Easy Nail Stain Removal

I decided to take off my bright manicure from last night. To my dismay, it went from this:

To this. 

In my rush to get the post happening I didn't use any base coat and ended up with the worst staining that I've ever had. 

I would usually buff out light nail polish stains but these ones were too bright to do that.  I would have to thin out the nails a little too much for my liking. I did a bit of a research on how to remove these stains with different methods and came across to methods that used anything from using toothpaste and lemon to harsher things like peroxide and bleach.  

I decided to keep it on the gentler side and opted for whitening toothpaste to begin with.    This is the before photo in sunlight that makes the stains look a little better.

Took out my old toothbrush and used a Middle Eastern whitening toothpaste. Nothing particular about the formula of this toothpaste, I just happened to be using it at the time.

I added a little water and scrubbed for bout a minute and then rinsed.

The stains didn't disappear completely but the intensity lessened. 

I wasn't completely happy with it so I moved onto bicarbonate soda. I put about a teaspoon of the powder into a little dish.

I added water haphazardly and ended up with salty water so I had to start again. I'd say to get the paste below, I added the same volume of water as I did of bicarb soda. It's just a matter of playing around with it till the consistency is manageable and can be picked up easily with the toothbrush.

I scrubbed for about two minutes with the paste and rinsed completely so I ended up with this result.

Much better. I think they are the whitest they have been for a while.

 Even though I (think I) used relatively gentle methods, all the chemicals, scrubbing and rinsing, left my nails a bit dry. I lathered my fingertips, nails and cuticles in Neutrogena Hand Cream. I find it to be very rich and good for this sort of occasions. 

I'm actually happy with the way they look without polish, I may leave them to breathe for a day.

I know there a massive number of links that show you how to remove stains but I wanted to share my experience. Hope you guys find this helpful in the event of nail stains. 

Do you have a preferred method for stain removal? Do you have a way, apart from base coats, to avoid the stains to begin with?

Till next time, 

Laura

End of Semester Manicure

Well... Technically the semester isn't over and still have about four pieces of assessment due in the following two weeks but I couldn't wait to post again. 


I've been wanting to do this fish braid technique for ages but I didn't find the time or I had disastrous attempts at it. As always, I found on YouTube on MissJenFABULOUS channel, and I loved it. Here's my attempt.

I got home on Friday night, after having three assignments due that day, and started making the braid on my ring finger which took  F O R E V E R and painted the rest of the nails on Saturday morning.  

Polishes used:

Purple: Dubai by B Collection by Bloom
Pink: Cologne by B  Collection by Bloom 
Gold: Goldie by Bloom Cosmetics
Top Coat: Rimmel Pro Matte Finish

I've also learnt the very important lesson of cleaning up the cuticles and how much better it can look when the polish is fairly even. I grabbed an old eyeliner brush and tried it out. It's OK but i don't think it will stand the polish remover for much longer. So it'll be my quest to find a good one.

I'll leave it short and sweet for today,

Till next time.