So. On Saturday, April and I spent an evening with the Dresden girls, i.e. Allison, Amy, Bri, Kristi, Hannah, and Olivia. Chris was there, too, since he doesn't quite qualify as a man yet. ;o) After debating whether we should watch a chick flick or do our nails, we decided on the practical and pleasant option of both at the same time. So we popped "Legally Blonde" into the DVD player and got down to proper manicuring business.
Step One: Remove old, chipped nail polish from nails.
This is where things started to go wrong. Apparently, it's not wise to mix polish removers, as April and I quickly found out. Both of us were using whatever bottle of polish remover was nearest at hand. First, it was an American brand of remover. As we were all using whatever bottle was most convenient, somebody else grabbed the American polish remover. Next time I looked up, a German brand of polish remover was sitting on the table, so I started using that. April apparently made the same mistake.
Step Two: Paint nails.
This, fortunately, we achieved without any major mishaps--at least, none beyond those which elicited the cry of, "Oh no, I just messed up that nail!"
Step Three: Discover that mixing polish removers is a bad idea.
While the movie was still playing, and after I'd finished my polishing (French manicure with sparkle-shiny pink topcoat, if you must know), I began noticing that something was not quite right with my fingers. The thumbs, index, and middle fingers of each hand, to be precise; the fingers with which I'd been holding cotton drenched in polish remover. The skin on all six of those fingers seemed to be getting very, very dry and hard to the touch.
Step Four: Lotion, anyone?
I started massaging lotion into my fingers, but to no avail. Wash, rinse, repeat had no effect. I started to wonder if I'd burned off the top layer of skin or something. Shortly thereafter, April mentioned having the same problem with her fingers. No one else seemed to know what we were talking about.
Step Five: Long story short.
Since Saturday, I have soaked my fingers in hot water, rubbed what seems like liters of lotion into them, massaged them with essential oils, and scrubbed them again and again. But the skin of those six fingertips started developing hairline cracks anyway. Only two things seem to have helped so far: I rub Vaseline on my hands every night before bed, which seems to have kept my fingertips somewhat soft. And this morning in the shower, I actually exfoliated my fingertips. Which felt really weird. I have a pedicure tool with a metal file, an emery board, and a pumice stone on it. So this morning, I filed, emeried, and pumiced my fingers. Not one of my more graceful moments, but it had to be done.
The end result is that my skin is still ultra-dry, and it's still developing those hairline cracks. April's is peeling off. I shredded mine, so I don't know which one of us has it worse.
Moral of the story: Don't mix nail polish removers, thereby shellacking your fingers. It's just not a smart thing to do.
What in the world???
Monday, August 22, 2005
shellacking my fingers
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5 comments:
Yes, I use acetone (main ingred. in nail polish remover) to remove water from things in the lab. Even though I wear gloves, it goes through them. Sometimes my hands are also so dry to the point that lotion is of no help. It took me about two weeks to get back to normal, although my skin never cracked.
That's really unbelievable! I hope you shed this sickly skin soon! Well, due to my serious bike crash, my skin isn't looking so pretty either on my right elbow and thigh. It's pretty much purple. What a crazy girl's night!!
I hate it when that happens! One time while french manicuring my fingernails I accidentally chopped them all off with a butcher knife. Apparently that's bad too!
**studiously ignoring Matt's comment**
I can't believe it did that--I hope that doesn't say anything about cultures mixing :)
I didn't have any problems, but I only used the American remover. Have you tried the Melaleuca oil yet? I thought you guys were big believers in that stuff?
Karen: Well, my digits are almost back to normal now. I think what helped the most was the exfoliating. So I highly recommend that! It makes sense that you'd use acetone to extract water...it certainly sucked enough moisture out of my poor fingers (and April's)!
Amy: Yes, it definitely turned out a bit crazy....Let's do it again! (Minus the skin damage and bodily injuries, of course.)
Matt: You shouldn't use a butcher knife during a French manicure. That's what those dainty little nail scissors are for. Don't you know anything? ;o)
Bri: Not melaleuca oil, but an essential oil mixture called "White Angelica." It contains bergamot, geranium, myrrh, sandalwood, rosewood, ylang ylang, spruce, hyssop, melissa, rose, and almond. Pretty potent stuff....but I think in this case, it was the simple exfoliating elbow grease that did the trick. ;o)
And if this was a metaphor for cultures mixing...it just means that harmony is achievable through hard work! *grin*
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