I'm starting this thread in the hope this will shame me into STOPPING biting my nails FOREVER!

[LoveMyGirls]

I've done it since I was tiny, I do it without thinking and I hate it, I really want to stop, I've cut down and if I paint stuff on my nails I can keep them nice for a bit but then life gets hectic i forget to paint stuff on and I go back to it, how can I stop it forever?

Dd1 has started the habit and I want to break it before dd2 copies as well, it's something my dad has always done and I hate it!

It gives you worms, you know.

NO? Really?

But i've never had them and i've been biting my nails for well over 20yrs

Yep. Think about it, you're putting your fingernails, which may have been in the garden, wiping a childs bottom etc, into your mouth.

Not good.

I wash my hands all the time, I'm a bit occd like that tbh.

It's not good, how do i stop?

It's worse than smoking because at least with smoking you can stop buying fags if there isn't any you can't smoke but with this I don't even realise I'm doing it 99% of the time!

There's dirt you just can't scrub away though, isn't there.

Besides people will look at you and think 'oh she'll give herself worms'.

Seriously someone said it to me when I was young, put me off of nail biting forever and apparently it does have some truth to it.

I don't bite nails but pick at cuticles, with some quite devastating results.

The only thing I found that works is keeping my nails manicured and coated with a thick and dark nail polish. (I'm pretty good at manicuring my hands by now) And always carrying hand cream, nail file, and a cuticle cutter in my bag so that if ever a nail breaks or a bit of skin comes up, I can cut/file it without picking at it.

If your habit is only biting, apply a bitter nail polish made for people who bite nails. Doesn't that help?

I do too. I hate it and will manage to stop for months at a time, then start again. I comfort myself with the thought that if I ate as much as I nibble my nails I'd be the size of a house.

Applying stuff thats bitter does help but I'd have to do it every night for the rest of my life and never eat any food with my hands ever again.

I bite the skin round the edges as well which really hurts so you would think that would be enough to stop me!

You couls try spending out on professionla nail extensions and have them beautifully manicured. The result might inspire you to keep them nice. And they'll look fab while your own nails are growing underneath.

Having nice manicured nails did it for me - I didn't like biting the varnish, and if I have to pick, I can pick the varnish off (but only if I've done it myself, if someone else has done it I won't pick on principle)

I am better when I know i'm going to have my nails done or have just had them done but it last for less than a week and it costs £12 a time and we just cant afford it

You can do it yourself! File. Soak in water for a few minutes. Push cuticles back with a stick. Cut excess bits with a y-shaped cuticle cutter. Rub with cream. Dip in water. Dry. Apply base coat, 2 x nail polish, top coat.

It is not difficult. And all this fiddling around with nails & skin kind of feels like picking and satisfies that urge as well.

hummmmm maybe i'll try it but I'm not very good at beauty type stuff

I'm in my, ahem mid 30's, and I stopped biting my nails about 2 months ago.No reason, just because. Now it seems as ridiculous as poking my eye out. They look amazing. At any time I have about 2 or 3 that are shorter and look crap but the majority look like real ladies nails!