Strong & Long Nails Guide

So first off, hi everyone! I hope your week is going amazing. Let's get to it.

There are a lot of different ways to get nice nails, but these tips and products have personally worked for me. PLUS it's all natural. 

TIP 1 — Keep your cuticles moisturized.

Cuticles (when you take the time to really think about them they're kind of weird lol) protect the nail root which is where your nail grows from. So if the protection isn't protected how is it supposed to protect, you feel? If your cuticles are constantly dry and not trimmed correctly your nails will be dry and brittle as well. 

WHAT I USE: Zeva Cuticle Oil Pen

You guys, this pen was sent straight from heaven I'm telling you. It's $15, lasts forever, and you can keep it in your purse to moisturize throughout the day! I like to not only put it on my cuticle but also my entire nail bed. Especially if I'm taking a break from polish and don't want them to break. If you have polish on just use it on your cuticles throughout the day. Overtime this makes a huge difference in how your nails grow.

TIP 2 — Buff and shine your nails once a month.

This is actually a tip my grandma gave me back when I was a religious nail biter. It's made my nails so much stronger after I was constantly ripping them. I use a gentle buff and shine tool because you don't want to be too harsh on your nails, that can make them even thinner! I used to do this every week but realized it was kind of wearing down my nails, so once a month has been my go to recently.

WHAT I USE: Tropical Shine Buff and Shine Tool

I got this at Sally's, so you can probably get it at your local beauty store! It's only about $3 and it can last me up to a few months. If you aren't able to find this one anywhere, just grab one that won't be too rough on your nails. You can find cheap ones at Target too.

TIP 3 — Use a daily keratin treatment

Keratin is a protein that is actually found in our hair, skin, and nails. So if it's something your deficient in then your nails can tend to be weaker. You are able to buy pill forms of it at the vitamin store or online, but I actually use a topical treatment that soaks in to your nails if pills aren't something you like.

WHAT I USE: RescueRX Daily Keratin Treatment

I’ve been using this for two months and I am absolutely in love with it. I put it all over my nail and cuticle before I go to bed. When I wake up my nails look shiny and healthy. My nails are normally pretty thin, but after a month of consistently using this, they were noticeably stronger!

TIP 4 — Take beauty supplements

Beauty supplements have important vitamins that your body may be lacking in that help you achieve your hair, skin, and nail goals. Who doesn't want that right? Most beauty supplements are all natural, but make sure you double check. 

WHAT I USE: Halo Beauty

These are by far the BEST beauty supplements I've ever tried. I even dedicated a whole blog post to them (to see my full review click here). After using these for a month my nails were noticeably stronger and healthier. They're soy, sugar, and dairy free. Plus they're vegan which is great too! My nails also grew out faster than they normally do so it's a win win.

Incorporating these tips into your nail care routine can help you achieve strong, healthy, and long nails. If you continue to have trouble with your nails, I recommend reaching out to your doctor to see if you're deficient in any vitamins or minerals.

I hope this helps! If you have any other nail care tips that you swear by let me know! I'm always looking for something new to add.

xoxo, Lo

We the Perfectionists.

Before we get this started I’m going to very honest. This is not meant to be a negative post, or to complain about traits that i carry, but rather to explain certain unhealthy habits being a perfectionist. I love being a perfectionist honestly. I love making things look beautiful and I love taking the time to think about the small, intricate details. But I’ve noticed that there are some things that I want to change in order for it to be healthy, and I always love to spark conversation with you guys.

For those of you who know me there are two facts that are basic knowledge. I hate reading and I’m a perfectionist to the max. However, recently I’ve been reading this book by Donald Miller called Scary Close.

The basis of it is learning how to not perform for validation and just be real with people. He touches the topic of perfectionism and how it has a major role in performance, and not just for other people but putting on a show for ourselves as well. Now listen, I’m not saying being a perfectionist is a bad trait to have or anything of that sort, but sometimes we take it farther than necessary, am I right?

