Have You Seen My Nails Like This?

The nail and hair salons are the first places I zoom to after each trip out of town. This round, I've been completely lax and didn't turn up at the nail salon till this week. I can sort out the hair next week.

When the nail therapist saw my fingernails, she literally screeched. I winced. She has probably never seen my nails this short. I don't own a nail clipper, and naturally forgot about buying one for the month-long trip. There was only a nail file in the toiletries bag which worked okay, until the nails grew and tore. I had to grab one to chop off all nails to the flesh. See lah, all these years of vanity resulted in brittle nails due to layering gel to it for that perfectly manicured look.

Previously, I had to layer a thin shine of gel onto the nails still, even though they were short. They were too brittle to withstand even water. They were like, paper thin! But after the trip, the nails grew and grew, and regained some strength. So today, I didn't bother with any more varnish or gels. The fingersnails came out of the salon bald and bare, save for a thin layer of base coat. I bet you've never seen me with nails like this. There's more growing out to be done and it'll be another 2 months before the fingernails regain their full strength. My natural nails are strong and I can't wait to have them back!

My right toenail has always been slow to recover from injuries and is always the one that kena the worst. Since 2007, I've only had half a toenail. In spite of all the jumping, swimming and stubbing it repeatedly, that stubborn stump of a nail refuse to fall out. Often, I've been sorely tempted to go to the doctor and have it removed. But I never did pluck up the courage. So the toenail was left to wilt and shrivel or whatever.

It was tender and after putting on acrylic covers for months, the bit of nail thickened and the skin hardened. I stopped with gluing on the fake nail and decided that it was time to let it grow naturally. It's been a couple of months and the thickened nail has indeed grown to an almost normal length. It doesn't look too good though. Still thick, and mis-shapened. But at least it's healthy enough. So I'm not bothered with putting pretty colors on them either.

It feels quite liberating to have bald and bare nails. I can live with not appearing polished all the time. I don't mind the au naturel feel either. I can play the piano without sounding stilted and when I punch the sandbag or jump the ledges, there isn't any sort of restraint. Full-on violence and some amazing leaps have been executed. Best.