Nail Whitening Manicure

Sometimes my nail polish obsession gets the best of me. Wearing shades of red, purple, blue and green takes it's toll on my nails. In general, darker shades have a way of seeping through even the best base coat. Long story short; my love of dark shades, have stained my nails!

Now, nail staining can occur for all types of reasons. Smoking, not using a base coat, using dark polish, not properly washing hands...etc.  You see, finger nails (toe nails too) are made of keratin. Keratin is porous and can absorb colored substances. 

There are many commercial products available that are made to whiten your nails. Some of them work really well, and others are just a waste of money.  I have tried some of the natural remedies out there as well, but the results don't wow me. 

When I want to whiten my nails, I have a method that I call the "Whitening Mani". It's quick, easy, cheap and works for me. You may not get the same results if your nails are very stained, but if you do this once every week or two you should see results.

What you need:

Small Bowl for soaking nails

2 Denture cleansing tablets

Nail brush

Nail buffer

Warm water

Cuticle Oil (or Olive Oil)

Before we begin, I need to show you the before. It's pretty bad, but trust me... it will get better!

As you can see, my middle and ring fingers have mush more staining. This is probably because I paint these nails as accent nails, usually with a darker color. My cuticles are also in need of some attention, so we'll get to that later!

Now we need to get our bowl of warm water and plop in our 2 denture cleanser tablets. I prefer the kind for smokers. They usually have more whitening ingredients. You can use any brand you like, and if you can't find one made for smokers that's ok. Even the kind from the dollar store will do! 

I used Polident for Smokers. It was 5.99 for a box of 72 tablets at CVS Pharmacy!!! Thats 32 manicures at $0.16 a piece!! A lot cheaper than the commercial nail whitening treatments. The nail whitening treatments at Sally Beauty are typically $1.99 for one pack. That's $1.99 for ONE treatment!! So, you can save $1.89 per treatment, or save $65.88 for 32 manicures! Yeah, that's what i'm talking about!!

Anyway, let's continue. Once you plop in the tablets and they start to fizz, dip your nails in and soak for 5 minutes. 

After 5 minutes, I like to use my nail brush and scrub up.

Then I soak for another 2-3 minutes.

Once you are scrubbed up, wash your hands with a mild anti-bacterial soap. Dry your hands and if your nails are still stained, you can gently buff your nails with a fine grit buffer block. I didn't need to do this, but sometimes I do. It just depends on how badly my nails are stained.

Next thing I do is apply my cuticle oil.

If you don't have a cuticle oil, you have a few options. Coco butter, olive oil, shea butter or even just a good lotion. The key is to moisturize them! Massage the oil into your cuticles, use some hand lotion all over your hands and you're done!!

Wanna see the before and after? 

It's not a ridiculously huge difference, but they look a hell of a lot better! So for $0.16 i think it did a pretty damn good job.

So, try this for yourself and see. Who knew Granny's denture tabs could give you happier nails!!?