THE NECESSITY OF SHORT NAILS NOW

Short nails are a necessity now. Give them a subtle sheen with Dior Nail Glow, a universal shade that enhances your natural nail color.

It has always been my style to keep my nails short.

But as soon as I read reports that COVID-19 was spreading in the U.S., I trimmed them even more. It only makes sense with all the Public Health warnings calling for us to be extra vigilant about washing our hands, especially under our nails where bacteria can lurk.

Even though long nails are popular, giving them a good trim is one simple thing we can all do to help fight the spread of the virus. Even before this pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that nails be kept short and trimmed often to prevent the spread of germs.

How short is short? Try for the same length that doctors and nurses strive for, which is as short as possible while still leaving a sliver of white at the top of your nail.

Going short doesn’t mean you have to forgo nail polish. My go-to is OPI Nail Lacquer in Passion. For a no-fuss subtle sheen, my favorite is Dior Nail Glow. It’s a universal shade that enhances your natural nail color.

Painting shorter nails does increase the chance you’ll get polish on the tissue surrounding the nail, but it’s easily cleaned up with a Q-Tip dipped in nail polish remover. I also have a tiny paint brush that I use just for that purpose.

With all our extra hand washing, polish is going to chip faster. For tiny touch-ups, straighten out a bobby pin and dip the rounded tip in polish and apply where needed.

There are two new nail polish lines I’m interested in experimenting with while I’m at home:

Pure, a new vegan line by Sally Hansen, comes in 30 shades inspired by nature. They are all plant-based and made without the 16 chemicals often found in nail polish including formaldehyde. Based on the online color charts, Romantic Peach looks similar to the shade I normally wear.

And Essie has launched Expressie, a one-step color and shine that comes in 40 shades and dries in a minute. Although that’s not really a problem right now. I have some extra time on my hands.

A REVOLUTIONARY NONSURGICAL TREATMENT

The revolutionary Profound® nonsurgical treatment offered by The Skin Center by Charlotte Plastic Surgery can lift sagging jowls, treat facial wrinkles and smooth cellulite. To book your free Profound® consultation, call Charlotte Plastic Surgery at 704-372-6846.

Did you know there’s a revolutionary treatment for skin tightening, sagging jowls, wrinkles and cellulite that’s an alternative to injections and surgery?

It’s called Profound® and it’s now being offered by The Skin Center by Charlotte Plastic Surgery, a nationally renowned plastic surgery and skincare practice.

WHY IT’S A GAME-CHANGER

Profound has a 100 percent response rate for facial wrinkles and a 94 percent response rate for cellulite — statistics that were previously unheard of. It’s the first device to target all three skin fundamentals: collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid. These are the major skin building blocks that work together to create and build back dermal volume, something we begin to lose in our early 30s.

“Facial volume loss and other signs of aging are some of the most common issues our patients seek treatment for,” says Dr. Stephan Finical, a board-certified plastic surgeon and Charlotte Plastic Surgery partner. “Profound allows us to offer a nonsurgical option to treating this common issue in one treatment as an alternative to injections and surgery. Charlotte Plastic Surgery has more than 68 years of experience and we pride ourselves on offering our patients treatments that are proven to provide results.”

HOW IT WORKS

Elastin is a protein that coils and recoils like a spring within the elastic fibers of connective tissue in the body, such as your skin. Elastin is what makes your skin, heart, lungs and many other tissues elastic so that they can snap back into shape after stretching or contracting.

As we age, elastin begins to break down and becomes less elastic. (Think of a lumpy mattress as the springs become old and lose their ability to recoil.) In order to build new elastin, you need to cause a certain amount of damage to the skin, by heating for example, so that the elastin starts to break down. Then a healing process can begin to build new elastin.

Profound is clinically proven to build elastin by carefully heating the skin’s elastin and collagen to an exact temperature for an exact amount to time. New elastin and collagen are created to repair aging skin.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Profound has a proven safety record. A treatment usually takes 60 minutes or so, depending on the treatment area. It begins with PRO-NOX™ and local numbing to manage comfort. The device then delivers energy to the deeper skin’s layers exactly where treatment is most beneficial.

The beauty of Profound is that you will only need one treatment to rejuvenate your skin. There is no need to schedule multiple office visits in order to achieve optimal results.

After the treatment, you can expect to return to normal activities the next day. Any redness, swelling or bruising resulting from treatment can typically be covered with makeup within 48 hours.

Most patients report seeing improvement in 6-8 weeks post treatment. Because new elastin and collagen require time to fully develop, optimal results will not be observed for at least 3-6 months after treatment. There are a number of factors that will determine how long you can expect the results to last including your health, age, and how you care for your skin after the treatment.

To book your free Profound consultation, call Charlotte Plastic Surgery at 704-372-6846.