But I Smile Anyway…

Linda’s #SoCS prompt today…

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “nail.” Use it as a noun or a verb. Have fun!

Ever since I was young, I’ve had issues with my nails.

They wouldn’t grow, then I didn’t give them a chance, by biting them to the quick.

After years of weaning myself off nail-nibbling, including various ways, like trying StopNGrow polish that tasted yuck, and dipping fingers in chilli powder (ouch, yes!) I finally stopped. I don’t think any of the above actually helped, I just grew out of it, but unfortunately, my nails didn’t.

After subjecting them to all that biting, they were weak. And I wasn’t graced with great nail genes either, as Mum was an even worse biter than me, and my Pops, well, he just cut them down all the time, so I don’t know if he had the capacity for beautiful, long, strong nails…

So false nails became my saviour. I’ve tried so many different types of extensions, from fibre-glass, to acrylic, to gel nails. I even used gel polish instead of the normal. My last foray was into SNS dipping powder nails, where the colour is in the mineral enriched powder that is dipped onto your nails, creating a coloured hard coating.

I’ll tell you a little something. As an Early Years Teacher, I am subjected to a whole lot of washing, on a regular basis, from washing equipment, to water play, to washing hands, and water really softens my nails, weakening them more, so the SNS powders have been great at protecting them and allowing them to grow beneath. And every two to three weeks, I go and get them redone.

I do love my SNS nails. But the problem is that it is not easy to remove the product, unless you have the right acetone remover or equipment to do so. And guess what happened three months ago?

LOCKDOWN!

And with that, all nail salons shut!

Shocking!

Who’s going to help me sort out my nails? As they grew, the temptation was strong, to chip them off slowly. And that is never a good thing.

But, the plus side has been that my nails have had nearly three months of naturalness. No polish, or product on them. They are growing, still soft, but growing, themselves… maybe I can wean myself off getting them done regularly… (and save myself a pretty penny!)

I love pretty nails
My sparkling, polished talons 
Make me feel so glam!

Ritu 2020

Nailed it!