toe polish/discolored nails

[Anonymous]

does anyone else have this issue. the last two summers i have worn toe nail polish for most of the summer and by the end of the summer my toe nails were whitish. took the whole winter to grow out. they looked terrible. want to get a pedicure again, but hate the thought of discolored nails again. is there something you can do to prevent this?

[Anonymous]

I've had the same issue - found I can lessen the problem by (a) going a week without polish between pedis (ie, taking the old polish off at home a week before I go get the next pedi. Although I now realize that exposes me to scorn from the naked-toenails-as-underwear crowd), and (b) mainly opting for lighter colored, almost sheer polish.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately I have this problem too. I've always thought it was a fungus.

[Anonymous]

I have the same problem as well, and I also take some time off between polishes (as shocking as that might be to the naked-toenails-as-underwear crowd).

[Anonymous]

same thing happens if I polish my finger nails. I would rather not polish, then have the need to polish, to cover up the yellow.

[Anonymous]

someone suggested using acetone-free nail polish remover? would that make any difference?

[boutros10va]

My mom is convinced that if you use lighter polishes, this is less of a problem --something a pedicurist told her once about how much light reaches your nail-bed, or something. She reminds me of this every time I show up at home with dark painted toe nails.

[Anonymous]

I've also heard that it's an exposure to light issue, but this happens to me with every color except clear.

[Anonymous]

Yellowing is from the pigment in the polish staining your nails -- esp. with dark or bright colors. A couple of coats of good base coat first should solve the problem.

[Anonymous]

You can lighten the yellow by rubbing your nails with a diluted bleach solution and a q-tip.

[Anonymous]

yeah, I get this, too. it's not yellowing that bothers me, it's the whitish damage. I don't even know what that is. the surface of the nail breaking down?

[Anonymous]

I had a heated discussion about this with the technician just last week. I too can 'grow it out' yet the technician told me it was a fungus - how I want to know?

I blame it on the buffing to the surface of the nail combined with the dryness of the polish. Doesn't go away if I go weeks w/o though - only solution is to grow out, which I do over the winter.