As mentioned in a previous post I wore acrylic nails, have done for a long time. They were ok but I'd love to have naturally nice nails (to match my naturally nice hair when it grows!) So the other day when I broke one of my acrylic nails I bit them all off. Please do not do this, it is not good to bite your nails anyway but certainly not chew the acrylic off your natural nail plate. It had been 4 weeks since my last acrylic application so there was some lifting anyway. But please get your artificial nails removed safely by a professional. So my natural nails were thin, ripped off down to the end of my fingers and had ridges and bumps in them - not pretty.
I then had the stroke of luck of stumbling across a local home based nail technician who was looking for a client with nails in a soft, thin state such as having acrylics taken off so she could trial Gelish Recovery Vitagel. It is recommended you have 6 treatments over the course of 12 weeks. You can then paint your nails as you would normally or if your nails are in "good enough" shape you can have Gelish colour too, which would generally last a fortnight but if your nails are particularly soft and flexible it may not last that long.
Anyway, I went along today and met Naomi, who is a lovely lady. She explained all about the product and the results we hoped to get over the course of 12 weeks. Her nail room is beautiful, smelt welcoming and there was gentle, relaxing music playing in the background. Naomi took details down on a client record card for future reference and carried out a very thorough prep on my hands and nails. 3 very thin layers of Vitagel were applied to my nails, with a curing time of only 30 seconds for each layer.
The result; my nails look improved already, they are even and nicely shaped even though they are short. You can see some damage in areas but as the Vitagel is a clear product you would expect that. My nails looks shiny as if I were wearing a clear polish. They feel stronger than just my natural nail yet they are not in the least bit thick. The plan is to return to Naomi in 2-3 weeks time when this Vitagel will be soaked off and replaced following the same method. Repeating the process for up to 12 weeks by which time my nails should have grown and be looking more nicer - naturally!
Naomi gave me advice on aftercare along with a leaflet with tips on looking after Gelish nails and a little bottle of cuticle oil for me to use a few times a day to keep my cuticles healthy and moisturised and thereby encourage nice healthy nails to grow.
After work this weekend I will paint my nails with a colour and see how the polish fares over the Vitagel.
A link to Naomi's site;
natural nails and beauty.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
I am always on the look out for beauty buys on a budget as I would love to be able to spend less but still get pleasing results.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
My thoughts on Fast Shampoo & Conditioner
As promised in my last post I have returned to do a more in depth review of the Fast shampoo & conditioner that I have been using for the past 3 weeks.
I bought my set in Boots and it was £24.99, in my opinion expensive for a high street shampoo & conditioner set but I guess comparable to salon exclusive products. The bottles are fairly nondescript being a soft white colour with purple FAST details, they don't look stunning on your edge of your bath! They come packaged together in a box which displays a model with gloriously healthy long hair.
Moving on to the actual product, they are both of a good consistency, the shampoo isn't too runny and the conditioner is as thick as I would expect a quality conditioner to be. The shampoo is a pearly pale green colour which I would liken to laundry detergent and the conditioner is simply white. They do not smell gorgeous, don't get me wrong they are not an unpleasant smell. Kind of like a soapy, clean smell. Either way the smell does not linger on your hair once you have rinsed.
The product in use. I have been lather, rinse, repeating as the instructions stated. On first wash you don't get many suds but you do feel like the product is cleaning. On the second lather you get lots more bubbles and you can really get a foam up. I have always believed this is because on the first wash you are breaking down the styling residues on your hair and washing them away and on the second wash you are actually washing the hair as it were - I have no idea if that is true but its what's in my head! I lathered for around a minute each time I used the shampoo. When rinsing, my hair felt squeaky clean, yes I swear it actually squeaked. I can tell if my hair is really clean as it feels rough (a whole other post on silicones in products one day!) so I definitely needed to use the conditioner. I didn't feel I had to use lots of conditioner and I would guess after 3 weeks use I have more conditioner left than shampoo. I raked the conditioner thoroughly through my hair and just left it in while I continued the rest of my shower so it was on my hair for a good few minutes each time. The conditioner rinsed away cleanly and my hair was left soft and easy to comb.
