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I mentioned in today's post about the Get Naked Challenge that I was planning on posting an update on my own progress with Pure Nail Oil™, as well as some simple tricks on how to get the most out of your Pure Nail Oil, so here I am! This post is solely my results with Pure™- I'll be covering how I get the most out of my Pure Nail Oil™ in the next post. It's like a trilogy over here today!
It's been a good 2 months since I started using Pure Nail Oil™, and I'm still just as impressed as I was after the initial 3 day hydration treatment. I'm sure you all remember the initial reveal - How could anyone forget what I had been hiding underneath all that harsh lighting, photo filters and creative angles?
If you're just tuning into this saga, let me explain where I was when, out of desperation, I ordered my first Pure Nail Oil™ Kit.
I was a nipper. That's right. A serious cuticle nipper. I nipped away at anything and everything that looked like it might stick up, stand out, or post any sort of issue. In fact, I nipped so much that I essentially obliterated my Eponychiums (the small, tight band of skin at the base of the nail - most people refer to this as the cuticle, however it is not the true cuticle), and created a fairly bad infection. In fact, I'm still dealing with the fallout from the infection - I have some severe damage to the nail bed on a couple of nails that will take another 3-4 months to grow out. Yup, I was that bad. I could tell you about it all day, but nothing tells the story like photos, right?
Let's look at my left hand - which was my *good* hand. This hand wasn't all that bad (says who!), so I didn't bother with the ultra bright lighting, creative shadows and filters. I just hid behind my phone. You can still see how nasty and torn up my cuticles are though! The first picture was taken before I used my first drop of Pure Nail Oil™. The after photo? Well, that was taken this morning. Neither photo has been altered (save for watermarking). Feel free to do the click to enlarge thang!
Big difference! Now I know these appear to be results that I achieved in 7-8 weeks, but I was seeing dramatic improvement in less than 36 hours. You can take a peek at my original results post here, and you'll see that you don't have to wait weeks to see results. Be sure to check out the macro shot of my ring and pinky nails on my right hand. ;)
Now, my right hand. Oh what a disaster this baby was! If my left hand was scary, then my right hand was downright terrifying. What's worse, was that I was swatching on that hand since my left hand was so short, so I had to be very creative in order to hide all that damage. The "before" photo here is actually unaltered, but still uses that bright light to wash out the redness and swelling. Normally I would have used a skin smoothing camera setting on top of my lighting, as well as focusing only on the nails to blur out the cuticle area. If that didn't work, then I'd use more filters. It took a very long time to create a photo that didn't show just how horrible my cuticles were. In fact, this hand was so bad that my doctor told me that it would take 3-6 months to even begin healing well enough to have actual eponychiums.
Now *that* is a serious difference (Save for the spot on my ring finger where I stabbed myself with a sewing needle, but hey, accidents happen!)! At first glance it may seem as though I still don't have eponychiums, but that isn't the case. They're just small and tight as opposed to nipped to oblivion. When they first grew back, they were actually rather large, but I think this was due to the fact that they were nipped so far back that they were growing in at different stages all the way across. Once they were grown in completely, they started "shrinking back" into what you see now. I think this is where the myth that once you cut your eponychiums they will grow back larger and thicker comes from!
Obviously I still have a lot of damage to the actual nail on my ring and pinky fingers- that's where nipping and resulting infection destroyed most of the nail plate. I'm actually lucky to have those nails at all. Oddly enough, Pure™ has helped a ton with that damage- those spots, although indented, are actually smooth to the touch (I don't buff them either!) and do not peel away.
I also want to point out that my skin, all the way from my fingertips to the back of my hands, looks smoother and healthier. Before I started using Pure™ my hands looked much older...lots of wrinkles, some dark spots, blotchy uneven skin. Now they look much younger and healthier! I still have an odd skin tone - it's just genetics - but my hands have never looked better!
Again, you can check out my original results post (with daily pictures from the first 7 days) here. It honestly does not take weeks to see amazing results - this is just where I'm at now.
