Category: Beauty

How NOT to remove SNS nails

BJJ and pretty nails don’t mix, not for me anyway, since I clip them down every few days to avoid being ‘that’ scratchy-nail person on the mat. And polish? Meh. I only bother for special occasions. But after getting my first SNS manicure for my sister’s wedding, I found a way to clumsily manage a mani and training. Sort of.

That’s Signature Nail Systems by the way- I had to look it up.

The pretty shot

SNS nails

Aren’t they lovely, plastic fantastic-looking amazingness?! Seriously solid. I was drumming my fingernails along everything. Just because.

Obligatory wedding snap (one groomsman to two bridesmaids! We made it work).

Since my ‘enhanced’ French mani was thick and blunt and really not longer than my natural nail length, I got away with training twice in Australia in the week following the wedding; no scratching anyone or feeling like I may inadvertently rip my talons off.

Back to the UK, and although the SNS was starting to grow out, I wanted to be vain and keep that souped-up nail feeling for a little longer. But how to trim them when they’re too thick for clippers to handle?

Cue manic filing! It was tedious, but it worked.

For a good three weeks I successfully kept my nails short for BJJ, and that French manicure – while it looked a little odd with the white part steadily disappearing – continued to hold with no problem. Mind you, it was swiftly looking worse and worse.

SNS french manicure filed down

So this is where laziness just set in really. Who cares what my nails look like! Buy acetone or go to a nail bar to get the stuff removed? Pah! I’ll just let them grow off.

SNS nail pulled off

All the BJJ gripping started prying them loose mid-roll to the surprise of my training partners; Holy shit I just found your nail…oh it’s fake? Phew..

Thankfully I didn’t feel a thing or lose any real nails in the process but, I do now have half a hand of weird-looking pink stuff left on my claws, and my nails are definitely feeling thinner/weaker, hopefully temporarily.

Glue residue on nails
Don’t worry, that’s mostly glue residue, not ragged layers of nail.

Would weak nails be a thing if I had removed the SNS you know, the responsible-manicure-girl way? Maybe, maybe not, the internet seems divided. Either way it’s probably the route I’ll take if I ever get a proper manicure again.

My sister had a great wedding photographer by the way. You can check out more photos here.

Going ‘No Poo’ (not what you’re thinking)

“There is no way I could do it” – that was my initial reaction to this article about giving up shampoo. Nice in theory, but when your hair is a matted, sweaty mess a good 2-4 times a week after BJJ class.. not lathering it up = festy mcgee right? WELL, I’ve discovered actually no.. and I’m about to enter my fifth week as a sporty no poo-er!

Unfortunate term yes (American I believe), but nothing to do with bowel movement or lack of, and everything to do with giving up shampoo for chemical-free alternatives. Washing with bicarb soda followed by apple cider vinegar being where most people tend to start.

Why?

I’ll admit for me, it’s less about the no-chemical thing (but, awesome) and more about seeing if I can improve the quality of my hair, which took a massive nosedive when I moved to London.

I have fine hair to begin with, so when it started breaking like crazy and coming out in clumps in the shower I was pretty miffed. I have definitely noticed an improvement in my hair’s strength since getting on some hair vitamins eight months ago, but it was still pov. Damn you, hard water! *shakes fist*

So I bought Lucy Aitken Read’s Happy Hair eBook (total steal), joined a bunch of Facebook groups, read a bunch of blogs, got utterly confused – but kicked off my no poo journey anyway.

I’ve kept it simple so far, trying an egg wash, the bicarb and water followed by the apple cider vinegar and water mix, I’ve also applied coconut oil to the ends and have rinsed my hair with english breakfast tea – WOW the shine!

Spacing the washes a good seven days apart, I have found that after BJJ class where I’d normally shampoo or at least chuck conditioner on my hair to freshen it up, actually just rinsing it well with water (or tea) has been all it’s needed, and no stink!

I’ve also been brushing my hair a lot more than I normally would, gotta distribute those oils.

So far so good..
So far so good..

There’s apparently a ‘transition’ period where your scalp goes a bit nuts on the oil production before returning to its’ natural balance – I either haven’t hit that stage yet, or maybe I’ll have an easier time thanks to not normally having particularly greasy hair.

I have a bit of a challenge coming up with BJJ Globetrotters Fall Camp in Copenhagen. I’ll be attending the entire week and training multiple times a day, so my hair will no doubt get super sweaty and smelly … but I’ve bought a chemical free (apparently) shampoo bar and conditioning spray to pack in my suitcase, we’ll see if it does the job.

The Big Question

Has the quality of my hair improved? Honestly, I’m not sure yet. Particularly after a tea rinse it feels thicker – but I think I need to give it a while longer before I can really say. Going no poo definitely hasn’t made it any worse.

Will I keep this no shampoo thing up long term? No idea! For now though I am enjoying slapping random kitchen ingredients on my head, and the shampoo and conditioner bottles remain tucked away at the back of the cupboard.

– Have you ever tried giving up shampoo? Tell me about the joy (or horror?!) that lies ahead! xx