I got into nail care over a year ago and baby my nails but I wore polish for a bit in the fall which took me back to square one. After months of intense care and regular oiling my nails still look like this after washing and my cuticles are dry and callused also (see pic 2 from earlier this week). I also have peeling/separating occasionally (pic 3).
I haven't touched polish since December and kept them short up to now while rehabbing them. I do a warm oil soak once a week, oil regularly, apply ISDIN nail serum + oil + kerasel each night (recently with gloves), and I have nothing to show for it. I’m able to retain more length than I did in December but clearly they’re still damaged.
I thought polish might help retain moisture, so I wore it for about two months last fall (using a mix of recommended base coats without harsh ingredients and Dazzle Dry). I didn't peel or chip it off, oiled them regularly, took breaks, used 100% acetone. As far as I know I did everything you’re supposed to. But by December, the surface totally broke down into these white patches, my nails were constantly breaking, and I had to start from square one.
Wtf gives? Does anyone else have pathetic, temperamental nails like mine? I ordered the KB moisture base because I'd love to wear polish again, but I'm worried my nails just can't tolerate it. Any tips?
If it helps to know, my nails respond very poorly to OPI nail envy. I’ve had labs done recently and everything was fine. My nails have always been temperamental and I’ve never been able to have gel manicures or anything similar without totally messing up my nails.
by urbanist2847473
9 Comments
I finally hopped on the Nailtiques formula 2 train (blue bottle) and my GOODNESS I’ve never had such a good clear coat.
I’ve only used it by itself (I’m taking a polish break) but I’ve had ZERO peeling or chips. I use it about every other day, just layering. It’s been 5 days and I’m so happy.
My nails were getting pretty weak but now they aren’t peeling and look really good so far!
I have terrible nails and I wear polish all of the time, I try to give myself little breaks but I usually just don’t wanna. I made my own nail oil and it’s the only thing that really helps( I just have to remember to use it). It’s a 2:1 mix of jojoba oil and vitamin e oil in a roller. Jojoba is the closest oil to your skins natural sebum and it helps “shellac” the peely parts together
Have you had blood work done lately? I used to have these issues and I don’t say this to be like alarming or anything, but my issue was thyroid problems. I take Synthroid now and my nails are much healthier.
Also re dry cuticles, I do have to trim or use cuticle remover on them since it’s a build up of dry skin in my case. I need to “exfoliate” my cuticles to avoid them looking dry.
I’m not an expert and you might have some sensitivity to nail products, but I feel like wearing polish protects your nails rather than damages them. It only damages if you pick or scrape the nail polish off rather than use remover. I used strengthener as a base coat for months to grow out my weak breakable nails. As for your cuticles, you could use dissolver to clean them up a bit. Sounds like you’re doing a good job with oiling. Maybe give polish another try?
I had peeling from PVB base coat and then just brittleness in general. I used the KB moisture base coat and really liked it. Then I tried Nailtiques and have been mostly using that since.
Once I also stopped using nail clippers and switched to just using a glass file, the splitting and peeling almost disappeared. I’ve got a pretty strong curve to my nails and I’m certain the chomp chomp of the clippers was putting undue stress on my nails.
Doing all that consistently, using cuticle oil regularly, and keeping my nails polished to add strength has been a good combo for me so far.
All that being said, I have a tiny break on the side of my thumb right now that I suspect is due to my habit of hitting the space bar a wee bit too hard lol 😂
Nailtiques works. Nail envy did nothing for me.
That looks like water absorption to me. If your nails absorb fuild it will cause the layers to separate and it doesn’t take long even a longish shower can do it but putting a protective layer of even just base coat on will keep water out kinda like polyurethane on wood
It no could also be how you are filing your natural nails. If you’re doing a sawing motion, that can damage and separate the layers you want to start on the side and swipe toward the middle
I’ve seen some people say they have this problem from cuticle removers!