MY MANKY NAILS

End of Week One: Dr Lewinn’s Renunail

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It is with great relief and disproportionate joy that I removed my first week’s worth of the Dr Lewinn Renunail Nail Strengthener treatment. Not that it has been bad, not by any means! It’s merely that in the last two days, my nails, which need no help in the looking-manky department, have really started looking crusty.

Now, they are clean and clear, and ready to rest. I’ve cut them all down to the bare minimum length, and will continue to bathe them in Renunail Nourishing Oil.

Actually, I have been lazy about the oil — and so if this programme doesn’t work, I can’t exactly blame the product, can I?!?

My cuticles are still peeling like bananas in a monkey cartoon. Actually, I think they are hangnails? Is that really a term, or did my mum make that up?

So: One week off, back to the nail strengthener for another week, one other week off, and the third and final week. I will have perfect fingernails by the end of June!

Manky Nails, Your Days are Numbered!

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So, last Friday I had a friend’s wedding {OMG she looked gorgeous — like, magazine-bride stunning} and I thought about getting a manicure, and then I thought, Why bother, your nails are so manky. And I know that my nails are manky because I don’t take care of them, but I swear, they are so crap — they have started splitting down the middle! WTF?!? — that it seems like I should just keep them short, since they are so nasty and brutish.

Then, after the wedding, I attended a fabulous ladies lunch in aid of The Seachange Foundation, and the lovely lunching lady on my left had the most amazing natural nails I have ever seen in my life. She was talking about how her nails had been manky, too, but she uses this treatment stuff and it is amazing, and how she had to have her sister buy it up for her because it wasn’t available in Ireland, but now it was, and I gasped and asked, ‘Is it that Dr Lewinn’s stuff?’

And it was.

I’d heard of this stuff, and in fact, had put in a request to try and test some last week. It arrived yesterday, and you can’t help but feel that the stars just fall into glorious alignment every now and then.

I am determined! I am going to do this! I’ve seen how good the Dr Lewinn’s Renunail Nail Strengthener is, in real life  — the evidence of its efficacy was right there at the tips of that lady’s fingers.

How it works is:
> You apply two coats on the first day, then a coat a day for the next five, and then remove it on the seventh day.
> Then you rest for 1-2 weeks.
> Then you do it twice more.

In the 1-2 week rest period, you use the Nourishing Oil, which I checked out really quickly yesterday, and it is oily, and hopefully nourishing.

Okay: I just applied my first coat. It’s very thick, and it is milky in appearance. It feels really cold on application, which is weird; it dries clear. I was curious as to why it works, and didn’t really find much info, except that the Strengthener has diamonds and pearls in it? I will say, though, that the internet contains predominantly glowing reviews, and I hope to have proof of that myself in six weeks.

Here’s a picture of my Manky Nails, in all of their shock and horror. I must say, they are looking nice and shiny with my duly applied two coats, and I am preparing to bathe them in the nourishing oil. The middle finger one is so short because that is the one that has started splitting. Only the one! That is weird, right? Although, I absolutely do not want anymore of my nails to start doing the same.

I know I have said, in the past, that I was going to mind my manicure, and didn’t, but this time is for real! I am going to have healthy, strong nails!

Nail Strengthener, 30mls: €31/£21; Nourishing Oil, 14mls: €15/£11
Irish prices are approximate; Debenhams are having a discount deal, which may just be online, I’m not sure. Go check it out on debenhams.ie.

Colour Me Impressed!

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Okay, let me begin with a disclaimer: the nicks on the Sally Hansen Greige Gardens were in place before I even left the house. I had taken delivery of it just before I was heading to the horses; in a fit of inspiration, I lashed it on, and then proceeded to feck it up within minutes. The thing I am looking at here, and as regards the Catrice Cosmetics Ultimate Nail Lacquer in Karl Says That’s Trés Chic {whew, that’s mouthful}, is chipping and peeling.

No chipping and peeling a’tall! Even after a lesson of focused flat work, which means that we pretty much didn’t stop for the guts of an hour. This means that there was no sitting around waiting to jump, and that means that my hands were in use the whole time — so that means that the gloves-on-nails effect was in total play.

Time to up the ante, though, as the thumb and forefinger don’t curl around the reins, and therefore don’t suffer as much friction as the rest of them. I think there is a full manicure {or, since I’ll be doing it myself, a ‘manicure’} in my future this holy day weekend. And then we’ll see who is impressed!

{Ach, the state of my cuticles!}

Sally Hansen Complete Manicure retails for €8.95; Catrice Cosmetics Ultimate Nail Lacquer goes for €2.49

Let’s Try This: Catrice Cosmetics Ultimate Nail Lacquer

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I think we all know by now that I am not the best when it comes to nail care. I’ve been gazing longingly at the Catrice Cosmetics Nail Lacquer (pictured, from left: Sing: Oh Champs-Élysées and Karl Says Tres Chic) I received about a week ago, knowing that the beauty and promise that shines through the bottles will be all but wasted on my manky nails.

But did I do anything about said claws? Did I stroke my cuticles with oil? Did I dig out one of those nail buffers thingies and attend to the ridges? Did I even bother going a few rounds with a hand cream?

No, I did not. So, you know, unless I find a patron saint of manicures to whom I can pray, I really need to start participating in the rehabilitation of my fingernails.

I think I really do not have anything to work with, to be honest. I see other people’s blogs and am stricken with manicure-envy: everybody has beautiful nails except for meeeeeeeee —

Anyway, these little beauties are only two in a long line of striking colours, and at €2.49, you can treat yourself to many of them; see here for the extensive pallette.

See there for my left thumbnail, my fave nail varnish model. I received a Quick Dry & High Shine top coat as well, which helps with the ridgy-ness. I normally wouldn’t be a fan of the pale end of the spectrum, and frankly, if I’m going to take such lackadaisical care of my nails, I should become one: the lighter colours wear better in the long run, and look less bad when they start chipping, which for me is in, like, one minute.

Tonight is horseriding, and we’ll see how we go. It’s a stringent test, I know — the gloves are hell on the polish — but I am a tough, if lazy, customer. When I find the nail varnish that works for manky nails and my equine activities, you will be sure to hear about it. Might the Ultimate Nudes be the one? We shall see…