"But Kimber," you ask, "Isn't any nail/cuticle oil just as good?'. The answer is a resounding NO! Before I discovered Pure Nail Oil™, I tried almost every product imaginable. I tried Avoplex, Solar Oil, Burt's Bees, Lemony Flutter, Almond Oil, Shea Butter, various lotions, balms, and creams...all to no avail. Sure, they *masked* the problem a bit, but my nails and cuticles were never any healthier, and were still incredibly dry and scaly. My nipping was a result of this dryness, as well as untamable cuticle (true cuticle - the white, flaky stuff that attaches to the actual nail over the Matrix) growth. Once I started nipping, no product was able to help my skin heal. It was a vicious cycle. It was embarrassing and I felt hopeless.
I know I sound like Ron Popeil (although I prefer Vince The Sham-Wow Guy) here, but the bottom line is Pure Nail Oil™ works. Within 24 hours of my first application, I was showing improvement. At 3 days my nails and cuticles were drastically improved. At 7 days, I was almost entirely healed. For skin that should've taken months to heal, that is beyond impressive.
"Okay Kimber, why is Pure™ better than any other oil?"
The answer is Jojoba Oil. Jojoba Oil is the only oil that can penetrate the nail plate (and obviously it does a fantastic job with our skin too!). It is molecularly similar to sebum, our natural body oil, which means that it is literally the closest thing to sebum. Ana has a fabulous article about why and how Jojoba Oil works here.
"Okay, that's pretty cool, Kimber. But my current product works just fine. Why should I try Pure™ if I'm okay with what I have?"
My honest opinion here is that we could all benefit from healthier skin. In the case of our cuticles, Healthy skin is tantamount to preventing infection, and as you've seen in my pictures, healthy nails. Your current product may seem to be doing a great job, but what happens when you wash your hands? Does your skin go back to feeling tight, looking a little ashy and dry? Do your cuticles look dry? Scaly? Itchy?
I also want to ask you this: Does your current product moisturize your nails? And I mean truly moisturize, as in hydrates your nails. If you're not using a Jojoba based oil, the answer is simply...No. Before I started using Pure™, my nails were so dry that they would literally curve inwards, almost to a complete circle (when they were long enough). I would slather on oils and balms, and that would help for about 20 minutes, but as soon as it evaporated or rubbed off? My nails were right back to that scary dryness. I used hydrating base coats, slept with vaseline and gloves on my hands, you name it...I tried it. And although some things masked the problem....nothing ever truly helped. Since Pure Nail Oil™ contains Jojoba Oil as it's main ingredient, it actually hydrates the nail. And not just temporarily - they stay hydrated.
One of the biggest myths out there is that strong nails are HARD nails - that just isn't true. Healthy, strong nails are actually a mix of strength *and* flexibility, and if your nails are dry, they aren't flexible. How many times have we whacked a nail against a countertop or something and had it just snap off like a dry twig? I've had that happen more times than I can count, and my nails sure seemed strong..they were hard, that's for sure.
Healthy nails are a perfect blend of 18% oil and 5% water (source: Ana @ NailCareHQ.com/Doug Schoon), and in order to really hydrate your nails you need to replace what you lose. Water is simple enough - just washing your hands and gently scrubbing with a nail brush will do that. But what about the oil? How do you replace Sebum? With an oil that is similar to Sebum, and the only one around is Jojoba Oil. You see where I'm headed here, but here's another article from Ana that explains the balance between oil and water in your nails and why Jojoba is so important (and amazing!) when it comes to hydrating your nails. This article also shows more results after using Pure™!
Here's the bottom line, lovelies.....Pure Nail Oil™ works. I see so many of us talking about dry cuticles and nails every day, and this oil is the solution - no joke. No smoke and mirrors, no bull. It's the real deal. Here's one more article that I believe speaks volumes about what Pure™ does - this is Sue's story, all the way from day 1 to 5 months later. It's a great read, and a fabulous example of the magic that is Pure Nail Oil™.
Phew! That was a lot to take in, right? Thanks for hanging in there with me!
Now, who's ready to get naked with me!?! Head on over to the Get Naked Challenge Post for all the info!
Stay tuned - Up next I'll be sharing some tips on how to use Pure Nail Oil™, including how to avoid mangling your pen at refill time! :)
Thanks for stopping by and Happy Nail Nudity!
-Kimber
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