new to having nails advise me

[Allonsy]

Im almost 27 and have been a nail biter for a least 20 years, after countless failed attempts over the years i think ive broke the habit. Not bitten them since October and for the first time ever my nails come past the tips of my fingers but now ive realised i have no idea what to do with nails, im not sylish or femimine at all despite my trying it dosnt come naturally to me at all. Im wearing clear varnish and tried a pale purplish colour but it looked strange.

So my questions are my nail beds are shorter than other peoples i presume due to the biting so the white bit starts quite low this means my nails are technically long but dont look it ifykwim? will this change or have i damaged them for good? how long should i let them get whats the 'done' style bearing in mind im a sahm mum to a toddler and spend my days cleaning and playing with toys. How do i file them what sort of shape and finally what kind of colours should i paint them to look modern but nice.

Basically i need a dummies guide to nail care

thanks

You won't have damaged your nail bed. Keep up the good work. Moisturising as often as you can will help the skin on your finger tips to soften and allow your nails to grow. File them gently to keep them growing in a good shape. Don't file your nails hard, or create heat in your nails. This can cause flaking.

I would use a pale colour to give them shine. Not a pearly/frosted colour can show up defects in your nails.

Thanks, what's the best shape to file them? Round or square? They are naturally round just now and any attempt at filing them just looks the same I have filing fear lol

Squoval is the shape to go for -- a mix of square and oval. Crazy I know.

Your nails will definitely reattach to the nail beds in time. I found that mine went a bit gunky at the transitional stage but that was probably because I was obsessively cleaning under them with sharp tools.

I'm still not great with painting but agree that nude and nicely shaped will look great.

Follow the shape of your cuticles when you file. So your nails will look more natural. So your nails look like a oval shape. I think square nails can make your fingers look blunt. But that's my opinion!

Thatgs good to know peachtown, my nails are not really up for filing to a shape anyway i did some googling and looked at different shapes but the sides of my nails have not grown up past the edge of my finger yet only the middle 'point' is quite long, i presume this is because the nail bed is still so short. Without anything on my nails or even clear polish the white bits are not white but clear soft and bend with any pressure, ive put a pale colour on just now as that seems to make them stronger but even with 2 coats i can see the whitish, clear part through the polish and it looks a bit odd