Just wanted to ask everybody about their relation to nails. It is an essential part of my femininity. My toe nails are painted almost always, my finger nails as often as possible. As I work at home, it is quite often.

What feelings do you have about your nails? Are they important for you? And do you have a regular nail routine?

Mine are black right now. I like to match my toes and fingers so both of them are black. I love a variety of colors as a part of my female side.

And I am wearing black tights. Makes those toenails almost invisible but imaginable.

hi tiina
im with you girl toe nails always painted the reder the better,
difficult to have finger nails done all the time though
huggs andi,

hi tiina
im with you girl toe nails always painted the reder the better,
difficult to have finger nails done all the time though
huggs andi,

I love to have nails have to keep mine cut short though 1 thunb nail grows split right down the middle, artificial nails are nice though I do them when I can, toes to the pinker the better. although I do have some crome again pink tough and some lilack nail polish I havn't tried yeat.

Nails have become a must for me and I can't remember the last time my toes were not painted. Currently the toes are OPI pearl red without grabbing the bottle to see the actual name. As for the hands I have acrylic french manicures which I have had since valentine's day this year. I think having your nails done is one more gender cue that helps you pass. I get a lot of compliments on my nails which is a sign that people do look at them.

Having longer nails takes a little getting use to and also being aware you have them. Currently my nails extend about 3mm beyond the tips of my fingers and I try to keep them in the 3-5mm range which I think is plenty. After about a week and a half I started getting use to them and was able to do just about anything without them being a problem. Notice I said just about anything. You have to be careful when you grab things that your hand does not slip off or you can break the ends. Something even more difficult is fastening the small clasp on a necklace, omg.

Maybe the best part of having nails is going to get them done. I have my favorite place at the mall and usually my wife and I go together. They treat me great there. This past Thursday I had my acrylics completely redone so they would look good for my court appearance for the name change and also church on Easter. It costs me $30u.s. to have them completely done or $15 to tune them up which I do about every two weeks. The atmosphere and experience are well worth it.

Hugs,
Marsha

Nails...........I need 'em for guitar playing,but not the sort of nails you're thinking of. Left hand short,right hand long.I paint them occasionaly if I'm going out and I remember, but otherwise not.A guitar style which mixes clawhammer and frailing removes nail colour very quickly.

ciao

Lynn H.

Thanks Wendy - I'll try buffing my nails. My left thumb nails has a split that won't quit. Being I'm in the pool three or more times a week it's tough keeping the cuticle from drying out. I use lots of oil.
hugs
Gracie

I'm a nail newbie! Only picked up some polish a couple of weeks ago - red, glittery purple, and clear hardener. And remover, of course. Only been applying the clear stuff so far, to get used to it all - and make any mistakes less visible

Length-wise, I have been growing my nails a bit long for a few years now.

Coloured toenails, coming soon...

I' m really into nail painting as well. It's taken quite a while to get the hang of it.

Toes:
I do my toenails in whatever color scheme strikes me at the moment. I have a large collection of colors now to choose from. My favorite lately has been teal. I've done red, blue, dark teal, light teal, light green, dark green, various pinks, and few other things. Last year I did red and white striped toes and blue on the big toe with a white star on it.

I also like to do decals, and I usually have to send for them from the UK, as most of the nail stickers in the US are from China, are 3 dimensional and get torn off too easily, and finally there is little variety. The place I get them from is Nail Treatz, and they are made in the UK. They have a really wide variety, and when applied and coated with clear coat they last a really long time.

Fingers:
I really like doing wild variations of french nails. I do a light pink commonly with an off-white tip for a more traditional look. For more adventuresome days I do the tips in different colors. The color scheme I get the most compliments on is the one where I do the tips in dark teal (Witch's Blue from Orly).

Tips:
At first I used the little stickers as a guide, but have found that doing them by hand is faster and leaves no ridges. I anchor my brush-hand and turn my nail tip under the brush, kind of like my brush hand being the arm of an old fashioned record player. Sometimes I do the base color, and paint on the tips. Other times I do the tips first and paint over them with the translucent base coat for a muted tip effect.

Drying nails:
I have found that each coat of polish or other treatment needs to be extremely dry and hard before the next coat goes on. What I found works best is alternating between the hair dryer (on low of course, as high wind and high heat will greatly damage the finish), and running my finger tips briefly under cold running water - I use the hairdryer to dry my fingers - never touch wet nails to a towel. Some brands and colors cure faster than others too. Sally Hansen, Hard as Nails, Clear, dries extremely fast, for example. The thicker the coat the longer the dry times. Also, thicker coats (or even thin ones) that are *not* dry will form bubbles in the next layer from the off-gassing of the lower layer that is not yet dry.

