Chrissy Iley
I love the idea of a Nail Doctor. So much nicer sounding than a podiatrist. A clinical mani pedi, bespoke and prescribed especially for thin, brittle peeling nails or discoloured brittle nails. All for people who wish to limit exposure to formaldehyde. All these things are good.
My nails traditionally are not good. I seem to feel every stress in my nails. My nails are in a vicious circle. They are too ugly and broken to be left natural and the more polish I apply, the more they break and peel. It takes a lot to get stress free nails. For a start I’m using them all the time and I don’t just mean in a ‘I use the computer a lot, my dishwasher broke’, but just living. We all use our nails. Not sure why mine in particular are a map to my mental and physical wellbeing but they are. Bad time. Bad nails.
I’m not sure if the reverse is true. If you can make your nails look good you might actually feel good. I know it gives me great satisfaction to look down at a newly polished mani pedi and the converse is also true. It makes me upset to look at broken, dry, chipped, vulnerable nails. My temporary solution that lasted a really long time was that I should apply white nail polish as I read somewhere that coloured was much worse but in the meantime several of them broke off entirely in a very sore place and I had them fixed with nail glue and bits of pretend fibre which made them even thinner and in the long run worse. Most people love Shellac. It took my nails a year to recover from it. It could be because it was an early version of it and I couldn’t find a place to remove it properly so it had to be picked off. Yes I’m sure that had a lot to do with it but it all means I’m not running for any more Shellac as a solution.
When I heard about Dr’s Remedy I was all over it. Enriched nail care. They do calming clear top coats, hydration moisture treatment, Caress cuticle oil but more than that they have a universe of statement colours that are made to be kind to your nails. They involve things like tea tree oil, garlic bulb, lavender, wheat protein and vitamin C and E. Dr’s Remedy is all about enrichment. It was founded by a board of New York based podiatrists. Dr Cirlinione and Dr Spielfogel. Once launched it quickly established itself as the best alternative nail care, formaldehyde free, resin free and all those nasty things.
After having white nails for such a long time it was a shock when I chose Clarify Coral which is a classic 1950s red, the kind of nail you imagine on Marilyn Monroe. The first thing you notice is how well the polish covers the nail. It’s creamy. It’s smooth and it has a built in gloss. You almost don’t need a top coat. With its help my nails definitely look and feel a lot stronger. There’s less flaking and brittle serrated edges. Everything is in the process of healing. I very much look forward to trying more shades and more of this in the near future. It also has a reputation which I can uphold for staying power. Because my nails are so brittle and flaky anyway it’s quite often a matter of minutes before they’re chipped and in a couple of hours my fresh manicure is already looking battle weary but not this time. Its gloss and strength are its super powers.
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Stockist is www.feetlife.co.uk £11.95