What do you do with your nails? Come tell me, even if it’s nothing.

[Goandplay]

I used to have BIAB regularly but stopped this year for a variety of reasons.

I have been painting them myself. They chip too quickly, literally two, three days. I have used top coats, I’ve given plenty of drying time between coats, a few different brands of polish and I cannot get any longer out of them.

So now I am thinking maybe it’s not realistic to think I can have painted nails continuously and I need to do something else.

What do you do with your nails?

BIABI every 5 weeks or so never chips, flakes or breaks

I don’t because my nails are such an odd shape I can’t get anything done to them. I just trim the cuticles so they look tidy, and apply nail oil before bed every night. And clip them so they’re short.

Doesn’t it wreck your nails though?

How do you trim your own cuticles? I just can't seem to do it!

Short and mostly bare. I use Dior Abricot nail cream to stop hangnails and keep nails in good condition. For an occasion I sometimes use a coat of Dior base coat followed by a nails inc top coat, makes nails look shiny and healthy.
Now I'm in my sixties I can't bear the look of coloured fingernails on old hands, even short nails, I think it looks dreadful, even more so when the nails are long.

I once had gel nails but it made my nails lift away from nail beds so I never had them again.

I can’t get on with polish - it looks rubbish and chips quickly. Recently I’ve started doing a Japanese style manicure with a kit off Amazon and I love the result. Nails look glossy and healthy, it’s minimum effort and it lasts.

I do nothing. I just cut them short.

What’s it called please?

I take collagen and glucosamine every day, remove cuticles (I know its not really the cuticle but you know what I mean) and and keep them as short as possible due to flaking that started last year.

I’m hoping to be able to go back to painting them myself with normal polishes soon. I’ve never had them done in a salon and don’t want to do anything that needs to be cured with a UV lamp due to the removal processes.

Nothing. I’m lucky that I’ve always had quite strong nails that grow easily and are a nice shape.

I can’t paint my own, not very good at it and my dominant hand always ends up looking as if a 5-year old did it. Can’t afford regular manicures, and although I wear gloves I’ve usually got compost under my nails. So I just file them and keep them clean.

I have a plastic stick cuticle pusher. I wait til I’m out the shower usually when they’re softer, gently push them back, then use the nippers to trim away the dead skin.

I like the sound of ‘Japanese Kit’. Does it require buffing though? My nails are so incredibly thin and friable I can’t do any surface buffing at all.

I liked them with BIAB but started to dread the appointments.

My nail beds are a nice shape. I’m thinking maybe trying to file them in an oval shape but leaving them bare.

I understand what PP says about older hands. I did start to feel like that when having anything other than a classic colour with the BiAB.

@Namethenames It’s called P.Shine - cost about £45 but you only need a small amount of the paste and powder so it will last me a long time. It takes me a couple of minutes once or twice a week.

Manicurist nail glow.

Could you link which cuticle stick and nippers you use?

BIAB every four weeks.

My nails are naturally a mix of very weak and very strong on some fingers and I am a skin picker when anxious so this is a preventative thing for me as I can't show obvious anxiety in my job and don't pick when they're done and has the added bonus of a crazy bright design so a win win!

To PP BIAB shouldn't ruin your nails if applied, but most of all, or removed correctly. 😊

After several years of trying to just care for my bare nails, I now get BIAB with gel polish every 2-3 weeks. I always have bright colours and sometimes bold designs too. I just can’t beat the habit of biting my nails so it’s the only way they look good. Feel so much better with done nails (and eyebrows) Unlike the acrylic extensions of my youth BIAB doesn’t damage my nails, they don’t get filed down at all it’s no more buffing than I’d do just to paint.

I don't even know what BIAB is OP.

I live in a relatively small town and it amazes me how many establishments there are for getting nails done. I've never been to one in my life.

I try to keep my nails trimmed and clean and the cuticles pushed back. I really dislike to see people with long talon like nails. It's the puritan in me because I always think long nails make it look as though a person never does any manual work such as housework or gardening or similar. I like hands and nails to be clean and presentable but functional. Although I do use handcream multiple times a day.

Similarly I don’t want anything with a removal process for one off occasions due to the damage. Also my old nail person won’t allow people to leave and come back and she was so good I don’t think I would find anyone to a similar standard anyway.

I’m starting to think it’s all or nothing. I find the appointments so boring. My nail lady took 2 hours. She was really good but 2 hours every 3 weeks felt too long.

BIAB - builder in a bottle - I think. Basically it’s a long wear, durable way to paint your nails but applied correctly you can improve the entire look of your nail. But it takes ages to cure and it does damage your nail when they remove the BIAB as it needs to be filed and buffed off.

I get builder gel with nail art every three weeks. I just love having pretty nails, plus it stops me picking and biting the skin around them like I used to.

My nails are so thin I’m really scared of damage. When they’re in a good enough condition to paint with normal polish I use natural soy oil (made for dogs!) to remove it. It works just as well as ‘normal’ remover on most brands of polish but is moisturising. It has no smell and no acetone or similar.

There used to be a company called Priti that made soy based polishes and removers for humans but they’ve gone now.

Clip them once a fortnight. They've got a good natural shape so don't need filing, and I don't like the feel of nail varnish on them, so that's all the maintenance they get.

ETA they have no visible cuticle so no pushing back needed.