Do you prefer to keep your hands in your pockets or otherwise hidden when you meet someone new?

Do you insist on keeping polish on your nails because if you remove it, your nails are yellow, brittle and dry?

What if you never had to use nail polish or polish remover again?

Longmeadow resident Donna Taras and her sister, Royce, have the answer.

In fact, they've had the answer since 1978, but the news is just now reaching the general public.

Donna and Royce created an all natural buffing cream in 1978 and marketed it to Bloomingdales in New York. It sold. It sold in Bloomingdales and Steigers and other stores around the country.

It sold so fast that the sisters got overwhelmed.

"We just weren't prepared for that kind of response," said Donna. "We were new to the whole business process, and we didn't have anything in place - a distributor and production line."

So they backed off. They pulled out of the department stores and began marketing the product locally, at events like bridal shows, and to hospital staff.

"If every hospital knew about this product, we'd be doing very well," said Donna. "I'm not sure, but I think nurses may not be able to wear nail polish, and this is such a good, healthy thing to do for your nails and your hands." A surgeon in Westport, Connecticut bought the product years ago, said Donna, and came back to let them know he had done a bacteria colony count study.

"He told us after using our product that the bacteria colony count was significantly reduced," she said. "The nail becomes so slick and the ridges are smoothed down, so there's nowhere for the bacteria to grow."

The process, called NAILBUFFS, involves four simple steps, two of which customers repeat twice weekly.

Clients are given a "snowstone," a soft, fine nail file that does not tear the edge of the nail, but seals it.

"It will be the last time you ever catch a nail on your stockings," laughed Donna. "Also, regular nail files are so abrasive that you can only go in one direction. This one is so soft that you can move back and forth."

The second step, which is repeated only once a month, is the grey micro-smoother that clients use to gently smooth out imperfections and ridges on the surface of the nail. "As soon as the surface of the nail feels smooth to the touch, stop," said Donna.

The last two steps, which are done together, must be done at least twice a week. The buffing formula is applied (just a tiny bit is all it takes) and the nail is buffed, using medium pressure and moving back and forth over the nail without lifting the buffer. The result is a brilliant shine that brings out the natural blush of the nail. It looks as though there is clear polish on the nail, but the nail is clean and healthy. The entire package is $35, and the buffing formula will last at least six months, if not longer. The cream contains all-natural ingredients that moisturize and heal the nail while bringing out a natural luster.

"One of the reasons nails peel and split is nail polish and remover," said Donna. "All of the chemicals dry out the nail and can destroy the nail layer by layer." Donna and Royce developed NAILBUFFS after extensive research into the nail care industry. "We started out with the idea of developing a product for men's nails," said Donna. "But the more we investigated nail polish and remover and other buffing products, the more horrified we were." "Other buffing products are extremely abrasive," said Royce. "NAILBUFFS is not abrasive at all."

Donna noted that if she could, she would get everyone to throw out their polish.

"I know the polish industry isn't going to like that, but after all these years of looking at nails, I can tell who never uses polish, who uses it once in a while, and who uses it all the time," she said. It took the pair two and a half years to develop the formula for the cream, and the formula is very exact. Nails must be clean at the beginning of the process or the mixture can be thrown off. "People sometimes tell me they already have a nail buffer, and I ask them if they've ever used it before," said Donna. "If they have, they should get a new one, because whatever residue is on the old buffer will interfere with NAILBUFFS." The sisters set up a booth at the Big E this year and were swamped. Women even stopped in who had purchased the system from Steigers and were delighted to find the product is still available. The two would love to get back into the retail market. "We're ready now," said Donna. "We are much more prepared to handle a deluge than we were twenty years ago."

But they aren't sitting back and waiting fo the rush to hit. They are holding a nail wellness clinic tonight, Oct. 22 at the Community House on Longmeadow Street. The event is free and open to the public and demonstrations will be offered in addition to education about how to care for your nails.

If you have any questions, please email me at: Donna@Nailbuffs.com