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.

One product that I have used and seems effective is "Fungi Nail". Its active ingredient is Undecyleric Acid 25%. It is available at Walgreen's and other pharmacies. A 1 fl oz bottle will provide many treatments, and many trreatments are required to rid you nail bed of fungus. Painting the top of nail with medication is not effective since it will not penetrate the nail. The treatment area is around the entire perimeter of the nail. Brush on the solution on and slightly under the cuticle and under the tip of the nail - everywhere flesh meets nail. Nothing can be done about the discolored nail with the fungus already trapped inside the nail material. The idea is to rid the growth area of fungus and keep it that way. As the old nail grows out, it gets snipped off and hopefully with treatment, the colony under the tip of the nail is wiped out to and will not get re-established from the infected nail at it grows outward. Treatment is complete after new nail has completely grown out. As you can see, treatment is lengthy since toenails are slow growing. Athelete's foot: - is caused by a similar fungus. I am very susectible to it and must guard against it whenever my feet may come into contact where the fungus may exist, principally motel/hotel showers, public showers at camp grounds, and public swiming places. There is always an infected foot stomping around in those places. (I went through the 8th grade at a country grade school and spent many hours during the summer bare footed and never got a foot fungus. After being exposed to the shower room during my freshman year at high school, I had a case of athelete's foot and battled that problem for the next 4 years. Prevention methods were poor at that time. The PE instructor urged us boys to step into a box of foot powder before we put our shoes on. Apparently, there was no antifungal agent in that powder, and for me it was sure exposure to the fungus. A number of years ago, I took internal medication for athelete's foot as prescribed by a podiatrist. It was a long process; I believe it was lamisil. He had to take blood samples periodically to check on liver and other functions. Doctors are getting more reluctant to use internal medication. For me, the best medicine is prevention. What has worked for me is to use an anti-fungal powder in my shoes after showering in non-home places or after occasions where I might have come in contact with the fungus. I have found only two, non-prescription foot powders that are effective. These are "Desenex" and "Tinactin". Desenex is the better of the two. The active ingredient in Desenex is 2% miconazole nitrate. All other foot powders that I have found do provided benefits, but do not contain antifugal components and do little against fungal infections. If you buy either Desenex or Tinactin, I recommend the power form in a shaker container. The most popular form, found on store shelves, is the spray can. I don't know the reason for this except maybe customer convenience. I had suspected a profit motive and ease of sales. The spray cans do not contain much active ingredient; The powder containers are the better buy. Keep a watch for the powder form, and when you find it, buy an extra container or 2 to stock your supply. Places where I have found the powder form: Target, Walgreens', and big box grocery stores.

What are Rose Borers? There are actually several wasps and bees that nest in the center pith of cut rose bush canes. The cane boring insects bore a hole down into the center pith of the rose canes in order to create nests for their young. The two most common cane borers are actually small wasps. They are very active at seeking out the cut ends of rose canes to bore down into from early spring all the way through early fall. The most common cane borers are predators of aphids and use them to feed their young, thus they are a mix of good guy and bad guy in our rose beds. Rose borer damage can be easily spotted by the hole they leave in the center pith of the cut rose canes. Girdling may also be seen along the stem. The depth of the boring itself may only be a few inches deep, while the most damaging and life threatening to the rose bush can go all the way to the main crown of the plant.-

Nope, no professional nail treatments for me, either. Way back, when I was young, I often wore polish on my fingernails, and occasionally on my toes if I was wearing sandals. I've worn only athletic style shoes for almost 40 years now, so nothing but necessary clipping of toenails. And fingernails I trim as needed while watching TV. Have any of y'all tried a glass emery board? They are great for leaving a smooth edge on your nails, it's all I use now. When I was young (and slim) I always wanted long fingernails. I have no idea why, it was just sort of 'the thing to have', I guess. But no way my nails would grow, they chipped, split, broke, anything but grow long. Probably because I did so much with my hands. But now that I am older, and have no desire for long nails, they grow long, strong and fast! But I keep them just a tad longer than the tips of my fingers. Anything longer is just a nuisance! Rusty