Friday foot fact

On this Friday, I would like to share the factors that affect nail growth.  A lot of the time I get questions asked about why the nail is growing in a particular fashion. There's about 8 factors that will determine why they do grow in such a way.

1. Trauma

2. Infection

3. Nutritional deficiencies

4. Aging

5. Lack of blood supply

6. Skin diseases

7. Inherited factors

8. Congenital conditions

So whenever you see your fingernails or toenails growing in a different matter as they used too, try to see if any of these factors come into play. They usually will!

That's all for today, I will cover in depth on these factors at a later post, it's been a very busy week at Toes2U, thanks for reading!

Have a great weekend everyone, try to stay cool in this hot summer weather and don't forget to put your best foot forward!

Friday foot fact

Ever have a toenail injury that's taking forever to heal and just doesn't seem to grow out?

The reason is probably because our toenails do take a long time to grow.  It takes a total of 12-18 months for the nail to be completely grown out or replaced and they usually grow at 1 millimeter per month. So be patient with them and let time do it's course of nature.

Our fingernails do grow a bit quicker at a rate of replacing itself completely from 4 to 6 months. That's why we cut our fingernails a lot more often than than our toenails. Keep in mind that nails and hair grow more quickly in the summertime than winter and that's a Friday foot fact!

Remember to put your best foot forward everyone and have a great Father's Day weekend!

Tuesday Nail Tip

I recently tried a nail polish and had to talk about it. It was a last minute buy at the drug store and I hoped it delivered the quick drying it advertised since I had a wedding to go to in a few hours time.

Did it deliver? Yes it did! In fact I'm highly recommending you to try it, here it is:

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry in Blue Streak #240 

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry, fast dry nail color in Blue Streak #240, kudos to you!  The metallic blueish teal color is intense and looks good on short fingernails too.

I have to say I did have to apply 2 coats of the polish to get the nail fully covered but it dried so fast I had no lost time in between layers. The drying time from the start of the application to the end of drying time was about 10-12 minutes at the most.  I was able to clip suspenders on a tuxedo without smudging, not even the imprint of material appeared. The polish only started chipping 3-4 days after and that was with a whole day of removing wall paper by hand on the fourth day!

Please, do note there was no base or top coat applied either, that would slow the drying time though it would make the color last that much longer if you are not in a rush.

Again, highly recommended for a pretty, quick & polished look to any evening!

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!