To not let my 13 yr old DD have her nails done in a salon?

[MaureenMLove]

She bites her nails and wants to have her nails professionally done in a salon. Her two mates are having theirs done, for a 'do' they are going to during half term.

I'm not sure that a) professionally done nails are all that good for your nails anyway. b) She's 13 and c) its gonna cost about £20!!

Am I being mean? She's gone off in the usual Kevin the teenager way, 'its not fair!'

What do you think?

Errrr... well I have acrylic nails and I'm not chavvy, bleached blonde or tango orange!

Mother nature was most unkind and gave me stumpy fingers and crap nails that split and break when they get anywhere close to looking half decent. I have natural clear acrylics, kept fairly short and they don't look false at all. Just better than my natural ones and my hands now look sort of 'right' and feminine and not like they belong to a navvy!

I don't see any problem with a 13 year old having them if she is very conscious about the state of her own nails. But - you can still bite off acrylic nails and sometimes the urge to pick at a loose edge can be overwhelming.

However, acrylic nails aren't a one off investment and just costing £20 isn't the full story. Every two or three weeks you need to have a rebalance to fill in the gap at the bottom created by nail growth or they start to look awful. I pay £19 every fortnight for a rebalance and have a full new set every 16 weeks or so that costs £35.

If she can pay for them then fine but I suspect if she's a nail biter that they won't actually stay on long enough to need a rebalance!

I think I would do bit of research. See if the acrylic ones will help her nails grow underneath or if they will further ruin her nails (as she bites them I am not sure they could get much worse?!). If they will help or at least not make them worse I would let her get them done for the party as a special treat BUT only short/med, light pretty colour/natural, not long and/or tarty colours! If she keeps them nice and doesn't bite them I would pay for the upkeep, if she doesn't they come off. End of. This way it might stop the nail biting habit.

On the nail biting... I bought some nail polish remover pads (the ones in the small screw top containers, about 20 in it, pink container....?) and they taste VILE. It took me a couple of days to work out why when I put my fingers near my mouth it tasted 'yuck'. I don't bite my nails, but if I did, this would work for me!! AND it doesn't wash off easily at all. Ghastly taste.