Friday foot fact

Week 21

This is the time of year where most of us are wearing sandals and some are going barefoot all throughout the summer months. We're even showing off our well groomed, pedicured feet and freshly painted toenails in many different shades. There is one thing though I noticed, a lot of us laugh at the guy who is wearing socks and sandals. Like really? Who does that?

Well believe me, ladies and gents, you might want them to keep the white cotton socks covering those feet. Most of the time, there's always something more going on than a fashion faux pas. It's like a 'fun-guy' party, I mean, fungi party going on with his toenails.

You're thinking, well, how bad can it be? Do they have to wear the socks AND sandals?

Let me tell you how bad it can be, fungi aka mushrooms, love to frequent this sweet spot a lot. They are like the relatives visiting you that just won't leave because your weekend buffet is outstanding! Let me show you how fungi can destroy your toenails. I'm giving you a warning with the next image though, it isn't pretty and it might even make you gag a little for those faint of heart or find the thought of feet disgusting!

Fungi toenail

Not laughing anymore? You have to realize that this is an extreme case of fungus and a lot could of been done to repair this type of situation and this isn't an overnight thing either. So if a friend, a relative or even your boyfriend is starting to do the sock and sandal shuffle, you might want to let them know there is help out there.

This has been my Friday foot fact on fun guys with fungii! Have a great weekend everyone and remember to put your best foot forward this summer minus the foot 'shrooms!

Anatomy of the nail 101

Nail Anatomy part 1

Ever wondered about what the nail is made of? It's actually the same material as your hair too.

You see, our skin, nails and hair is made of a protein named keratin. The skin is made of soft keratin and our hair and nails are made of hard keratin. The difference between the soft and hard keratin is, when you cut your hair and nails, it doesn't hurt but getting a cut in your skin does.

Our nails protect the ends of our digits and they also help us pick up the thinnest of objects.  Some of us bite our nails, some like the acrylics, gel or porcelain falsies because we don't like the way they look, some wear them short and natural.  There's a lot that our nails endure on a daily basis all depending on the wear and tear of the work we do with them. The fact is, I've seen so many nails ruined, some temporarily, some permanently, on so many levels. Personally, I have had very short nails for the longest time out of convenience for work and my second passion, cooking.

Learning about the anatomy of the nail is important to understand different problems that arise with them all throughout our lives. It's good to know the elements and their function to better understand what is going on when problems do arise.

First we will take a look at the dorsal view of your nail:

Dorsal view of the nail

1. Free edge, also known as the free margin, is the part of the nail is growing beyond the fingertip.

2. Nail plate or nail body, is the part of the nail that is attached to the skin of your finger.  This plate is made of layers consisting of the ventral, intermediate and dorsal plates.

3. Nail root: this is where the nail actually begins to grow underneath the skin at the base of the nail.

4. Lunula: the pale, half crescent moon that appears at the base of your nail. This part is actually situated underneath the nail plate.

It seems that the lunula is not always apparent in everyone or on all the nails either for some reason and sometimes, lacking something in your diet or some chronic diseases will affect the appearance of it.

The nail consists of much more elements than meets the eye, stay tuned for part 2 of the anatomy of the nail. Till next time, remember to put your best foot forward and have a great day!

Friday foot fact

Week 20

It's a gorgeous Friday morning in Ottawa and May long weekend is almost upon us.  It's usually a time when my feet are ready for sandal season but time flew by and I'm looking like the cobbler's son with no shoes.  Meaning my feet are due to get pedicured big time and taking a closer look at them, I realize that I have a white mark on the nail of my first digit a.k.a. The Big Toe.

I'm even going to share a pic of this mark since I find it quite impressive if I do say so myself. Please remember, I haven't been kind to my feet this season as you can see for yourselves, my feet and toenails need some TLC as in Toe Lovin' Care! The white mark on my nail is actually called leuconychia.

Leuconychia

Usually these type of white marks or spots appear on the fingernails and sometimes, as you can see, on the toenails too.  Leuconychia is usually caused by an injury to the nail causing an air bubble or a bruise to the nail leaving a white mark or spot.  Sometimes we don't even remember the injury but believe me the one on my big toe was memorable!  In some instances though, it can by caused by a lack of zinc and before you start taking in some extra nutrients, check with your doctor.

The good thing about this type of nail injury is that it will grow out and nothing that a little nail polish can't hide in the meantime since it usually takes a bit of time to grow out.

This has been my Friday foot fact, I wish you all a great long weekend and remember to put your best foot forward!

Friday foot fact

Week 19

One of the questions I get often is why your toenails are yellow, it's a fact that once you take off the remains of the old polish, there's a yellowish tint to your nails.  One of the reasons for this is because your nail is porous and will absorb some of the pigments in the nail polish. The other reason is the color of the nail polish, the darker the color, the more pronounced the discoloration of the nail will be. Red polishes leave the toenail stained at it's worst as I've seen throughout the years.

You can prevent this problem by applying a base coat before the colored polish. This clear base shields your nail and protects it from having the pigment seeping into your nail.

You see, a professional polish application has 4 steps involved.

1. Base coat

2. First coat of the nail polish.

3. Second coat of nail polish

4. Top coat

If you are an avid polish wearer that can't seem to go without any, you might want to give your nails a break once in a while to let them breath or switching it up with a French styled polish. To get rid of the stain all together is going to be covered later on since it involves different procedures.

Hope you've enjoyed this Friday foot fact, I wish you all a great Mother's Day weekend and remember to put your best foot forward!