Sunday 14 April 2019

How I saved my nails from years of damage and abuse.




 I was pretty horrible to my nails for a really long time. I've posted heaps of nail art things on this blog, in which you can see my lovely long acrylic nails. They were tough and rarely broke, and it was great....but my fingers were sore, I had multiple burn marks on my nail beds from overzealous dremel filing, I lived in fear every time I was cut with a manual file (this happens WAY more often than you'd expect and there's no way to sterilize them, nor do they throw them away), and every time I had a reset/refill, I was confronted by the horrendous state of my natural nail underneath.

So I went the "healthy" way and switched to SNS. Because " SNS doesn't damage your nails. BULLSHIT. I call absolute bullshit. The process that they use to "prepare" your nails under it is exactly the same as acrylic (not to mention that SNS is actually just acrylic powder) and I was left with the same sad state of affairs on every finger.

After a year or so of this, I decided enough was enough, I'd stop torturing myself and grow off the damage (There is no other way. You can't repair nails that have been filed away). It took a -really- long time. The cuticles were damaged, my poor nails were thin and brittle, and as I left my nails alone, I noticed that without the "protection" of a coating, the skin around my cuticles was getting pretty nasty.

I'm an anxious nail biter, and I pick at nail polish, so after I realized that nail polish could provide a bit of protection for my nail edges and cuticles, I set about looking for a polish product that has some staying power, whilst not being invasive in any way, like shallac is.

My salvation came in the form of an old favourite brand with a new lid colour. Boy does it fit the bill, and then some.

OPI Infinite Shine has been around for a few years now, so their colour selection is immense. I have trouble choosing when I go to buy "just one, I promise!", and now my collection is up to about 20 colours, plus the primer and top coat.

 First, we start with the base coat, which gives the nail a good starting point for the polish to bond to, without drying out the nailbed or harming the natural nail in any way.

Next, a thin coat of your choice of colour. Let it dry before then adding a second, more generous coating.

Last, but definitely not least, is the top coat. It's hard as nails (see what I did there?) and dries SO fast. You're good to go (carefully) in about 5 minutes, and completely dry in 20. It's truly amazing.

It dries crystal clear, doesn't matte out nail art gems, and stands up to hard treatment, even in water.

It's not a cheap product. In fact, once you buy a base and top coat, and a couple of shades, you're not going to get much change from $100, BUT you definitely get what you pay for and it's worth every cent.


It's good enough that I'm exclusively using Infinite Shine nail lacquers now, and have been for about a year. They've even released a fine silver holo, which will make all the holosexuals out there extremely happy (shout out to simply nailogical, for those unaware of the term holosexual).

So now I'm one of those people who has lovely long, healthy natural nails, and I'm certain that wouldn't be the case if I hadn't started using Infinite Shine. If you're struggling to grow off damage, or just want a new and awesome nail product, give it a try!

This post is not sponsored and I wasn't gifted the products for review. This blog represents my own opinions.
I value honesty, and assume that my readers do too.

Infinite Shine by OPI is available at all good nail salons, Myer and David Jones nationally.

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