From my kitchen to yours - lemon, lime and some OxiClean

OK, OxiClean does not exactly belong in a kitchen, but I couldn't help channeling Paula Deen.

For unknown reason, China Glaze Khromes left really ugly dark orange stains on my nails. One day I was doing laundry pretreating some stuff in OxiClean solution; and on a whim decided to try it on my nails. I dipped my hands in a laundry bucket, for about 30 seconds. Voila - stains were almost gone! That makes sense, since one of the OxiClean ingredients is hydrogen peroxide. I washed my hands immediately and followed by a heavy-duty moisturizer and did not see any adverse effects.

Lemons. I was making hummus (I make really mean hummus) and tried to squeeze as much lemon juice as possible. I was actually scraping the pulp with my fingers, squeezing out that last oz. About a minute inside the lemon made my stained nails absolutely clean. I'm talking "no stains at all" clean. I don't know why, but limes, which I tested while making Margaritas Mojito guacamole do not do the job as well as lemons do; yet I see a big improvement in stains.

If you want to try these tips, please exercise your good judgment. Do not stick your fingers into a lemon if you have the tiniest cut/scrape - it's gonna sting like a mofo. Or if you are allergic to citruses and/or any components of OxiClean. I'm allergic to the OxiClean dude, but it's OK - as I've said, no adverse reaction.

PS: I have had some pretty manis lately, but damn weather sucks. It was snowing today - for Pete's sake, it's GA!

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2 products I love -

- very different yet share some common virtues.
They both are:
1) cheap
2) smelly
3) do exactly what they promise

Product number one: Lestoil. My daughter was painting a picture with a neon pink polish (please, do not even ask) and made a stain on her white cotton T-shirt. It would not be a big deal, but the shirt has been borrowed from her teacher. So I've tried all chemicals possible - from a polish remover (left an ugly pink halo) to Oxyclean (did nothing). Lestoil was my last resort - and I did help! I have just a couple of pink freckles left on the T-shirt, that's it! I swear, this stuff works like a charm on almost anything, from perspiration marks (not that I ever sweat) to old gum. It's a Stain Remover Almighty - I tried it on a long settled dry-erase marker stain, and - again - it helped! And it works on colors as well!

But the smell is truly horrendous. People keep calling Lestoil "an old-fashioned cleaner", so I guess it's a polite way to say "The smell of the stuff will make you barf". No, it's not an exaggeration - my husband, who's used to pure acetone, polishes, top/base coats etc. - asked me to open the door, because the smell gave him a headache. It smells like some kind of a gas by-product. So - WEAR LONG GLOVES, treat your garment outside and rinse it thoroughly before tossing to the washer.

I'm sure it's capable of cleaning a polish stain from carpet, but I have no idea how to get rid of the smell on carpet.

Lestiol is available in Ace Hardware and from Amazon, for $4 plus change for 28 oz bottle.

Product number two: Podiatrist's Secret Total Foot Recovery cream. Also knows as "the one with an orange cap" (shown on the pic has a white cap, but it's the same cream). 4 oz will cost you about $5 in Sally's Beauty Supplies. This cream contains urea (despite a common belief, nowadays urea has nothing to do with urine; it used to, but now it's a product of gross-free chemical reactions) and lactic acid. These ingredients work excellent together, moisturizing and exfoliating your skin. I wear flip-flops 90% of a year, weather permissible, and it's a rough regiment for my heels/toes. I apply TFR after shower, put cotton socks on, and just go to bed. Two-three night in a row - I have perfectly pink toes and heels. A very nice side-effect: the cream also works as a cuticle eraser.

To the smell: I've read people complaining about "burnt tire stench". I'd rather say, it smells like some kind of an expired medicine. It's a bit offensive, yet absolutely bearable; and effect totally worth it.

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An excuse to post this picture - I want to show you...

...how well these patches work. An actual reason - I wanted to show off one of my old time favorites. Bitches Brew by Lippmann. It was my very first expensive polish; and the very first "bold" color (I used to be all neutrals, modest pinks and sheers kind of gal). Worth every penny: smooth, nice brush, dries quickly and wears exceptionally well. Who am I kidding here - I would get it just for the name.