Breakages:
I have lots of troubles with nails shattering and tearing deep into the bed. So, I have had to learn how to do wraps. That's where you put a stick-on fiberglass mesh over the nail and then cover it with a couple of thick coats of superglue. I'm only marginally good at that, but it sure beats wearing bandaids over the nails for weeks on end. I find that shaping my nails to have a gentle curve from the end of the bed to the tip works best. Having a sharp corner sticking out seems to be asking for trouble, with the edges getting caught on things and tearing the nails.

Question:
I've tried a couple of brands of dark reds, as they seem to go well with my skin color and tend to look elegant. But, the brands I've found tend to peel or chip off really easily, requiring daily touch-up. These are even coated with clear coat over the top. Does anyone have any suggestions on an elegant dark red that won't chip as easily?

Hi All,
Ran into an interesting problem that g-girls probably have mastered....


How do you get your contacts out when you have long nails? I had some press on nails and couldn't figure out how to get my contacts out. Had to take one of the nails off to get my contacts out. Any hints on the best technique?

Hugz and a little embarrassed ,

MichelleLynn

Wendy, no I've not used a base coat before - is that more of a matte finish then so that the paint sticks better?

Joni, that's funny you mention model airplane materials. My dad was really into model airplanes all his life (he was also a crossdresser but I didn't find out until a couple weeks before his death.)

The nail paints we use are the same as what has been used for decades on model airplanes, and for those it was commonly called Dope. So I suppose if one is wanting an outrageously different color for some reason, go check out your local hobby shop and find some wild colors there - hopefully they'll be safe to use on nails!

Model airplanes traditionally are covered with either silk or tissue, both of which I've also seen used on nail repair videos I've watched on Youtube. Nowdays people tend to use colored plastic, but some of the more diverse hobby stores still sell the old silk and tissue sheets.

The fiberglass I use is from OrigiNails, called Fiver Mesh, with precut pieces for different nail sizes. It also comes with nail glue from the same company, and it's obviously superglue (cyanoacrylic) repackaged for their brand. When I get done, it doesn't look that great when coated with clear, as the break can be seen under the wrap. But, it turns out extremely tough and durable, which is what I need right now.

I need tough nails because I'm packing to move. Plus, last weekend I did the theater lights for a ballet performance, and the gaffer's gloves really were damaging to my hands - even though I only wore the gloves for a couple of hours while adjusting the hot lights.

Ann

Thank you windy I'll have to have my sister do that for me sometime (buffing my nails out).

I watch the TV show "The Doctors" yesterday and they had a segment about chemicals in nail polish. Three commonly used chemicals are troublesome, one causing endocrine problems, another a carcinogen, and the third linked with nervous system disorders. Thought you might want to see more about it. Here's a link to the show synopsis, and this topic is at the very bottom of the page:

http://www.thedoctorstv.com/main/show_synopsis/193?section=synopsis

They cover a couple of different sides of the health issues, and report that there are nail polishes without those chemicals in them for those that want to avoid them.

I'm sitting here now debating red,pink, or purple.
I allways have on clear polish evan at work.

Mine aren,t that long. But I do know what you mean. It takes time to file them right. But when they look evan & smooth it makes me feel good when I see them. My current color is Iced Ruby from N.Y.C. Awsome color.

Samantha,

I have two thin nails that split badly. I keep them under some control using OPI Matte NAIL ENVY. It's like "fiberglass" for nails. I first use a TROPICAL SHINE 4-way Buffer to get the ridges out that cause splits. A daily or semi-daily tune up with a light file on the tips helps keep nicks from growing into splits.

Marsha,

Even without nails, some of those clasps are just awful to fasten or unfasten. I found replacing them with the kind that screw together helps a lot.

I’ve also got acrylics at the moment, but painted red. I now have a collection of different shades of OPI red (I love the names too!)
OPI is fantastic, it’s what most nail bars use around here, I will probably never use anything else ever again.
Varnish lasts MUCH longer on acrylics or gels than it does on natural nails. I had my acrylics filled in 8 days ago and the colour is still perfect, not a scratch or chip in sight. I think it lasts so long because the nail is less flexible. I’m a keyboard player so they do get some hammer; varnish on my own nails won’t make it through a gig, but since having my fill-ins I’ve spent 4 days learning songs and done 3 gigs over the weekend and they’re still perfect.
When I was having them done last time an old guy came in and asked for acrylics. Blimey, I thought, don’t see that very often, but it turned out he was a guitarist and only wanted them on one hand as his nails kept splitting (I guess from all that frailing – thanks Lynn, learnt a new word!)
The nail technicians tried to persuade him to have some colour on them but he wouldn’t go for it!
xx

Melissa,

A little hint from someone who knows. Unless you want to go shopping for nail polish remover with nail polish on....keep a second, unopened bottle around. Acetone has a habit of evaporating or spilling at the most inconvenient moments.

