If you have a look at my personal instagram, you might recognise that I’m a bit of a nailpolish junkie. I love the possibilities that polish and nail art give me and it’s also a nice creativity outlet. Astrid recently asked me how I care for my nails and how I prevent them from splintering, peeling and breaking. You wouldn’t believe it from pics, but a few years ago, my nails were a mess. Weak, peeling, breaking off again and again – I was desperate. I tried everything the internet said was useful, but nothing seemed to really help. Finally everything got better when I started the following regime.
Be nice to your hands!
– Always wear gloves when you’re cleaning the house or doing the dishes. Detergents are way too harsh and drying for your hands.
– In the same vein, always moisturise after washing your hands. Have a bottle of lotion at your desk so you won’t forget. The skin of your hands will feel better, and it’s also important for your cuticles! Why? The nail matrix (that’s the area between the lunula and the first knuckle) is where your nail’s actually growing. If that area is dry or in any way damaged, your cells have to work to repair that area, leaving the growing nail weaker (see article about that here).
Correct at-home manicure
– Always use a glass file and file in one direction. Don’t use sandpaper files, they’re much too harsh and make brittle nails actually splinter faster.
– Also, don’t use cuticle clippers, ever. It’s very likely that the area where you cut will get infected, which looks not only ugly but also leads to weaker nails (see link above). Instead, use a cuticle remover gel (Sally Hansen offers a popular one) once a week. Leave it soak in for a few minutes, and gently push your cuticles back with an orange stick.
– Before every mani (and as often in between as you manage) moisturise your cuticles. Cuticle care is the most important thing – pamper them with cuticle butter or cuticle oil. Like hair, nails are made of keratin. Like hair, nails are made with dead, compacted cells. The nail matrix is the area where your nail is growing, so show your cuticles some love! They protect the new, soft part of the growing nail.
Removing everything
– When you’re taking your mani off, try to wipe only down the nail, not upwards towards the cuticle. You don’t want acetone that’s super-drying in that area of your nails! Acetone removes oil from your nail plate, which makes it brittle. Try to use an acetone-free remover or IMMEDIATELY after removing your polish with acetone, wash your hands (acetone is water-soluble) and moisturize like there’s no tomorrow.
– NEVER go over your unpainted nails with acetone to make your mani adhere better to the nail. It’s a recipe for brittle nails (you effectively remove all the oils that make them supple. Then you build up a layer of polish over your nail so that they don’t have a chance to soak up some moisture again).
– You can also opt for a non-acetone remover, which is usually made of ethyl acetate, made from ethanol and acid. But guess what? It dries out your skin too! So no matter what nailpolish remover you use, moisturize after using it. Every time you don’t a baby kitten starts to cry.
– An even more organic approach has the brand Priti NYC that offers a nailpolish remover made of soy.
What kind of polish should you put on your nails
– The first thing you might encounter if you’ve brittle nails is one of the many nail hardener products out there. And you might think ‘yeah, just buying this, apply it every day for three weeks, and pow! Strong nails!’
You can do that, but please bear in mind that nail hardeners usually contain formaldehyde to do their thing (formaldehyde reacts with the keratin in your nails and makes it hard). Formaldehyde may be a carcinogen, and yes, it can permeate through your nails into the body. Plus, if you use it for too long, your nails are getting too hard – which robs them of their elasticity and makes them prone to breaking again. That being said, the absolute best treatment I’ve ever encountered is the Miracle Nails treatment (with formaldehyde). If you want to use a nail hardener, don’t use it too often and decide beforehand if you want to use something that contains an eventually harmful chemical.
– First 3-free polishes were a thing, and now everything has to be 5-free. What does that mean? Those nailpolishes are formulated without formaldehyde, toluene, dibutyl phthalate (3-free), camphor and formaldehyde resin (5-free). A lot of indie nail polish brands use 5-free formulas, but there’re of course some polishes that are 5-free you can buy at your local store, like NCLA, Scotch Naturals, Uslu Airlines, benecos, Zoya, Logona, OCC, Deborah Lippmann, Priti NYC and Kure.
– 3-free are for example most high-end brands like Chanel, Givenchy, Dior, Estée Lauder, but also MAC and Nars. Drugstore brands that are 3-free are Essence, Catrice, Wet’n’Wild, Hard Candy, OPI and Essie. That polishes are either 3-free or 5-free doesn’t mean, though, that they’re better for your NAILS. It means that they’re better for your HEALTH, because they eliminated potentially harmful substances from their formulas.
– I feel like I also should mention Clinique’s polishes that aren’t only 5-free, but also tested by dermatologists and ophthalmologists. I don’t know what exactly they also eliminated from their formula, but apparently touching your eyes with your polished fingers can lead to dermatitis, so they came up with a formula that minimises this risk. If your skin is sensitive and you tend to touch your face a lot, invest in their topcoat and try it out over your fave polish!
Caveat: If you have brittle nails and also hair problems go and see your doctor. Maybe you’ll have to tweak your nutrition and get some supplements. I don’t advise to self-medicate on supplements, though! See an expert, please.
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