Acetone vs. Non-Acetone

Have you ever wondered which is the best for your nails? After thinking about that for a while, I decided to do a little research and here's what I came up with:

ACETONE
Pros: Acetone is definitely the quickest way to remove nail polish. I also discovered that it strips the oils from your nails, which makes your base coat adhere to your nails better, resulting in longer wear for your manicure.
Cons: Because it strips your nails of its natural oils, it can be extremely drying. Acetone is also an irritant. Wikipedia has a long list of the possible long-term health effects of inhaling acetone fumes or even exposing your eyes to acetone fumes. Whenever using pure acetone, it's best to be in a highly ventilated area! I remember when I was pregnant with my children, whenever I stepped into a nail salon the fumes hit me like a ton of bricks!



NON ACETONE
Pros: Less damaging and less drying because of added conditioners, like Vitamin E. It removes nail polish just as well as pure acetone.
Cons: A little frustrating when removing glittery nail polishes (I can vouch for this!). It isn't as strong as pure acetone, so it takes more rubbing with your cotton ball!

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Personally, I always use non-acetone nail polish remover, but it's whatever works best for you! If you wear nail extensions, you've probably spent time soaking them off in acetone. Be careful of the fumes, be sure to be in a ventilated area. Also, because of the drying effects of acetone, take extra care to keep your nails and cuticles properly hydrated.


xoxo!

*Shade of the Week*

Happy Monday Darlings! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and are geared up to start and complete another week!

My Shade of the Week for this week is L'Oreal's Safari Chic from their Iconic Muse line. It is the absolute PERFECT shade of grey-ish green...the name of the shade suits the color perfectly. It looks great with neutral clothes and gold jewelry... which is how I'm rocking it today! Check it out :)

Natural Nailed Celebrities

Hi Darlings! I've put together a few photos of some of our favorite celebs rocking their natural nails. They are all beautiful! Scroll down enjoy! 

Beyonce Knowles rocking lovely, natural, long rounded nails. 

Halle Berry's Red Carpet Nails. Simple and stunning.

Jennifer Lopez also rounding out her tips. Fabulous J. Lo!

Kim Kardashian keeps her nails short and natural.

Scarlett Johansson nails are short and shimmery for the red carpet.

My girl, Corinne Bailey Rae rocking a beautiful purple hue. Love it!

*Hard As Nailz does not own these photos*

*Shade of the Week*

Hi loves! I'm introducing a new section on Hard As Nailz! called "Shade of the Week". This is where I'll be sharing my nail color for that particular week. Sunday is my usual day for polish changes, so when I change up on the weekends, I'll let you know what I'm rocking! I'll also give a quick review of the nail polish on the next "Shade of the Week" post to let you know how it held up.

L'Oreal 'Now You Sea Me'

Okay. Let me just put it out there. L'Oreal has been my favorite nail polish brand this year. They last long, hardly ever chip, the color isn't watered down and it's just amaze-balls! So you'll see a lot of L'Oreal in my "Shade of the Week" section. 

This week I'm rocking, 'Now You Sea Me' from L'Oreal's Iconic Muse line. B-E-A-UTIFUL! This nail polish is the absolute perfect shade of blue. It's a creamy, almost grey-ish blue that stands out but also blends right in with almost anything you're wearing. I absolutely love it and I know you will too. Match your mani with your pedi, wear some awesome sandals and let the compliments roll in! Try it! You can find it at any of your local drugstores. 

MAN-icure

My husband is one of those guys whose nails grow like an inch-a-day. It's crazy and I am CRAZY jealous of him! As jealous as I am, I hate feeling his long nails on my skin... can we say "scratchy"? I'm constantly clipping them for him.

My husband is a real guy's guy... he won't be caught in a nail salon and he's not too keen on manicures. Thank God he has soft hands and feet or I would have to insist that he go! So if your man isn't into mani-pedi's, don't worry, you can still take him from Edward Scissor-Hands back to your handsome love in two minutes. All you need is a pair of clippers and a willing man (good luck!).

 My husband, James, BEFORE...

and AFTER!

Parlez-Vous Français?

Hey Dolls! It's Monday and the beginning of another beautiful week. I hope you've all been taking advantage of the tips and tricks that have been posted and are seeing results! I've already received a few comments from friends who have begun hydrating their cuticles and started wearing gloves and they are already seeing improvement! Well done ladies!

Last week I gave myself a french manicure - - here is what I did, step-by-step, as well as a review of the product I used 'Nailene Perfect Tips'.

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1. I began by cleaning, filing and buffing my nails. I don't push back my cuticles that much, just a bit. (I normally apply a base coat before I paint my nails, but it failed with this product, you'll see why.)

2. Next I began applying the French Manicure guides. I used Nailene Pefect Tips! They are little stickers that you place along the tip of your nails to make a clean line for the french manicure.

3. The guides were fairly easy to apply. They are quite sticky, which is good because once they were in place they didn't move or shift. One my first try, I applied a clear base coat before putting the guides in place, however, when it was time to remove the guides, it made the base coat peel off. So this time I didn't use a base coat at all.

4. After applying the nail guides, I painted my tips with white nail polish, just below the stickers. I think it would have worked better if I had used the Nailene French Tip Pen, but I just went with what I had. The polish wasn't really the greatest quality. It wouldn't come out as opaque as I liked, but here it is.

5. After allowing the white nail polish to completely dry, it was time to remove the guides. This was tricky, because they are really sticky! I tried removing them myself but it wasn't working out - so I enlisted the help of my hubby. That's him removing the guides for me. Thanks hun! 

6. For my overall color, I used L'Oreal Colour Riche Nail Color. The shade I used is called 'Sweet Nothings'. It's from their 'Hopeless Romantic' line and I absolutely love it. It gives a very pale pink/apricot color on my nails. I didn't take a photo of this step, but here is the nail polish.

7. Here is the final step. A simple at-home french manicure. :) The Nailene Perfect Tips nail guides were great. They gave me the clean line I wanted.

My recommendation would be to use a French Tip pen, instead of white nail polish in the bottle. I think it would give a cleaner white tip.

The nail guides cost less than $2.00 per pack!! Excellent buy.