BEAUTIFUL HANDS MAKE YOU LOOK YOUNGER

Keep reading for a great inexpensive product tip

Once I lost a great deal of weight I became more interested in esthetics and keeping myself well cared for and up to date.

Years of nursing and frequent hand-washing gave me less than attractive nails and hands. I was not motivated to do much to reverse the damage.

A clinical esthetician pointed out that everything you do to and for your face you should do for your hands. Nothing is more aging than hands.

So when I had IPL for pigmentation I had it done on my hands as well and continued the treatment using Skin TX lightening products for my face, hands and neck.

So my hands were under control but my nails were still a mess. They were dry, split or broke off easily. This was caused mostly because of using my hands as tools and not compensating with good hand care after overwashing them.

I tried for various types of nail enhancements for three years. Most salons offer acrylic nail extensions - they are cheap, easy and fast to apply but I could not stand the smell in the shop or the thought of them putting glue and thick acrylic tips on my natural nails. To remove them they either have to using machines to grind them off or use 100% Acetone - not healthy for the nails or lungs! They are usually unnaturally thick and it is difficult to pick anything up so they are not functional.

During my research (trial and error) I discovered gel nails and loved the Biosculpture product. It is flexible, looks like the natural nail and is strong even with a thin application. The next problem though was getting consistency of skill in the application. Whenever I found someone who did them well it was either too difficult to get a follow up appointment with my work schedule, or I found them when I was travelling far from home. Often if I found someone with openings locally, they used gel overlays but still used tips and glue, grinding machines etc - I realized after taking some training that it is because it is faster, requires less skill and they can process more clients and make more money. However using these techniques with gel defeats the purpose of using gel - for the naturalness of the look as well as protecting the natural nail from damage. An instructor told me those technicians are just lazy.

Yes. After years of frustration, I finally decided to take the training and become certified in the Biosculpture product. I did it and with the help of friends and family and me as my test victims, I have become quite expert at gel nail extensions and I will be starting my own part time business. I know I have developed a skill because I am very right-hand dominant yet I accomplish doing my own nails perfectly not only with one hand but with my useless non-dominant left hand when I do the right.

I like looking at peoples' hands and nails. The nails are very interesting in that there are quite a few medical conditions that can come to light by examining the nails. So there is a tad of nursing background squeezed into the service :)

My hands look young and healthy. My nails are always perfect, I don't try to keep my hands in my pockets anymore.

p.s. My pick - French nails and pedique (French style toenails). French style nails are really classy. The great part about using French technique is that you can create the illusion of length while actually keeping them a bit shorter especially if you type a lot. People always say to me - your nails look great but how do you do anything with them that long. I quickly show them the palm side of my nails so they can see there are not really long at all - a great functional length but with the appearance of longer nails.

Tips to keep hands and natural nails or nail enhancements looking great:

• Use tools NOT your nails. Your nails are not staple removers, screwdrivers, or prybars.
• Always wear gloves when having your hands in water for cleaning, washing dishes, or using chemicals.
• Use cuticle remover and gently push back your cuticles at least once per week.
• Don't cut your cuticles. Carefully cut any hangnail-like tags (white dead skin) that are easy to reach at the side edge of the nail but don't cut the entire cuticle - it will lead to infection and inflammation and hangnails.
• Have a professional manicure from time to time. Pay attention to how proper cuticle care is done.
• For dry hands buy a pair or two of white cotton gloves. Wear them at night after slathering on a good dry skin cream.
• If your cuticles are really dry and a mess get a good cuticle oil or cream and rub in nightly - easy to do while watching tv.
• If you have gel nails avoid getting products with AHA, retinol, alcohol or glycolic on the nails. If you use these products on your face - use a cream (make up scoop) to get out of the jar and put in palm of hand and carefully apply with the pads of your fingers avoiding getting on the nails.
• If you control dryness and protect your hands and nails from exposure to irritating products and treat your hands to the same antiaging treatments that you do to your face - you will have great hands in no time at all.
• exericse - even though we use our hands constantly - generally hands wrists and forearms, particularly in women are quite weak due to all the tools we use reducing the muscular force used
• use acetone free polish remover - make sure you ask the acetone content - "acetone-free" simply means it is 70% or less acetone - try to find 30%

When I was troubleshooting to find why my upper body exercises were not progressing significantly, I found that it was because my hands wrists and forearms were weak - I worked on hand, wrist and forearm strengthening and within weeks got progress with upper body weights.

Hand exercises improve the look of your hands!
You need a few simple things:

Inexpensive product tip.

Years ago I was using a great nice smelling pink coloured product for conditioning my nails and cuticles. It was abourt $20 for 1/4 ounce. I would carry it around and during boring moments would massage it into my cuticles and nails. It worked fantastically.

A horsey friend of mine noticed this one day - took the small container and smelled it and said - how much did this cost?!

Turned out that at the time she bought a huge jar of a very similar looking and smelling product for $5 for her horse's hoofs at a horse supply and saddle shop. Her nails and cuticles were great. I went and bought a jar and it lasted for years and years.

I sort of forgot about it again (it was along time ago) until I was writing this article. I am going to track some down. If you are going to do the same - be careful and ask the clerk what colour it is -there are other horse hoof products including a tar based product that smells awful and you sure don't want to be rubbing that into your nails.

If I do find some I will let you know the name of the product. I think there is also a brand that is like the one above but yellow in colour.