(Press samples and affiliate links ahead!)
Hello!
You may have noticed the my nails got a little short there for a little while. That happened because I strayed from two of my tried-and-true tricks for keeping my nails healthy--a strengthening basecoat and glass nail files.
In particular my go-to strengthening basecoat is Barielle's Nail Rebuilding Protein:
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| Barielle Nail Rebuilding Protein |
When I started blogging, I had a very difficult time getting the nails on my right hand to grow enough to have any length at all past the fingertip, or to file evenly. I also had at least 2-3 major breaks on my left (swatching!) hand each year. Since I started using Barielle Nail Rebuilding Protein, I have no problem growing out the right hand, and went nearly two years without a major break on my right.
Of course, maybe that was just coincidence, since I started taking better care of my nails overall when I started blogging. Well, I know now that's not it, because I stopped using the Barielle to test out another basecoat I received a while back, a non-rebuilding basecoat which worked fine for what it was--but it became clear within a few weeks that I need something stronger, because I was back to having weak, splitting nails on my left hand, and I had three breaks on my right hand. Not okay! So you know I instantly jumped back on the Barielle bandwagon, and my nails are growing out beautifully again.
As for my second go-to, I've fallen in love with Aveniro's glass files:
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| Aveniro nail files |
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| Aveniro nail and toe/foot files |
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| Aveniro toe/foot file |
I love that not only do they come in three sizes (regular and purse-sized), but they have a massive one to use on your feet! It has a rougher side for use on calluses, and I get *a lot* of calluses on my feet, so this really helps me to a good home pedicure. The nail files also have a slightly different grade on each side, so you can file down and then shape with first the one then the other side.
I went back to non-glass files briefly before testing these out, and the difference was massive. My nails split like crazy when I use non-glass files, but hardly split at all when I use these. And when I combine with the nail rebuilder, my nail health is improved leaps and bounds. :)
Big hugs,
M. xoxo
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