Help with my nails please! (Pics attached)

[ButterflyOfFreedom]

My NY resolution was to stop biting my nails- a disgusting habit I've had for over 30 years. I bite & pick the skin around them too (grim I know).

I'm actually doing ok on the non-biting front but what do I do when my nails get a bit long?? They are so brittle and seem to break / chip easily (so I bite them again... sigh).
And what about the cuticles? E.g. what do I do with the one on my middle finger in this pic?

Obviously I can't go to get a manicure right now (the ultimate aim when I get non-embarrassing looking fingers) so what things can I do at home?

I use lots of hand cream but that's about it.

I just want nice fingers & nails. I'm so embarrassed by how these look.

Thank you.

Take zinc to strengthen them.

Keep them filed down to about the length you have there until they've recovered a little. Polish won't hurt if you like.

I would get a cuticle oil. Apply a couple of times a day and they'll soon soften and neaten. You could snip the one you've pointed out but I've never done that or had to do it so wouldn't like to comment.

You can get nail hardening basecoats that stop them from breaking so easily.

Lots of moisturiser and Vaseline on dry cuticles and push them back gently when you’re in the shower.

Fellow nail and cuticle biter and picker here! I've stopped biting and picking for the last month.

Cuticles: for the first couple of nights I slather sudocreme all around my cuticles in the areas that I pick and where the cuticle meets the nail. This heals up any cracks and sore areas. After the first couple of nights I do exactly the same, but using Burts Bees cuticle butter instead. I only ever push them back when they are well moisturised and soaked, otherwise they split and tear.

Nails: I stroke a glass nail file around the free edge every evening, not to reduce length but to ensure there aren't any snaggly bits that I'll be tempted to sort with my teeth. I don't let them get any longer than my finger and use my fingertip as a guide for the file. I have the most success when I have something on my nails and I've been having great results with Nailberry açai nail elixir.

Gel Rehab by Nails Inc. I got it from TK Maxx for £3.99 so try there first!

Honestly it's better than OPI Nail Envy and also cheaper even at full price.

Get a good cuticle oil and cuticle pusher, I have this one from Superdrug, the Elegant Touch one is also great. Get into the habit of massaging oil into your cuticles every night and pushing your cuticles back gently. You can trim them but I wouldn't recommend it. Just keep pushing them back and they'll sort themselves out. If you do decide to trim them buy proper cuticle nippers and be very, very careful.

I also agree with a quick gentle swipe with a file every evening. Also get a block buffer and use it before the nail polish to shine and even out any ridges. You don't need to use that all the time though.

Get into those habits and I promise you'll see a pretty quick difference.

I genuinely can’t see anything to be embarrassed about here. A thickened cuticle?

Haha! That's so funny @ButterflyOfFreedom, I was going to start a thread on exactly the same thing!

I stopped biting my nails about 6 weeks ago after about 35 years!! But, what do I do when they get too long? My nails are a nice shape and strong it turns out, and my cuticles are neat, do I just clip the nails with clippers or file them?

I'm scared of buggering them up and starting to nibble any ragged bits if I clip, I'm also scared of filing them into a stupid shape. Help!

Well done by the way!

Cnd solar oil 2 or 3 times a day, it will make the nail stronger and stop the skin being dry so there is nothing to pick.

Take Biotin to strengthen your nails. It really works! I was absolutely amazed. It takes a few months for the results to show. The downside (for me) is that every few months it gives me a breakout of spots, so when that happens I stop taking it for about a week and the spots go away very quickly. (Biotin also supposed to improve one's hair, but it's done nothing at all for mine.)

I too have managed to stop biting my nails but due to my past habit as soon as they grow they break super easily.

I bought a nail strengthener to begin with and once they started to look OK I bought a gel nail set off amazon. I think it only cost me about 30 quid in total for the lamp, polishes etc.

Now I do my own and save a fortune.

It does take a lot of practice, but if you can't be bothered with that just get top coat clear and put two coats on. Its helps to stop the nails from breaking.

Thanks for the replies, appreciate that - I really have no clue when it comes to looking after nails!

I'll have a proper read through of the suggestions here and invest in some products I think, thanks!

Dior Abricot Nail Cream - saw an article about this and started using it every night - its made an amazing difference to my nails.

You really don’t need to spend £££ on something by Dior! Anything moisturising is fine, just some might be nicer than others.

Well done OP, they are looking great! I would keep them trimmed or filed very short for the forseeable future, maybe a year, and engage in a new ritual, whenever you're sitting down to the tv or something similar have a pot of rich hand cream and a good cuticle oil there ready for you and genty work it in, reapply, work in it, reapply, gently working on your cuticles. Personally I'd keep clippers there too to cut back bits you're tempted to bite off.

Keep them short until they are stronger and use plenty of cuticle oil. Push back the cuticles gently during or after a bath or shower. Don't trim them, they should shrink back over time. When filing use a 240 grit file as anything rougher than this can cause damage if you're heavy handed. Only file in one direction, don't see saw as this can cause friction and heat leading to separation. I would say please don't buy a home gel kit but I understand how tempting it is. What I would say is read up about allergies (and other damage) caused by overexposure to the skin when it's not applied properly. You can, however, use a strengthener but try and make sure it is a strengthener rather than a hardener. Hardeners do as they say and can actually make the nail too hard and therefore brittle. They look great! It's a tough habit to break.