When beauty betrays you...

Alright...time for some cold, hard reality. We all know that nail polish is awesome. We all know that the color options out there are staggering. I love painting my nails every day, at times. Sometimes I have 5, 6 or more polishes going on in one mani. 

Sometimes, those lovely colors betray you.

EEEEEEEEEK!!! That is what's left on my nails after removing my Christmas Mani. For the green I used Klean Color's "metallic green". Never again. Never again will I use that color. I had TWO COATS of nail envy under that polish! 

In my crisis, I consulted with some fellow online lacqueristas. I've heard in the past that baking soda, water and lemon is a good way to get rid of staining. My pal Erin had some Christmas staining too, and she recommended that I try making a paste with those three things and SCRUBBING, SCRUBBING, SCRUBBING!!!

I worked with this consistency for awhile, but then added more baking soda until it was more like wet sand. I scrubbed for a very long time, and I have to say...it did work! After I felt like I couldn't scrub anymore, I washed my hands well and grabbed my buffing block. 

HOORAY! 99% stain free. There are still a few faint spots, but I didn't want to buff them anymore than I had already.  Please pardon my dry cuticles. After a couple generous coats of nail envy, at bedtime I loaded my nails up with my new Emerald and Ash Pumpkin Apple Butter cuticle oil!

That cuticle oil just might be my new favorite. It smells delicious, and it soaks into the skin right away. Today, my cuticles feel moisturized and they don't look quite as tore up!

Here is my final result. Much better, right??