Home made almost invisible nose plug experiment.

[Mermaid Jessica Pearl]

So I find nose plugs very helpful when it comes to doing tricks when mermaiding; mostly backflips and bubble rings.

I have gotten quite used to getting water up my nose but I worry about the health problems. I was also looking for something to prevent the inevitable nose bubbles that seem to always be right over my face in otherwise perfect shots.

My usual nose clip does the trick but is very unsightly though!

I have seen the Sinus Saver nose plugs, but my nose is tiny! After seeing several photos of other people wearing them I have come to the conclusion that I wont come any where near to fitting them into my nose! The plastic outer attachment also looks a bit too bulky to be completely invisible.

So I did some research into other options and the possibility or making my own. Here is how I have gone...

[Mermaid Jessica Pearl]

First of all I found these:

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They are allergy filters. They go up your nose to dilate the nostrils and have a cotton filter in them to filter pollen for allergy sufferers.

What I like about them is that they have a really small exterior part which is transparent skin-tone in colour. So I thought it would look much better hidden than the sinus saver.

I bought some with the idea of taking out the filter and plugging up the hole. Perhaps even modifying them slightly. You can get them on ebay really easily. They come in a number of sizes. I bought the small and medium but the sizes didn't matter in the end because I cut most of the nostril part out anyway.

[Ilyena]

Ohh I was going to do something out of latex but if these already exist and are easily modified then great find :D

[Mermaid Jessica Pearl]

Lots of experimenting later I decided to use this heat-moldable plastic to plug up and shape the nostril part of the nose plug.

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The stuff I used is call plastimake which you can buy online. I only needed the absolute tiniest bit of it. Less than a gum-ball's worth.
How it works is you put it in boiling water for a little while and it goes soft and mold-able. When it cools it goes hard.


Now because these are meant to dilate your nostrils, and I wanted my nostrils to look normal not dilated. After lots of experimentation with cutting different parts away I ended up cutting most of the cup off:

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I left a little tab of the cup to give the plastic something to hold onto.

[Mermaid Jessica Pearl]

After lots of playing around and not being able to find a shape that fit well in my nostrils (but thats ok because I could keep reheating and remoulding it) I realised that I could actually put the plastic in my nose while it was still slightly pliable (but NOT hot. Please to not put hot plastic in your nose!) and mold the noseplug to the shape of my nose that way.

It worked really really well!

Here is the before and after molding to my nose shape:

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I realised I was actually underestimating how small my actual nose is! And the shape!
It fits perfectly. I tiny bit of air gets out but I think that is mainly because I have a nose piercing that gets in the way.

[Mermaid Jessica Pearl]

And this is how it looks on:

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[Mermaid Crystal Shimmer]

Oh that looks really good! Might try that too since the sinus saver is way too big for me too =)

[Ilyena]

Awesome!!

[Mermaid Jessica Pearl]

I've fixed the little sticky out bit you can see now. It was mainly because of my piercing, which I took out for the photos.

I'm really excited to try it out on the weekend to see if it works and stays in.

Also Ilyena I wouldn't recommend putting anything too liquidy up your nose. I know a few people who have gotten things stuck up their nose trying to make nose plugs.
The only reason I tried this is because I was almost completely solid so I knew it wasn't going to disintegrate. It also isn't sticky at all so I knew it wouldn't stick in there. I have also tried to make them sit as low in the nose as possible without being seen so it wont cause any damage up there!

[Mermaid Jessica Pearl]

Also this product is non-toxic! Another plus :)

[AniaR]

fantastic!

[PearlieMae]

Excellent! Of course the only time I remember I want to make something like this is when I'm half a mile out into the lake!

In the states, that material is commonly known as Friendly Plastic, and you can still find it in the kids sections of larger craft shops.

Excellent work! Congrats! (And yay for tiny nosed mers!)

[Echidna]

oh, those look nifty!

I can't live without my noseplug. I often swim in lakes and such, and I'm afraid of amoebae...
a sinus saver doesn't fit me.
I have a big nose, but it's very narrow with small nostrils.

Which is a shame, as I'm allergic to almost anything and could really use those pollen filters :(

[Seraphina Suds]

Wow, it's barely noticeable! Nice job!

[Mermaid Galene]

Oh, this is awesome! I have a very narrow nose, and Sinus Savers were atrociously big for me. This is a fabulous solution!

[Raayvhen]

And like the sinus saver you could paint the "ring" to look like a septum piercing.

[Winged Mermaid]

Looks awesome! Let us know if it makes a seal or not :)

[Chrissy]

Great job!!! You can hardly see it

[Mermaid Galene]

Yeah, the big question is how well it seals in water. I'm going to try making one with this method, but built on remnants of the Sinus Saver. My thought is, if there's a thin layer of silicone adhered to the moldable plastic, that silicone might hug the sides of the nostrils tighter.

[Mermaid Jessica Pearl]

Hey guys.
Finally got to try this out!
It didn't completely create a seal but I think it I make it a tiny bit bigger it will. Even with the tiny bit of air able to get in it was able to stop water getting up my nose really well. I was able to do backflips without exhaling through my nose which was great!
Also almost completely invisible in photos.
Gonna have a bit more of a play with it to see if I can get it perfect!

[Chrissy]

Great job!!!! That is awesome

[Mermaid Galene]

Yay!

[maressa]

These are awesome Jessica! Great idea.

[Rivertee]

Woah please keep us updated if the modifications work ^.^ Seriously need something like this my poor nose is always so sore after a romp in the pool with the kids.

[Theobromine]

I've never heard of allergy filters before, what a great idea! I get horribly uncomfortable when I get water up my nose, and previously I tried using moldable silicone earplugs, which worked pretty well but took a fair amount of work each time to mold into my nostrils. First time I met up with Iona to go swimming I gave her an extra and offered to let her try it, which led to a Totally Not Awkward session of us sitting by the pool stuffing goop up our noses while my husband gave us the hairy eyeball, baahahaha.

[MermaidBrandie]

I'm down!! Love this!


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[jvry8c]

very cool idea. If this works I might have to try and duplicate a good idea. :D

[Mermaid_Maria]

Me trying this and failing miserably :D tho i did not use the heated plastic i tried to just struggle with super clue 🙈 i'm not made for arts and crafts :D