There are many things I’ve realized about myself reading this book, but this is the main one —

If I have an idea, whether it be a creative or personal one, and I don’t think I can achieve it to the extension in my mind, I quit before I even start.

Sometimes it’s fear. Sometimes it’s insecurity. And sometimes you just have a specific expectation that you don’t feel you can achieve. In the book Miller says, “The reason I don’t like exercise is because somewhere, in the deep recesses of my brain I’ve become convinced no amount of work is enough” (pg 43). And that hit me like a ton of bricks. If you’ve already convinced yourself that nothing you do will measure up what’s the point in trying?

“I used to mow my lawn then crawl around on the grass with a pair of scissors cutting the uneven blades of grass . . . There are really only two things a person can do when they’re that much of a perfectionist. They can either live in the torture and push themselves to excel, or they can quit” (pg 43)

I never understood before why I quit things so easily, like working out or pursuing fashion and music, until I read that statement. Like many of you, I have a person in my mind that I picture so vividly that I aspire to be. A woman that’s strong and doesn’t take no for an answer. She’s kind but brave and isn’t afraid of failure or opinions. She’s a badass honestly. And my only thought process is that maybe I don’t have what it takes to become her. So I quit. Without even starting the improvement process. And that’s really quite sad when you think about the depths of it. That we the perfectionists would hinder our own futures, our own ideas, our own success, for the simple fact that we have become convinced that no amount of work is enough.

The truth is that no matter how hard we try we will never reach a level of perfection. We’re human, and we’re flawed. Which is actually really beautiful because if we weren’t the world would be pretty boring. You and I have to give ourselves some grace every once in a while you know? Whether we reach the exact expectations in our minds or not, isn’t it worth it to try? We the perfectionists are amazing people. But we got some stuff to work on too. So I propose the idea that paying close attention to detail is not a flaw, but it does become unhealthy when we bet our entire lives on whether or not it exceeds our standards.

Lighten up a little, yeah? ;) But you can go fix that crooked frame on the wall if you want. I know it’s been bugging you this whole time.

xoxo, Lo

Change.

Change can be hard. Strange. It’s different than “going with the flow” or “dealing with it as it comes.” With all of those statements every single one of us still has an idea of how it should go. You can be the most spontaneous human being, but I think you and I both know that just because you choose not to worry over life, doesn’t mean unplanned events don’t happen. We all have expectations. We all have hopes and goals, even if they’re small ones. We were made to have ambition to all different extents. But life happens. Good things and bad things, which is all apart of the process.

I just recently turned 19, switched from a very low key part time job to a full time job, and got some very hard but much needed closure, all in a matter of days. I look at my life and I am nowhere near where I thought I’d be. 2 years ago I had a very different plan for what my life would look like. Feel like even. I still cry a lot. I laugh a lot too. I can’t really explain how change feels. It’s almost as if you know somewhere in the pit of your stomach that you can’t go back, even if you wanted to. And not just to situations or people but the person you were, because you’re becoming something completely different.

It was hard for me at first. Knowing that choosing not to give up not only made me stronger but also didn’t give me a choice of going back. For instance, accepting the fact that it won’t ever be that simple again. I’m an adult now, and life gets more and more complicated every day. Or committing the next few years of my life to working my ass off in order to live the life I’ve dreamed of. Or letting go of things because I have to be strong now. I have to finally choose myself. I could wish for a lot of things, and I have. But genies aren’t real, and I’ve had to forget “what if’s” and regrets and accept the fact that life going on is inevitable.

There’s no formula to dealing with change. It’s all a process really. And no, the changes going on in my life and maybe even yours, are not bad necessarily. I think it’s the fear of the unknown. Looking to the future without forgetting how hard you loved and how deep you felt. Pain, love, anger, happiness. It’s all still there. But it’s slowly developing our core person into it’s full potential. So with all of that, change is here. We can’t escape it, but in the end it happens for a reason, and we have to learn how to adapt, just like we always have.

love, Lo