Leave. Your. Skin. Alone!
I'm a reformed nail biter who constantly fussed with the hard/dry corners of the skin around my nail bed and was able to successfully break the biting habit…who just had the biggest, most humbling Eureka! moment about how the skin around the nails is what influences nail shape.
I always blamed my flat, curveless nails on genetics, diet, or the physical trauma caused by biting for decades. They bent and peeled and it always always started in the corners where the free edge met the nail bed. It was suggested to me to file the sidewalls and that did buy me time but never actually solved any of the problems.
It wasn't until I started cuticle care and learned from this sub that glass files aren't limited to actual nails that I noticed my nails stopped breaking in the corners. I started smoothing down hard, dry or peeling skin instead of just taking a cuticle nipper and hacking it so deep I could feel it, and oil soaked literally for hours in nitrile gloves between manis.
I literally just noticed this and it was like a lightbulb the sun exploded in my head.
Exhibit A is a screenshot from a video taken in December (MC Imperial Stormtrooper), the other is the C curve I never thought I could be blessed with as of today (MC 404 soul not found). And my goodness my nails have become STRONG.
The second pic are the bits that regularly got chopped until I realized they deserve TLC just like the whole unit does.
Anyway just wanted to share this total "duh?" moment as a friendly reminder that no matter how many times you see and hear the same advice, it's so easy to think and say "I'm already doing that!" or "it doesn't apply to me!" If you are struggling to achieve results, it helps to really stop and examine your entire routine (even the autopilot parts!) A very small change that you could implement that to completely butterfly effect your results!
by dizzykhajit
9 Comments
Amazing job. It’s mind boggling what “cutie” care can do for our nails! Never would’ve thought it would cure the sharp ridge peak I had on my ring fingers
How do you smooth down hard dry skin? Thanks for sharing, your nails look fantastic!
Congratulations on your progress!! I also recently had a similar Eureka moment.
I thought my nails would always be super flat and wide at the tips, but over the past year, I have been able to get my nail beds to extend further out as well as finally getting them to have a good curve!
I also used to bite the skin around my nails and then when I stopped biting, I would get them with cuticle nippers.
Not biting + cuticle oil + not messing with my sidewalls/skin has completely changed my nails.
I also use Nailtiques 2 plus and it is such an incredible feeling to finally have pretty nails that are also a lot more durable than I thought was possible. Forever grateful to this sub and how it’s helped me grow my nails out. Here’s a pic of them now!
https://preview.redd.it/wh153ml9m1qg1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=57e6a5dc3f8d8009a24a8371c3ba91d9f7c5cb91
Damn i was gonna ask for a basic tut but I can’t DM you 😭
YES! Same thing here! Stop cutting the skin around your cuticles!!!! My pancakes are beautiful crescent moons now.
Okay, you got me! I knew theoretically that biting that hard skin had to be doing something bad but I didn’t connect it to all these signs in my nails. Glass file, oil, gloves.
Smoothing down hard, dry or peeling skin with a glass nail file??! You are a GENIUS.🤯🤯
i never thought to gently use a glass file on the skin?? this is gonna be life changing 😭
Wait, what do you mean that glass files aren’t limited to your fingernails?
Are you filing the skin beside your nail? 😯
I need deets!