Alopecia Awareness Nails

Once upon a time, there was a younger me who was going through the typical angst that is puberty and I seriously was mad at God for making it so that I had alopecia.  I was like 100% sure He had a hand in it (maybe He does, maybe He doesn't).  I so wished that this condition was embodied within someone else and not in me.

But God works in interesting ways to bless His people.  I don't wake up thanking Him for my alopecia, but I do finally appreciate how it has shifted the way I perceive my own body image.  My church also prayed for me over the course of 5 years.  I remember that final doctor's visit where the doctor told me that I didn't need to continue using whatever solution I was using at that time, because my hair has grown back at an immensely faster rate than he had expected.

Throughout college, there were times when God seemed so far away, but I would have to remind myself that I was living proof of His miracle.  My hair is proof of His miracle.  Of course, college stress meant that I would have occasional flare ups and lose hair time and time again, but that hair always grew back.  My hair isn't dense and thick.  It's pretty thin, but yo I'm thankful.  However, I have like 1.2 eyebrows.

Of course, those antibodies still exist in my blood (as far as I'm concerned...haven't been tested since), which means I technically still have alopecia.  It would be cool if we could cure alopecia, but since it's an autoimmune disease, that would be quite the challenge.  How does one selectively target antibodies??  Granted, I wouldn't need such a cure because I feel pretty confident in my condition, but for those people out there who do have alopecia and do want a cure...that would be nice for them.

Anyways, September is Alopecia Awareness Month, with the awareness being the color blue for some reason.  So here is my contribution to the awareness:

For this manicure:

• Base Coat - Double Duty Strengthening Base & Top Coat by Sally Hansen
• Thumb, Ring, & Pinky - aruba blue by essie; glitter gradient made using a makeup sponge and Portia by Julep
• Pointer & Middle - Shelly by Julep; used Fishnet Stencil from Vinyl Boutique and stamped gradient over it using Jeanne by Julep, Endless Blue by Sinful Colors, & Char by Julep
• Top Coat - Out the Door by inm

Approximate Completion Time: 2 hours

Surprise, surprise - the top coat dries quickly, which makes the vinyls easier to use.  Nail vinyls are pretty legit.  I remember seeing them for the first time a few years ago and I was like "this is a cool concept but it's never gonna catch on".  I was wrong.  This is also how I felt about Vine, Snapchat, the Nintendo WiiU, etc.

Clearly I have been wrong on more than one occasion.  I can own up to that.