Duane - You make some good points and it is nice to have a male weigh in. I think you represent a lot of guys who prefer to see women looking natural. My DH's reaction to my vibrant polish was, "Whoa! You have girl toes!" From what I've gleaned from the posts on this forum, more women here would prefer a good chef's knife to an expensive designer bag and spend more time making breads and jams than fussing with elaborate beauty regimes. I think this post got so many replies because it is timely - it's summer, meaning for most of us our toes are just coming out of hiding - and it's just fun to hear about what other women do. I wrote about my DD who finds it relaxing to give herself a weekly pedicure. Fact is, other than that, sunscreen and lip gloss are the only "makeup" she wears. I think many of us perform some of these beauty routines less to impress men, but as a little indulgence.

Starting several years ago, I had an ingrown toenail on my right big toe. GP did the side cut thing, and that ended that problem. Then some time later the same big toe began to have cramping pains, and got so bad I saw the orthopedic. doctor, who performed a surgery called 'Keller bunionectomy" though I have never had a bunion. It is similar to a replacement, but not really. He noticed the toe next to the big toe was leaning in on the big toe and he removed that nail. That fixed that problem. Next I had my left knee replaced, and while I was recuperating, I was walking across the tiled floor in the bathroom, not wearing that shoe I was supposed to wear, and I tripped and broke the "little piggy toe" on my right foot. Doc said you can't "set" that tiny bone. Later had my right knee replaced. My spine, according to my Rheumatologist, is a "mess." I refuse to have any surgery on my spine. So over time, my feet and legs have become very arthritic, making it hard for me to trim my toenails. A couple years ago I had my ortho-doc to remove the toenails from both big toes. That has worked out fine. So as of now I have ten toes, but only seven toenails. My big toes now look like two little pink sausages! I have just recently decided to give up trying to twist around to trim those 7 nails myself, and I have located a shop near me where I can get my hair cuts, and the peddies. BTW, next month I start the steroid injections, again, to alleviate some of the spinal problems, which are currently preventing me from driving. That old saying that when your feet hurt, you hurt all over, .is for sure right. Good luck to all with similar problems. Sue

That is so funny. My DD will love this! Here is how I solved the counter-surfing, trashcan-raiding problem: Tie one end of a piece of string to a piece of dried up bagel with, say, a dab peanut butter to make it smell good. (Dried up because you don't want the dog to be able to get the snack easily and be rewarded.) Now, tie the other end of the string to an aluminum can which is at the bottom of a small pyramid of empty aluminum or tin cans, pie plates, etc. Drop a few coins, or nuts and bolts in a few cans. Now leave the room. When Fido grabs the treat, he/she will create a noisy, scary avalance. Didn't take but a couple of times with my dogs. Good luck!

I wonder if you have fungus at all. White marks usually mean some small bumping that damages the nail surface or it can just be dry patches from too many chemicals like polish remover. That would call for moisturizers if you care about dry patches. I think you are supposed to squeeze your toenail and if it pinks up and the mark goes away for a moment it isn't some sort of full thickness or underlying nail bed thing. It doesn't hurt to have it checked out of course. The herbal in Vicks that is supposed to kill nail fungus isn't the Eucalyptus, If you look in inactive ingredients you will see Thymol. Oil of Thyme has verified anti fungal properties. Some people swear by it.