I've done that.
What's better is forgetting your face is painted untill after you get home.

Checklist, Karen. Checklists taped over the door handle. Maybe even a mirror on the back of the door.

Right on with OPI, Lucy. Double Decker Red for me or sometimes I Am Not A Waitress.

And as far as I'm concerned, your toenails should match your fingernails, at least they shouldn't clash when your wrists are tied to your ankles and you're...wait!..whoops, never mind.<g>

Hugs...Joni Marie

Aren’t those names great, Joni! My favourite is Vodka And Caviar - classic pillar box red colour, or for a more goth look, Bastille my Heart – very deep burgundy colour. The other two that I use occasionally are An Affair in Red Square and I’ve Red the Script. As you can see I only use red! So that’s my answer to your question, Ann – OPI, their topcoat/basecoat is great too.
When I’ve had nails split so far down that amputation of the finger looks like the only option I used to do something similar to your fibreglass and superglue trick, but just using a single-ply of tissue paper, just a tiny piece to cover the split. Paint the nail with clear varnish and stick the tissue over while it’s still wet, blob more varnish over the top while still wet. When dry add another coat to hide the lump and strengthen even more. It’s almost invisible if you do it right and will last ages. Add another coat every now and then and it may even last until the split has grown out. I’m sure fibreglass is even stronger.
Yes Joni, toenails should match, and I like to use the same lippy colour as well, I am so boring aren’t I.
xx

Lucy-

Boring? I seriously doubt that, my dear. And I love red, too, far and away my go to color. As for that somewhat inappropriate comment hinting at being tied up, that wasn't me, it was my evil twin Janie Marie who sometimes pops in for a visit. No, honest!

In regard to the split nail thing, I'm kind of lucky, mine tend to split or chip horizontally rather than vertically, but the last time something like that happened I went to the salon and they used a very fine piece of fabric to mend it. It put me in mind of the material that is sometimes used for model airplane wings. The nail tech put down a layer of base coat then put the fabric on and after it dried she put on a couple of more layers of top coat, much as you described doing. Once it was done, even though I didn't have a color coat put on, it was barely noticeable.

Hugs...Joni Marie

Ann,

You do use a base coat, right?

An even better reason for not using a hot dryer on your nails is that it can damage your nail beds. Even using a buffer for too long on one nail without switching can do that. I try not to do a single nail for more than 10 seconds without a break to cool while I do the next 4 nails.

Mine are always manicured nicely and usually have clear polish on them rather than colours. But as a guitarist, I have to keep them trimmed to be able to play properly so I occasionally wear false ones if I'm going somewhere particularly special.

My toe nails usually have a colour applied to them, I think they just look so much nicer that way. I did French them once which looked really nice too though.

Nikki

Ann,
Oddly enough, they are usually gloss. It's like the primer for paint. It's designed to stick to the nails and let the polish stick to it. With base, two thin coats of polish and a top coat, it's 4 coats per nail. With drying time it can take a while but should not come off as quickly. I'm not sure how much thick coats of polish add to this problem. I have had little problem with losing polish, but then I seldom have it on for very long.

The fiberglass fix definitely does not sound like a do-it-yourself project.

The only thing I can suggest with contact lenses is to use the forefinger and thumb and press the pads together on both edges of the lens and try to bow it up off the eye by pinching with the nails pointed at an outward angle. You sort of drag the pads across the eye pressing down.

Speaking of a buffer, I have a three sided buffer that you use on your nails to give them a really good shine. Although no polish is used whatsoever, you would think that you have a clear one on, the finish is that good. Plus it last for several days too. It's a nice alternative if you have a job or pastime that means you can't paint your nails as much as you would like to because of the polish getting chipped off.

Nikki

I shan’t be fretting about those chemicals (any which may affect reproduction are of no concern to me!)
I can’t really imagine them seeping through the nail anyway. The article states:
“While the polishes may contain these chemicals, they are said to be safe when used as directed. "A lot of these ingredients are only harmful if you ingest them," Dr. Jim says. "It could be bad if children get their nails done, then chew and eat the nail polish."

One would hope that the dedication shown in this thread towards achieving beautiful nails would suggest that none of us are going to lovingly paint our nails or spend 20 quid on acrylics and then go and chew them off.
xx

But, Lucy, I always chew my toenails when I'm nervous. Isn't that what sandals are for?