Healthy Nails How-To

Rather than the ol' 'fingertip picks' installation, I thought I'd let you all know of my nailcare favourites this time rather than colours. For years I chomped on my nails and the surrounding foundations which caused havoc to their general length and health, and seeing as I know this is a common habit, I thought I'd share what's worked for me in the form of three easy steps.

Sorry for the dodgy 2012 instagram filter 'before' shot, it's all I had:(

1. Omit the polish. This was the one crucial thing I was overlooking when I wanted to quit biting and start seeing progress. Often I'd paint my nails more than once a day (bad move) in the mindset that nail polish = glue. How wrong I was... even just the likes of clear varnish treatments were doing way more harm than good; when you think about it, its hard to believe any amount of well-branded chemicals will cure damaged finger nails, much like too much facial abrasion can cause people to break out. The sooner I stopped cracking out OPI's Nail Envy from my drawer like a madman, the sooner my nails could see sunlight, have a break, and grow out naturally.
2. Nourish. Once the varnish products were gone from routine I began reading into nail care. This lead to me Essie's Apricot Cuticle Oil, something I've used so often the smell instantly reminds me of bed time. After swiping this across all my nail beds, I'll douse my hands in a good coating of plain ol' hand cream and pray that not too much of the concoction wipes off onto the sheets. If a ritual like this becomes second nature, your nails will be healing in no time. (For me this meant no more flaking-woohoo!)
3. Wait. The most annoying and difficult of all three phases. Time is indeed a healer here, and the longer you can distract yourself from biting or picking, the better. For me this took a year to realise and another year to follow up, but trust me, it works! My nails are shinier, longer and sturdier than ever; 100x better than their flaking, weak and cracked past selves.
4. [Bonus tip] Ditch the nail clippers. At least for a little while. For me personally, the 'snap' force of the clippers would send cracks and weaknesses through my nails, causing them to become fragile and would therefore break or crack the moment I knocked my hand. All I use now to shorten and shape my nails is the Crystal File from Leighton Denny, but any glass file will work just as well.

Happy nail growing!

PS- nowadays I only paint my nails occasionally in case you were wondering :)