Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Chatting => Chatting on the Plot => Topic started by: snowdrops on May 03, 2018, 12:28
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Gardening season plays havoc with my finger nails, that are poor at the best of times, always been weak but as I’ve got older they’ve got worse. I now wash my gardening gloves regularly to see if this will help as the soil still gets in & I can see it wears the shine off my nails.
I know we discussed shellac versus gel nails etc sometime ago but can’t find the thread.
Does anyone know the pros & cons of any of these, how the6 affect your nails etc or do they weaken them ? Next, how do they cope with intensive gardening?
And lastly will they help my nails underneath to grow with out breaking & splitting, because if so I’ll give it a whirl.
Chaps feel free to chip in 😊
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well Darling one must manicure ones nails little and often and have no dirt behind those nails no biting nails wear good quality gloves but you know dirty hands and nails goes with the garden territory
my nails well not worth a mention I call um gardeners nails I definitely wouldn't win any beauty contest with my nails :lol:
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Thank you Rows, one thing I’m grateful for is that I’ve never bitten them.
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Snows - my nails always split horizontally half-way down just as I'd got them to a nice length. I also used to bite the skin around them so my fingers looked a right mess to say the least! Before going to Ypres last year I decided to treat myself and had white tips put on with a clear gel layer on top as gel lasts longer. One of the best things I've done for ages, have had so many compliments, and have never bitten the skin since. After they get a bit long, I just go in to get the gel removed, the tips shortened, then they apply a white "paint" to make the tips as they were, then the gel is re-applied. The next time they get too long, they remove the old tips and we start again. My own nails grow as per usual, haven't broken like they used to perhaps because they have more "support" at the top, and would never go back to just having my own nails. I wear gardening gloves or "Marigold" ones, but particles of soil can creep into the underneath of your own nails. I heard a tip (ha!) ages ago that you can scrabble your nails on a bar of soap or put a layer of hand cream on beforehand so they don't get dirty. Do what I did and Giggle the best nail bar in your area. Go on - you know you're worth it! :)
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Thanks GG, I’ll ask around to find out which is the best place round here . I was thinking of getting them done before a wedding later in May
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My nail are always painted with shellac with a duraforce topcoat. I repaint them (I have a professional lamp) every 10-14 days. I wear 'showa' gloves for gadening and other gruby jobs and rubber gloves for wet jobs. They stay in great condition.
I have a couple of nails which tend to split but keeping them well polished helps to prevent that.
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Thank you, I’ll have to go to a few places & see what they offer or suggest I think.
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Snows - it's a whole new world and takes a bit of getting used to understanding all the various terms they use. The place I go to are run by some lovely Oriental people but their English is a bit limited, so it took a bit of explaining what I wanted, which was for my nails to look like natural nails. At first, the tips do look a bit white but they seem to mellow in time. What they do is cut my own nails down so they are in line with the tops of my fingers then they select the right size of tip needed for each finger and use a special glue to attach them. Don't worry, they will cut them down to a length that suits you so you won't look like a Chinaman! They then apply a sort of coating that joins the tips with your own nails then they get filed and various polishing brushes are used to give the whole of your nails a smooth base. More filing of tips then another type of gel coat goes on then you just put each hand in turn into some sort of UV doo-dah which dries them out in no time! See what you think of mine.
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Thank you GG, I suppose you can have a colour as well if you wanted? As a teenager I had painted nails all the time, then children etc, then working for NHS I wasn’t allowed nail varnish or anything, then as I said they’ve got weaker as I’ve got older, I had false nails applied once, birthday pressie from hubby, but they didn’t do them right & I had to have them taken off. It was quite brutal how they did it & my own nails were in a worse state afterwards as were my fingers. I was going to start getting them done regularly when I retired but haven’t got round to it. But with this wedding looming, then a week away might be about time I got on with it.
Ps GG they look lovely
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Thanks Snows. Things have changed a lot since my first nail jobbie as my nails did get weaker. Nowadays it's a lot different but you do need to find a locally recommended place on-line like I did.
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I’m booked in locally for next Monday for acrylic nails for length & then can have gel infills, with colour , then a redo the following Friday before I go n holiday, now just to sor5 the outfit for the wedding 👰 n the 20th so I know what colour to have lol. Thanks for your help
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You'll be yo to go then Snows! Good for you, hope you like them, and piccies PLEEZE!!
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You'll be yo to go then Snows! Good for you, hope you like them, and piccies PLEEZE!!
Haha ok, sorted the outfit, managed to get some white linen trousers to go with a top I bought a few weeks ago, feel comfortable in it, no hat as yet but I’m not really bothered by that,already got shoes & handbag. Think I’ll probably go with pale pink nails to match the top. I just hope the nails last from Monday to Sunday as they couldn’t get me in later apart from when I have granddaughter & I didn’t think she’d sit for over an hour lol
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Sounds like you're sorted, Snowdrops. Love to see a nail model picture :D
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Sounds like you're sorted, Snowdrops. Love to see a nail model picture :D
Lol ok, just hoping I haven’t shot myself in the foot for continued poor nails for the future
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Right had the nails done, look good & lasting well, although I do feel they aren’t all applied as well as they might, I did tell her I thought a couple weren’t on straight but she said once she’d filed them & applied acrylic & painted them they’d look different, but as my own have grown they are a bit skew whiff. It has made me take better care of my hands & nails as I am very conscious of them which is no bad thing. Little granddaughter loves them & the cashier at Sainsbury’s admired them, so a real boost for me. I’m due to go back a week tomorrow to have them touched up or whatever they do, hope they last that long as my own nails have grown rather more than I was expecting.
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They look great, but I see what you mean about them being a bit skew-whiff which is a shame when it's your first time having them done. You could always try another place to see if they're any better. As my nails just have a clear coat over them the nail growth doesn't really show unless you look a bit closer, but it does make you take more care of your hands and on the day I'm sure you'll look great.
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The look lovely, Snowy :D
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Thanks both, they’re getting quite long now, I only had them just past my finger ends but some are quite a bit more now. Not sure what happens when I go back with regards to length as I can’t cope if they’re too long, will be bound to break them
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If they are too long they can be filed down before the maintenance to infill the new nail growth.
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Thank you might have to have a go 😊
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In between having new tips put on they file my nails down to the length I want. There's no way I could break my tips as they're hard as iron and the coating over the nails also stops any splits. It's a whole new world but you get used to it.