The Beginning

I was a notorious nail biter from the time I grew teeth. My mother tried all the tricks: painting my nails thinking little girls like pretty nails and won't want to eat nail polish (a mere obstacle); the nasty flavoured anti-bite "polish" (but I couldn't even lick icing off my
fingers! No good.); gloves (but I simply chewed through them); and of course yelling at me to stop whenever I was caught ("I'm nooooot!"). Nothing could stop me from chewing my defenseless fingertips until bloody and tender.

"Nail Biter" was a part of my identity for 20+ years, until I took the advice of a friend and went to the nail salon for Acrylic Nails. The lack of access to my natural nails and the hard-earned money spent to defend them prevented me from biting anything for over a month.

I consider myself a bit of an amateur artist, acrylic paintings littering the walls of my apartment. And I have always enjoyed painting my nails (yes, even my raw, mangled fingertips). When I was a preteen I got a Klutz book on nail art and remember painting flowers, lady bugs, and yellow smiley faces on what little nail I had using toothpicks (as instructed by the book). And now I have a larger canvas to work with! And there is so much inspiration to draw from social media platforms like YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram.

I leave you with my first dip into the nail art pool: a Christmas-y glitter gradient.

The red is a gel polish I borrowed from a friend; the glitters are both China Glaze: Luxe and Lush, and Dancing & Prancing.