Help! My nails look seriously unloved. What do you use to enhance main nail rather than cuticles? I'm not a nail-polish wearer ...

[loveyouradvice]

I'd love to look down at my hands and smile at the look of my nails - at the mo, they're looking very unloved. A bit ridged (despite a great diet), very flat and in need of a little ?buffing ? oil? Im clueless

What would you do? Fairly low maintenance, and definitely no nail polish.

And if other top tips for rest of nail and nail bed I'd love them!

Hi Op, you could start by pushing your cuticles back after a bath or shower (they're softer afterwards) and start oiling your cuticle and nail bed every night.

When I do this regularly (I oil mine about 3 times daily) it makes such a difference!

Mine are slightly ridged too and whilst I occasionally buff, I try not to do too much as can thin your nails.

There's a really good YouTuber called The salon life-she's worth checking out

Buffing and oiling.

have a look at the manucurist range (French brand)

You need:

Masque SOS which you put on overnight
Emollient efficace which will soften and remove cuticles and dead skin
Serum complete which is for damaged nails.

I know you said you don't want nail polish but I'd then have a look at active glow. It makes your nails look natural but buffed with just the slightest hint of pink. enough to make them look healthy but not enough that it looks like you have nail polish on. Active smooth will do the same but smooth out your ridges

I’d use a really rich hand cream and oil regularly. And I know you said no nail varnish, but (please bear with me) Dior Glow is a really natural sheer pink which is barely visible and requires no skill whatsoever to apply and you can layer it. It just makes your nails look better. And chips or scratches are not obvious so very low maintenance.

I agree with others saying cuticle oil and hand cream. I keep hand cream by my kitchen sink and at my desk at work. Every single time I wash hands, I put on cream. Cuticle oil at night before bed.

Look for a buffer with 4 different surfaces, and do them every couple of weeks.
I use this one
www.amazon.ca/Revlon-Shape-N-Buff-Pack-of-6/dp/B0017KCQ2W/ref=asc_df_B0017KCQ2W/?tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=706725225072&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1117513641477271119&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001590&hvtargid=pla-570059627429&psc=1&mcid=d3f4d8a9d3933fd799fc62a827bc38f1&gad_source=1

manucurist active glow is pretty much identical to Dior Glow.

Active smooth and active bright might suit her better since they look even less like nail polish but really make a difference to the way nails look.

Often cheap on eBay too.

Drops of olive oil on your nails each night for a week. And then Dior glow nail polish.
Re do your nails once a week giving the nails a really good soak in oil overnight.
Should be much improved in about a month

What amazing advice all - thank you!

I love that my nails will be looking much better in a month - and I suspect already significantly different in a few days!

I always recommend the Salon Life videos for advice. Jojoba oil is what she recommends as the best but other oils would work. Warm oil soaks are amazing. The advice from her channel has transformed my nails.

Also, vertical ridges are completely normal!

After years, decades, of pushing my cuticles back, I stopped a few years ago. My nails and cuticles look great. So the only thing I do, which I've always done, is ally a rich hand cream throughout the day, and sometimes a vaseline top layer and gloves before bed.

Vaseline at bedtime. File daily.

Lush lemon cuticle butter 🩷

I second this brand, it’s made such a difference to my nails which are really brittle due to medication.
I use the oil every day, the Sos base which is like a clear varnish but treats and protects your nails and then the masque weekly.
From breaking off daily they’ve started to grow and have stopped breaking. I’ve been so impressed that I’ve now bought the blueberry active glow which is a pale pink translucent treatment varnish which makes my nails look healthy. I don’t like nail varnish normally but this has transformed my nails. It’s a bit more expensive but worth every penny.

Biotin supplements
No nail bar stuff
Just clear nail polish.
Regular maintenance with vaseline at night, and buffer and file daily.

Following as fed up of Biabs!