I have read on other reviews that this product left peoples hair feeling dry and lightened any colour products in the hair. I cannot say my hair felt any drier than usual so I guess I am using the correct amount of conditioner. Yes my hair does feel rough & dry after shampooing but thats how I know its really clean. And I do think it did lighten the residual colour left in the front of my hair and certainly the small amount of platinum at my roots - it did not affect my natural colour growing through though.
In conclusion I am not convinced this product actually encouraged my hair to grow any faster. If anything I am more inclined to think the massaging while washing and the vitamin supplements I take are helping more than the actual contents of this product. I would probably not repurchase this product. If I felt like splurging out on a shampoo & conditioner I would treat myself to something from a salon, however I am more like to choose a "professional" range from a High Street Store though.
I thought I would also add a picture of how I am wearing my hair today, its not always like this as I am not keen on it hanging down my forehead, but it looks ok like this for the time being I guess.
I bought my set in Boots and it was £24.99, in my opinion expensive for a high street shampoo & conditioner set but I guess comparable to salon exclusive products. The bottles are fairly nondescript being a soft white colour with purple FAST details, they don't look stunning on your edge of your bath! They come packaged together in a box which displays a model with gloriously healthy long hair.
Moving on to the actual product, they are both of a good consistency, the shampoo isn't too runny and the conditioner is as thick as I would expect a quality conditioner to be. The shampoo is a pearly pale green colour which I would liken to laundry detergent and the conditioner is simply white. They do not smell gorgeous, don't get me wrong they are not an unpleasant smell. Kind of like a soapy, clean smell. Either way the smell does not linger on your hair once you have rinsed.
The product in use. I have been lather, rinse, repeating as the instructions stated. On first wash you don't get many suds but you do feel like the product is cleaning. On the second lather you get lots more bubbles and you can really get a foam up. I have always believed this is because on the first wash you are breaking down the styling residues on your hair and washing them away and on the second wash you are actually washing the hair as it were - I have no idea if that is true but its what's in my head! I lathered for around a minute each time I used the shampoo. When rinsing, my hair felt squeaky clean, yes I swear it actually squeaked. I can tell if my hair is really clean as it feels rough (a whole other post on silicones in products one day!) so I definitely needed to use the conditioner. I didn't feel I had to use lots of conditioner and I would guess after 3 weeks use I have more conditioner left than shampoo. I raked the conditioner thoroughly through my hair and just left it in while I continued the rest of my shower so it was on my hair for a good few minutes each time. The conditioner rinsed away cleanly and my hair was left soft and easy to comb.
I have read on other reviews that this product left peoples hair feeling dry and lightened any colour products in the hair. I cannot say my hair felt any drier than usual so I guess I am using the correct amount of conditioner. Yes my hair does feel rough & dry after shampooing but thats how I know its really clean. And I do think it did lighten the residual colour left in the front of my hair and certainly the small amount of platinum at my roots - it did not affect my natural colour growing through though.
In conclusion I am not convinced this product actually encouraged my hair to grow any faster. If anything I am more inclined to think the massaging while washing and the vitamin supplements I take are helping more than the actual contents of this product. I would probably not repurchase this product. If I felt like splurging out on a shampoo & conditioner I would treat myself to something from a salon, however I am more like to choose a "professional" range from a High Street Store though.
I thought I would also add a picture of how I am wearing my hair today, its not always like this as I am not keen on it hanging down my forehead, but it looks ok like this for the time being I guess.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
3 weeks into growing my hair
Just a quick post as I have been to work today so missed my afternoon nap, so I'm feeling a little more tired than a usual evening.
I have been using nisim fast shampoo and conditioner for 3 weeks now so thought I'd share a progress picture. I think it's quite clear my hair has grown but has it grown "faster" due to this shampoo and conditioner? Hmmm I'm not overly convinced.
So for the next 3 weeks I shall use an everyday shampoo and conditioner which holds no special claims other than its extremely cheap from Wilkinsons. I shall continue with my 2 x 1 minute each massage of my head when washing and see how it affects the growth.
I generally give my hair a good wash and massage of an evening and because it sticks up at all angles when I wake up it often gets wet down or washed with 2 in 1 each morning.
Within the next few days I will do a full review of the fast shampoo and conditioner. I also want to talk about collection cosmetics and opi nail products.
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