Stupid weather did not let me capture a delicate, yet deep shimmer. Deep shimmer - does it make any sense?

Patches, oh yes - patches. There is a little bump on a pinky, but I needed to know if Swiss Silk would survive heavy picking on it. It did; and also has passed non-acetone remover test: did not even budge.

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Broken nail doesn't mean you have to file it up to the quick.

Couple of days ago I broke a nail on my left pinky - while vacuuming, arrgh! The tear was past the quick and pretty wide, almost to the middle of the nail. After kicking my vacuum cleaner for a while, I just let it go. Well, have you ever got a towel thread stuck in a teared nail? It hurts and it doesn't help the tear shrink. I have a choice: either file all the nails up to zero or try Swiss Silk Wraps recommended by my fellow Nail Boarder Ponchy.

Ponchy, thank you so much! You saved the day/nail.

SuperNail Swiss Silk Wrap Self-Adhesive Tabs look like nail-shaped pieces of silk (duh!) sandwiched together with a paper base. You cut a piece of a size you need with scissors; peel off the silk layer and apply it to the teared part of your nail. Patch holds by itself, but to make it completely secure, you will need ibd 5 Second Brush-On Gel Resin:

it looks like a miniature nail polish bottle. Brush up the patch with IBD, let it set for a couple of minutes - and you're done!


I'm pretty sure that there are other similar products on the market, but this one, as I said, was recommended by another nail fanatic, so I've decided not to reinvent the wheel.

Patch will serve you for about a month, withstanding non-acetone polish remover. Acetone will dissolve the gel; you'll have to reapply the patch.

Illustration:
Really, don't wait for a nail emergency, go to Sally's and keep these two products in your medicine cabinet.

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Tools of the trade, or my must-haves – Part 2 /very long post/

OK, last time I told you about my mani software, so to speak; now let’s move to the hardware.

First and foremost – I do not cut my cuticles, ever. I may clip off an occasional hangnail, but that’s it. I used to be addicted to cutting cuticles; and they used to look so much worse than they do now. Now I don’t even own a decent trimmer/scissors – no need for these.

The hardest tool I ever let around my cuticles is an orange wood stick. I use them to push the cuticles back, once a week usually, after applying my cuticle remover. Twice a day, after shower, I gently slide back wet cuticles with a towel. By the way, I just bought a huge pack of sticks – 144, to be precise – for $4.55 in a local beauty supply store. Check out yours for bargain prices; many of these places do not require license to let you shop!

Now to the files. Another big “G” (first one, of course, is Gloves) is Glass. Get yourself a glass file, ASAP. I promise it will decrease nail splitting and breakage dramatically. I hardly had a single breakage since I’ve started using glass files exclusively. (Yes, I’m on an exclusive basis with nail files, that’s true). Brand doesn’t really matter. I have one by Essie, one by Sally Hansen , one from h2t; and the last one by Swissco. The later is the cheapest and happens to be my favorite: it’s really good in filing off a length. Ji Baek, whom I admire, says in her book that glass is good for touch-ups, but not for removing length. With all my due respect, I have to disagree. Swissco, one-sided and thick, does a great job. From all the files I mentioned, Swissco is the thickest one and the one from h2t – the thinnest.

Speaking about one- and two-sided files. I thought that two-sided files are better, for one can file in both directions. I was wrong. First, you are not supposed to file in two directions (I’m nail-naughty and do it anyway). Second, somehow I manage to do it with a one-sided file.

Buffer. I don’t have one. Usually they are used to polish off ridges and stains – too bad, but my ridges are beyond help here. Besides, I discovered that even occasional buffing messes with a polish wear. You see, when the nail is too ykflrbq , it’s difficult for the polish to adhere properly, even with a help of a base coat.

