General Nail Care

I've wanted to post a little something about this since I started. I was a nail biter for 21 years, so i have only ever had real nails for around 3-4 years with the odd 'stress nibble' in the first couple of years of non-biting. For the first few years my nails were incredibly soft, bendy and weak. I used lots of products such as Sally Hansen Hard As Nails but as soon as I stopped using them, my nails would revert to their weak selves. The opposite was that while using the Sally Hansen, they became very rigid, but I still struggled with regular breaks - always clean off and always very close to the nail bed.

Now you will see that my nail beds are still quite short - I have worked to lengthen these through extremely careful cleaning of my nails (to try and reduce the natural white tip) and regular pushing back of my cuticles. However i don't think my nails will ever be as long as some of the beautiful ones I see. All the same, I am really happy with my nails except for one exception. My middle nails both grow at an angle. If i bend my fingers, you dont really notice it, but if my fingers are out straight, you can see a clear slant to one side. I have tried filing my nails in all shapes, sizes etc and cant seem to make them appear straighter.

Bent position (relatively straight I feel!)

Bloody cock eyed! Definite, noticeable curve to the left. My fourth nail looks like it curves to the left but thats infact my bent finger :)
This is a source of great annoyance to me as I have finally found OPI Nail Envy which has enriched my nails massively - they are so strong now that for the first time ever I have been able to square off my nails and maintain around 1/2cm of length from the end of my finger. My nails look so much more feminine, I've been able to practice more nail art techniques (with varying success i may add!) and they just look so much better and healthier.

OPI Nail Envy is great in that I can wear it alone, or I can use it with nail polish over. I use it as my basecoat - its incredibly fast drying and easy to apply. I havent tested it with darker colours though such as red and blue which are more likely to stain, so I will have to get back to you on that!

(Just thought I would include my left hand as really pleased with my nail length on this hand too!)

Here it looks like I have filed the left side of my nail but it actually just curves inwards to appear diagonal - height of annoyance!

You can find OPI Nail Envy at all good cosmetic retailers - I got mine from Sally Express for £18.99. You can find it cheaper online, such as at Amazon for £8.75 (never buying my Nail Envy from Sally Express again!)

Does you use Nail Envy by OPI? What nail care products can you not live without? And.... Does anyone know how to fix my cock eyed nails?! Haha! Xx