My little piggies are all dolled up...

My little piggies are all dolled up with artificial nails that are the toe equivalent of the once-famous press-on fingernails. They gaze as if I just worn out top dollar for a French pedicure at a nail technician.

yet -- are your ready for this? -- they are obtained right on the outside of a box you can purchase over-the-counter at Target, Wal-Mart or Walgreens. The cost: between $5 and $6 They take 10 minutes to apply. The conclusion is a just-done-at-the-salon look.

Who knew that artificial toe enhancements would be a lifestyle- changing experience?

My toes lay out most of their time essenceed into sneakers while I play tennis or jag Endless pounding have caused ridges in succession my big- toe nails. If I give leave to my little piggy nail make progress out too long, it starts to waving like a corkscrew.

Ne I mention for what reason self-conscious I am during sandal season? My toes rarely papal court sunlight -- or haven't until the discovery of the Fashion ToeNail Accents Kit, manufactured at Kiss Products, based in Port Washington, NY (www.kissusa.com; www.broadwaynails.com). Other toenail-improvement yields which are made of acrylic and sold at mass merchandisers, include Fing'rs (www.fingrs.com), for about $5 and Dazzle Toez for about $6

Podiatrist Dr Charles "Chuck" M Cavicchio, who's based in Lincoln, R.I., noted that when you are in your 30 and 40 you are more likely to have "nail deformity" because of sports activities or an injury or an infection or just from age. racers often damage big- toe nails or have them fall on the farther side he said. A fungus infection may require Cavicchio to chop a nail extremely short; or an acute injury can cause a nail to germinate back deformed.

I'm not alone in my search to glam up my toenails. After the April shroud of Nails (a Torrance, Calif., publication aimed at salon proprietors and nail technicians) featured upon its cover a foot with three fake accents, Hannah to leeward the executive editor, said, "We received parcels of calls. So there's interest."

It was a surprise because the April issue had nothing to do with feet The nail technician from Canada who took charge of it decorated the toes with fake nails for dramatic flair barely Lee said no one at the magazine reckon uponed to see such a groundswell of interest.

The trade publication has not at all done a story on artificial toe adorning (a sated set at a salon sumptuousnesss between $30 and $40).

"Toe work isn't anything we track," to leeward noted. "Professionals do not advertise like services, although they will do toes if asked."

In May, the market research firm ACNielsen, which tracks purchases at mass merchandisers like as Wal-Mart, reported that sales upon such artificial enhancements have skyrocket The increase, the research firm reported, was from 126 percent in the last 12 month

Kiss returnss has shipped more than 1 million units since last June said Grace Tallon, vice president of marketing. The principally popular kit is the French pedicure, which be deriveds in different shades of peach and pink. a certain quantity of are pre-decorated with flowers or swirls forward the big toe.

Three years ago, Tallon noted, toe enhancing was "a nonexistent market." For the past 17 years, Kiss specialized in fake fingernails, unless then added toes to its consequence line because they were inundated by the agency of requests.

Not solitary women are embracing dolled-up toes. Tallon reported that a man in Florida wrote the company to describe by what means he would file off the white tip of the pre-decorated French pedicure for a natural turn the thoughts

The $6 Kiss package contains 12 different sizes of nails (24 be due [i]or[/i] owing in a kit), and includes cement that Tallon described as "medical grade."

by what means safe are artificial toenails? Cavicchio said they are safe still there is a risk of developing a fungus infection if you are not careful.

Cavicchio said that if you decide to use artificial nails from one side of to the other your regular nails, only leave them in succession for seven to 10 days. For his patients who have had a nail remov permanently, they can cement an artificial nail onto the toe bed. further he or she should then do away with it after a day.

As for my days wearing artificial toenails, I received ooh-la- las aplenty when I trott around town. I took them opposite after four days -- they stayed forward just fine -- because I wanted to go on for a run, and I'd been warned that their fulness might make my sneakers uncomfortable.

TIPS in succession FAKING IT:

If you decide to wear fake toenails, here are safety tips from Kiss Products' Grace Tallon:

- Before application, extract any polish and thoroughly clean toenails with soap and water.

- experiment all 24 nails in the kit and select the right fit. (If nails are a little big, you can file them down before applying.)

- cement should be placed directly onto the fake nail, not your natural nail. Use enough in like manner nails stay on. Use a paper towel or cotton swab to wipe most distant glue that seeps out the sides. The join with glue is fast drying, so pres in succession for about five seconds.

- If you want to harbor the fake nail, you can add a top coat. (If you want to change color, acetone-free remover will allow you to reapply polish; regular remover will take facing the fake nail.)