Natural nails anyone?

[MsMiaWallace]

Anyone else ditched the gels/acrylics & going natural on nails?

I'm recovering nails from acrylic's. I'm trying to hold out & let them recover naturally without gels etc. I am considering Builder Gel but also thinking of money saving!

I paint mine myself and keep them very short - this is Essie Birthday Girl which is a pain to remove but lasts really well. (It’s a bit glittery which is hard to see in the pic)

Me too, polish once in a while, I did the acrylic/gels and my nails where awful, painful and even at one point bleeding from how thin they became. It took a while to grow out all the damage but I'm glad I did. I do get gel nail envy at times with the patterns etc

Natural nails here. Personally I find false nails really manky. I was sat next to a woman with false nails in a meeting once. Her hands were folded on her lap and the underside of her nails were filthy. Now I think all false nails are filthy. I'm also a very practical/active person and have no idea how anyone functions with long nails.

I have really nice, long natural nails. Not bitten but clean and shaped.

I don’t like nail varnish anymore, even on other people. I just think it looks a bit tacky and quite hard to pull off looking nice.

I used to like nail varnish on my toes though, and for some reason now I don’t wear it my toes always look naked!

I use that file it's great. L'occitane shea butter hand cream worked into the base of the nails helpful when I remember. My nails too weak to risk gels

I've booked a Xmas treat Mani Pedi, normal nail polish. Just checked the brochure. £50 . I'm tempted to cancel but I would like a Pedi I've never had one before. It's an hour and a half booking which seems crazy time wise. Does everyone take this long?

TheFlis12345 I use Dose and Co collagen in my coffee as others have mentioned.

Love the pictures. You all have naturally beautiful hands!

@justasking111 it depends what you want. I never have a pedi as I do all the skincare etc at home plus hate anyone touching my feet! I just have a file and polish (not gel) for my toes. usually around £12-£15.

Full pedicure with foot soak, massage, hard skin removal, gel polish etc will be pricy.

I can't wear any nail polish as I developed a sensitivity to it, and now if I use polish my nails develop white patches where the nails lift from the nail beds towards the ends. I used to love wearing polish and it really gets me down when I see lovely colours that I'd like to wear on my fingers!

I have horrible vertical ridges in my nails, can anyone tell me if these might be improved by taking collagen supplements?

I have three months off a year from gels. Gives my nails time to recover. Will have them done mid November and then again before Christmas, but after that thinking of ditching it all together unless I've somewhere special to go. It's taken me a while to get used to it and I felt quite 'undressed' without them done at first but now I don't notice it so much and it saves a fair bit of cash.

I want to go back to natural nails (albeit with some polish on as I think it looks nicer) but I bit my nails for years and I’m worried if I don’t have acrylic or gel on that I CANT bite, I will slip back into the habit. I’m pretty sure I did so during lockdown.

Like revious pp's I have natural hand nails, but do like a polished toe. I do too much housework and gardening for varnished nails, but also, I am lucky to have strong and shiny, white nails, which grow really quickly. I have to cut them quite regularly. No hand care or supplements either. Just genetics. My hair on the other hand is crap...... thin and doesn't grow. Weird.

I had lovely natural nails until I had acrylics once, didn't know how they were meant to be removed and just peeled them off. My nails have peeled/split since, and it was almost 10 years ago. How can I fix it? Will nails strengthener suffice? I keep them short, but should I be growing them out and they will somehow get better?

@CosmopolitanPlease would a buffer work? Mine (that I have had for years and need to replace) smooths the surface, then polishes it. You are only supposed to do it every 6wks or so, as it thins the nail otherwise.

My Pedicure takes 75mins.

Its relaxing and complex. Not gels, but normal polish. I do everything cuticles, hard skin, food scrub, foot mask, massage.

I miss my acrylics soooo much. They were bad for my nails I know but I loved the look and how durable they were. I didn’t have overly long but nice oval extensions. Can’t afford to go back otherwise I probably would have caved by now!

Ooh, interestingly I have good thick hair that’s soft but strong (went a year without a cut in the past and didn’t have split ends) but crap nails, they don’t have a good colour and break easily.

@quirkychick I used to buff them, but the ridges are so deep now that I'd have to remove lots of the surface, and I read that it's especially bad for ridged nails as they are already weakened. Thanks though!

I've grown mine quite long now, naturally.
By filing edges gently often to prevent breakage and rubbing in cuticle oil, seems to stimulate growth. Saving myself at least £50 a month too

@CosmopolitanPlease it was worth a try! I know even normally you are not supposed to buff too much. I only do it every 6wks or when I remember. Is there a cause for ridged nails? I'm wondering if there is something you can strengthen them with. Maybe another poster knows.

@minticecreamisjustok I used to have mine quite long, they grow fast, but with dcs I have them on the shorter side. They grow fast (my hair does too) so I am usually clipping them shorter. Both my dm and dgm had lovely, long, natural nails.

I'm currently going through the dreadful nail recovery stage & desperate to just get them done again.
Please help me go cold turkey!

The thing is though, you have nice nails. If mine looked like that natural I might ditch the polish.

I never wear nail polish on my hands. It makes me feel grubby for some reason.

Occasionally put it on toes but try not to wear it too often. Nail polish is toxic and studies have shown that the chemicals are absorbed and distributed around your body.

Nailoid do quite an extensive range of nail treatments that you can buy on Amazon, check out the beauty counter at TK Maxx as well I bought loads all half price the other week.
I have never been able to grow my nails, thin, splitting and the dreadful vertical ridges.
so I started taking a Biotin tablet everyday, upped my intake of water and EVERY time I washed my hands I massaged cuticle oil/ cream into my nails. Before bed I apply Nailoid Triple Action Therapy then buff each fingenail with a chamois buffer for 30 seconds each nail to increase circulation.
I know it seems a lot of faffing about, but the improvement in my nails was unbelievable!!!!! For the first time I was proud of my nails, they are now so much stronger. I had to cut them when I went back to work after my holiday as I work for the NHS and we can't have fingernails growing past our fingertips. Nailoid do a Buff and Shine, it's a paste you massage in your nails, then buff them up, your nails come up smooth and shiny, and it is so gentle and smells wonderful!