Logically, we are ready to move to the base and top coats. You cannot overestimate a good base coat. It can help to solve your nails’ problems like breakage, stress, yellowness etc – to the certain extent, of course; it primes the nail surface and helps to prolong mani/pedi lifespan. As I mentioned before, I have visible ridges, so my natural choice is a ridge filling base. I tried Nailtek II, Barielle (available in TJMaxx/Marshalls for a much better price) and couple of others. To tell you the truth, they all do a pretty good job; I stick to Nailteck just out of habit.
I used to follow base coat with Orly Bonder, but not anymore. It caused my nails to turn ugly yellow, so I quit. Too bad – Bonder does help the polish to stick better.

Top coat: girl’s best friend and the best thing since sliced bread. Adds shine and depth to the color; prolongs wear; and last but definitely not least – speeds up dreadful drying time. I would not be able to do my nails without Seche Vite (available for much better price from etailers!). It’s like a private time machine: apply SV and – boom – in 15 minutes you can function like a normal human being, without yelling “MY NAILZZZZ!” when your husband wants to hug you. Still, polish is prone to smudges; it will dry completely in 1.5-2 hours. I have tried a bunch of top coats, but for me nothing compares to SV time- and shine-wise. I recall just one total disaster, thou, Essie Good To Go. This one seems to dry for centuries; I ended up redoing mani from scratch.

And before I wrap up this annoyingly long post, I want to mention just one thing – Biotin. It’s a supplement clinically proven to help your nails get stronger. I read a lot of information about Biotin and figured out that optimal dose is between 3000 and 5000 mg daily. I do see a difference in my nails when I take Biotin and I recommend it to all my friends. Please, ask your physician before starting any supplements.

/OK - am I a dork, or what?/

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Tools of the trade, or my must-haves - Part 1

What do I use to keep my hands, cuticles and mani in a good shape?

1. Disposable gloves. All the time. No, I'm not talking about "dirty chores", like dishes or floor scrubbing - it's kinda given. Try using gloves all the time: for dusting, for instance, or strawberry hulling. You are not going to believe the difference.

3 excuses I hear all the time:
1. I cannot do dishes in gloves. It's just uncomfortable!
- Tell it to a surgeon, performing...well - brain surgery. Peeling a potato is a bit less tricky.

2. I feel like a stupid character from a stupid commercial.
- I'd rather look stupid than have bad cuticles.

3. It's expensive.
Bolloks.

All in all - go and get them.

2. Cuticle remover. Weekly.
I use ol' good (and inexpensive) Sally Hansen in a blue bottle. Advertised 15 seconds is definitely not enough; don't be afraid to leave remover on your cuticles for longer. Exercise your common sense, thou - this staff literally dissolves raggedy, dry cuticles and can dissolve a thin (or not so thin) layer of your nails as well. And this would be a warm, friendly welcome to any nail infection - ask me how I know. After a painful lesson I use cuticle remover on polished nails only: polish creates a protective barrier for the nail.

3. Cuticle eraser. 256 times a day.
Cuticle eraser, despite its name, does not erase cuticles, but rather conditiones, moisturaises and gently exfoliates them. There are many available, and you can use whatever brand you prefer.
My favorites:
- Poshe AHA Citicles Care aka Poshe in a yellow tube
- Creative Nail Design Cuticle Eraser. Comes in a big, economy-size tube, but smells like dead lemons and has a tendency to break down to oil and white goo over time.
- Zoya Qtica Cuticle repair Balm. A bit greasy, but works wonderful for winter time or to revive dried, over-acetoned cuticles. Unlike Poshe and CND, does not contain exfoliating AHA.

Apply eraser as often as you can. I keep a huge tube in a car, to smack on my cuticles while in a traffic and near every sink in a house.

Think outside the box. Or, in this case, outside the tube.

I accidently discovered that Kerasal foot ointment works wonders for my cuticles. Better yet, its generic version from RiteAid does the same job for less $$!

My Nail Board buddy Ponchy introduced all nail boarders to the magic of cheap AHA care for the cuticles. Alpha Hydrox Foot & Problem Area cream with 12% AHA is an ideal solution for toes. For $8 plus change I use it on my feet very generously; it's good for fingernails as well. Just don't forget about your sunscreen: AHA makes skin very photosensitive.

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