Now this cold weather is really taking its toll on
my nails, hence the reason you have not seen as many nail swatches as you would
usually see on my blog and instagram.
But thankfully the OPI
fairy (Lisa) and OPI’s Karon McKendrick-Taylor (OPI Educator and
Stylist) have come to my rescue with a two-month regime.
This was just to good not
to share with all my beauties suffering the same thing and on the same boat as
me.
Karon asks for you to wear
gloves whenever possible, especially if you are using bleach or nappy
san. This is where I will need to seriously change and buy a pair of
gloves for the kitchen and another pair for the laundry. For me if I am doing
laundry duties and have my gloves in the kitchen I just wont bother to put them
on (lazy I know.)
I explained to Lisa who
passed the details of the condition of my nails on to Karon. I will give you a
little low down on my nails: They have ridges and starting to peel back at the
tips. They are also starting to crack at the cuticle from being dry.
According to Karon, it sounds like you have
been sick in the past or you might have a skin allergy which has caused your
nails to form ridges. Use OPI's Ridge Filler as your base coat. And when
I heard this it is like Karon has been a little fly on my wall. It was like she
had been following me around for the last year and a half… I have not been the best health wise in this time and
have been put on a waiting list for surgery (DAMN public health system, but I
will be signing up for Private next month!!)
Also, it is very very
important for you to hydrate your nails. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.. Oils and hand creams are the best hydrations.
Now we are going to put you
on a 2 month program for your nails, your steps are below.
The products used are:
• OPI's Avoplex Rejuvenating Cuticle Oil
• OPI Avoplex High Intensity Hand Lotion
• Nail Envy Sensetive & Peeling
• OPI Top Coat
• OPI Ridge Filler
Polish remover - non acetone (pink)
1. Apply first thing in the morning and at
night apply a cuticle oil & hand lotion - OPI's Avoplex Rejuvenating
Cuticle Oil & OPI Avoplex High Intensity Hand Lotion - massage the
oils and lotion into your hands, nails and cuticles. When you are cooking
massage your cooking oil into your hands and nails. Massage as much as
possible. If your hands and nails feel dry, apply the cuticle oil and
hand cream. If
I could put a scratch and sniff of the cuticle oil I would, this stuff smells
so beautiful and gives me even more reason to apply it. It also really soaks
deep into your cuticles immediately improving the look and feel of them.
2 Use OPI's Ridge Filler as
your base coat from here-on. Do Not Buff your nail plate to remove
your ridges. I
was a serial buffer before reading this :-/ But now I will throw that buffer
away in the bin and just turn to my Ridge Filler, which may I add works better
then any buffer I have used. I am so glad ridge filler has come into my life.
3 Instead of filing your nails, clip
the ends removing all of the flaking tips. Trim as soon as you notice
splits or flakes.
4 They also sent me the Nail
Strengthener as this is what I need to do for the next 8 weeks.
Using OPI's Sensetive
& Peeling Nail Envy in apply 2 coats on the first
day, then 1 coat every second day for a week, remove (using the pink acetone
free polish remover) and start again........ repeat for 8 weeks. I have used
this twice so far and have seen a slight improvement, but think I will have to
use it the full course to see it really work. It does add a lovely shine,
almost like a top coat to my nails, which I love when I am not wearing any
polish.
5 Use OPI's Top Coat. I never thought
using a top coat would make much of a difference to you mani or pedi except for
making it more shiny. But I was wrong (once again.) Using a good base coat and
top coat together extends the life of your mani or pedi and keeps your colour
locked in and protected.
6 Now when removing your nail lacquer
use the OPI Polish remover we send you it is non acetone (pink) - it
is oil based.
Whilst OPI's Expert
Touch lacquer remover is ideal for removing dark lacquer or glittery lacquers
it is very drying if used everyday.....for your nails you need to be
using a lacquer remover that is oil based (acetone free). I must confess I have been using a high
percentage acetone remover to remove all nail polish, as I hate scrubbing them
away and think that would do more damage. This could explain why my cuticles
are drying out and cracking now I think of it!
But I found with this remover I didn’t even have to scrub and the polish
just came straight off and didn’t effect my nails or cuticles.
Now I have
given you these amazing tips and program, I will check back in 2 months and
give you a before and after shot… But all photos will have to wait until then J
