Let's Talk Nails

   (Disclaimer - this post has lots of photos of my nails. If nails freak you out, or you have no interest in nails, it's probably best you move on for today.)

   I've been living the triathlon lifestyle for almost five years now. (For the record, that blows my mind. I still feel like a newbie in so many ways.) While I can say that living this lifestyle has MANY benefits including great friends, increased confidence and a smaller waistline, there is one thing that just really irks me - the havoc that chlorine has on my nails.
   While I guess I've always been somewhat of a tomboy (raced BMX, studied karate), I've also always liked having my nails done. In fact, I frequently paint my nails to match whatever race I'm doing.

Shamrock Half Marathon.

Nike Women's Half racing for Team in Training.

Rocking the Ironman Chattanooga colors.

   Alas, since I started racing tris, my nails are naked most of the time. There really doesn't seem to be any point to painting them because chlorine just eats my polish during every swim. And then my nails look terrible, and unfortunately, there isn't any amount of retouching that can be done to make them look decent again. They'll just look lumpy and gross. So, I have to remove all of the polish and reapply it again. And I don't have time for that, considering I swim several times a week. 

UGH.  Nails post-swim. Stupid chlorine.

   Fortunately, I think I've finally found a product that might help - Gelous. I've been using it for a few weeks now, and it's actually helping to keep my nail polish from being destroyed while swimming. Here are photos from before and after my swim on Monday:

Before...

And after.

   Not much of a difference, huh? And a HUGE improvement from what my manicures used to look like after swimming. On the above manicure, I painted my nails on Sunday, and removed the polish on Thursday night when it finally started to chip. That's a five-day run with two swims thrown in. Not bad for an at-home manicure.

   And the best news of all is the Gelous isn't crazy expensive. I think I paid $7 for it at Sally Beauty Supply. That's a heck of a lot less than most polishes, and WAY cheaper than a professional manicure. 

Go get cha some.

   I wonder if Gelous has any interest in entering the tri world. It's probably an untapped market for the nail industry. I could TOTALLY be an ambassador for them. Just give me some free samples and a t-shirt and I'd good to go. Gelous - if you're reading this, drop me a line. We should talk.