmas, I'll be able to sport some polish.  If you are interested in my products, Dermelect is available on their website.  Mango Mend is available at Sally Beauty and Nail Nutrition can be picked up at just about any drugstore or big box.

Progress?

It's been a week and half since I took off my last set of glue-ons and started using Dermelect.  Just to remind you, here's what I started with:

and here's where I am today:

Both pictures are of my naked nails.  I do have Mango Mend on in the second picture.  As you can tell by the cut on my index finger cuticle, the cold weather is really drying them out. 

I titled this post with a question mark because I'll occasionally get discouraged, but I think they are actually doing pretty well. 

Also, in the interest of total disclosure, I am also using Sally Hansen Nail Nutrition 1-2x a day.  My finger tips hurt so badly, up to a couple days ago, that I needed some fast growth.  The NN gives me pretty fast growth, but my nails are not much stronger.  I think the Dermelect products are what's helping with that.

Lastly, I applied my coat of Dermelect Launchpad and my coat of Dermelect Makeover, then I decided to put some color on my hideous nubbins.  I used Essie Porcini.  It's a pretty taupey, mauvey pink with gold micro-shimmer.  It looked better in the bottle than it did on my nails, but it wasn't a bad color at all.  The one thing I didn't like was that my polish looked glumpy (gooey+clumpy) and I was reminded why I never liked polishing my natural nails.  However, I'm hoping that in the next few months after all the ridges and bumps are gone my polished nails will look much better. 

Also, the one problem I'm having with the Dermelect products is a lot of bubbling after I apply the topcoat (High Maintenance).  Their info states that it's fast drying, but I'm finding drying times to be a bit slow, but the main problem is the bubbling.  Seriously, it's worse than the bubbling I always got with Seche Vite.  I don't know if that's because it's a naturally thick product or if there is some other reason.  I had to remove my Porcini mani within 30 minutes of application due to the bubbling.  Here's a pic, though I doubt if you can see the bubbling.  Maybe on 1-2 of my fingers.

This mani is 1 coat Launchpad, 1 coat Makeover, 1 coat Porcini (could have used a 2nd, but I don't like using too much polish on my natural nails) and 1 coat of High Maintenance TC.  Application on the Essie was fine, but I hate Essie's brushes.  I can never get the right amount of polish on them.

Tonight, I will apply another coat of the Dermelect base coats/ treatments.  I wish I hadn't had to take them off to begin with, but the bubbling was too bad.  I plan on retrying the HMTC a couple more times, maybe with a thin fast dry TC over it, to see if that helps with the bubbling.  I'll let you know if anything changes.

EDIT: I tried using a thin fast dry top coat over the Dermelect High Maintenance top coat and it made the bubble issue go away.  I used Beauty Secrets from Sally's.  Nails dried very fast due to the Beauty Secrets TC and feel very protected thanks to the HMTC. 

Taking a Break

Not from blogging, but I am taking a break from my glue-ons, so I don't know how many polish posts I'll be doing for the next few weeks. 

Recently, I've been thinking about trying to give my natural nails a chance to really grow, but I didn't feel comfortable doing it.  I just didn't want to go out in public without my glue-ons.  Then I received an email from Marlo Marketing regarding new products from Dermelect Cosmeceuticals.  I thought it was just a press release, but then they offered to send me samples.  I received samples of their stregthener, ridgefiller, and nail thickener.  So I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to see if I can actually grow out my real nails. 

Yesterday, I took off my glue-ons and took pics of my natural nails.  They are embarassing, but I don't think I can give you all a fair review without showing you what I started with.  It's been a year almost exactly since I got my acrylics and almost nine months since I took them off.  There was tons of damage from the acrylic application.  However, I realize had I not been applying glue-ons, they probably wouldn't still be in this condition, but it was a double-edged sword.  I didn't want to show my natural nails so I applied glue-ons and I didn't like the condition of my natural nails because of the glue-ons.  It was a never-ending cycle.

So, here are my nails after I took off my glue-ons.  This is just my left hand, because I could not get pics of my right hand to come out.

Hand

Thumb (I have bad ridging on this nail).

I applied the product yesterday for the first time, then I went back today, removed it and reapplied it.  Here's how my left hand looks now.

I was able to use the ridge filler to basically build up the area on my nails where all I have is nail bed (basically the tips of my ring and pinky fingers) and I also used it to smooth out the bad ridges on my thumb.

I know they don't look great, but I think it's a huge change from my naked nails.  I used one coat of each product.  The pink/grey shimmer is the color of the ridge filler.  It looks a lot like OPI Give Me the Moon. 

I will be sure to give you all links to the products when I do my final review, which should be in a couple weeks.  I may start polishing my natural nails in a few days, but for now, I'm just going to stick to the ridge filler color.  I will be posting updates along the way.

Here's hoping I'll be able to polish my natural nails in a few weeks.  I like the way my glue-ons look, but I don't like the hassle of applying them every 2-3 days.