All through primary and part of secondary school I used to bite my nails and when I tried to stop biting my nails I pulled and bit at the skin around them. So I decided to get a hand and nail care routine to motivate me to take care of my hands and nails.
Treatments
My two top tips for strong and healthy nails are OPI Nail Envy and OPI Avoplex Cuticle Oil. Both are pricey I’ll admit but honestly they are so worth it!
I use the Original OPI Nail Envy to strengthen my nails. It comes in a nail polish bottle and is exactly like a shiny top coat except it strengthens your nails! On a Sunday I put two coats of this on and then every other day add another coat on top, then Saturday evening I take it off, leave my nails to breath for the night and on Sunday restart. You can wear it under or over normal nail polish or OPI even started making coloured nail polish with the strengthener mixed in! I have a lovely mauve colour as well as numerous bottles of the clear strengthener. The OPI Nail Envy range also have a matte version, a version for soft and brittle nails and dry and brittle nails version so there’s a formaula to suit everyone! Have you tried any of the Nail Envy range?
I also use OPI Avoplex Cuticle Oil, three times a day, everyday (or mostly everyday!) I rub some into my cuticles morning, afternoon and just before I go to bed. It too comes in a nail polish bottle and I love the wide brush, it makes it really quick and easy to apply! If you use cuticle oil religiously, like I do, your cuticles should stay soft making it easy for you to push them back and remove them without damaging your nail bed. Taking care of your cuticles will also prevent those awful and very painful rag nails!
Filing
Another tip for strong nails is filing! I want beautiful talons just as much as the next girl but as soon as my nails pass a certain length they snap off so I religiously file them down. Not insanely short, just enough to stop them breaking. When filing your nails you should only file in one direction, rather than back and forth, as this will make your nails weaker and possibly cause your nails to split. I also make sure to keep on top of any chips or ridges in my nails. As well as I soft nail file, I love to use a 4-in-1 buffing block. When finding a buffing block it’s important to get a soft one. I purchased one off eBay and all of the sides were worse than sand paper and would have butchered my nails if I’d used it! I found this one from Tweezerman and was so impressed that it came with 4 different ‘refils’ for each side! My pet hate with these buffing blocks was having to have 2 or 3 on the go because a specific side was more worn down than the others. You should never over buff your nails as this will make them weak so every other week or so on a Saturday evening when I don’t have any nail envy on I give my nails a gentle ‘buff’, ‘smooth’ and then polish them off with the ‘shine’ side. You’d be amazed at how shiny and healthy your nails can look from doing this!
Hand Care
I think it is really important to not focus on just your nails but your hands too! There is no point in having beautiful, strong, long nails if your hands are a dry cracked mess so I make sure to use hand cream multiple times a day! I personally suffer from a type of ezcema on my hands when I’m stressed or if there’s sudden changes in temperature, which cause my hands to get blisters and then extremely dry so as well as the medical handcream I’m prescribed, my current go to favourite is the Rituals Ginkgos Secret Hand Balm. I love the smell and texture of this hand cream, it melts into your skin very quickly and it does a great job at keeping my hands and cuticles moisturised and super soft!
Gloves
The final step in my nail care routine is the use of gloves! Both the rubber and woolly kind! Washing dishes and having your hands in hot, soapy water dries your hands and cuticles out and weakens your nails! So I make sure to always wear rubber gloves when doing dishes or washing clothing items by hand. I also wear gloves during the winter months, leather for driving and soft woolly gloves when I’m out and about. Cold weather can be very harsh on your hands and nails and I feel gloves really help to protect them!
As you can see I take my hand and nail care routine very seriously and this may seem like an awful lot and awfully time consuming. Honestly though, once you’ve got into the habit of it you’ll see it honestly doesn’t take that long and your nails will love you for it! I love going to my beautician and getting my nails done with gel polish every now and then (my nail technician is amazing and makes me lots of different insanely glittery mixes of gel polish!) but it’s important to take care of your nails in between!
I hope you liked this post and if you’ve got any nail and hand care tips I’d love to hear them!
PaleGirlRambling xo
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I’m so lazy with my nails, I usually always get them done but I’m taking a break and they are so ugly right now. This was such a great post 👍🏼
I hope this post gives you some ideas for TLC in between getting your nails done!
PaleGirlRambling xo
I’m currently a nail biter so will have to invest in a few of these products to try and help me stop haha! X
Kate// itskaterose.com
It’s such a hard habit to break! Honestly trey the nail envy and cuticle oil combo! It really helped me!
PaleGirlRambling xo
This is a great routine to follow. I sometimes paint my nails without doing filing or applying oil for cuticles (oops) and due to a lack of some vitamins, my nails break as long as they reach a certain length which is frustrating.
Yiota
pinkdaisyloves.blogspot.com
I hope these tips help girl! Filing them down a wee bit before they get to the point where they’re going to break really helps!
PaleGirlRambling xo
Love this post lovely! I wish I could stop biting my nails 😩. Beautifully presented.
Will be keeping an eye out on all your new posts 💗 They are wonderful!
😘 xx
Thank you so much! That’s lovely to hear! Stopping biting your nails is honestly so hard to do! Try the nail envy and cuticle oil combo though, it helped me so much!
PaleGirlRambling xo
Sounds like you have anything down to a T! I’m not allowed to have nice nails unfortunately, because I’m a chef. Got to keep them short for hygiene reasons, and can’t wear polish in case it chips off!
I’m going to have to try that Rituals hand cream you mention! Is it definitely completely fine with your eczema? Because my eczema is really concentrated on my hands and I’m only ok with a couple very select Lush products usually! I loved this post though, lots of tips I need to try out! xx
100% fine with my eczema! You could try going into the store and doing a patch test to see if it works with yours as I know different things flare up peoples eczema! Hope it works for you lovely!
PaleGirlRambling xo
What a great routine! I can be useless with my nails, but especially hand care. I’ve really been trying to focus on looking after my hands a lot more recently.
Louise | http://www.louiseroserailton.com
It’s so important to look after hands too! A lot of people forget to! I’m on the look out for a handcream with spf in it next to really make sure my hands are protected
PaleGirlRambling xo
Thanks for all of the recommendations! I normally bite nails too but am trying to take care now, didn’t think of wearing clothes in that many situations. Will also look up the OPI products, thanks for sharing with us! xx
sophieannetaylor.blogspot.co.uk
Glad it was helpful lovely!
PaleGirlRambling xo
This was such an interesting post to read! Made me realise how much I’m neglecting my nails right now 💖
Hi, my nails are dreadful especially my cuticles I shalll give the OPI range a try. Thanks for sharing, Chloe #TeacupClub
I hope the OPI products help! They really are the best in my opinion!
PaleGirlRambling xo
I’m quite lucky as I naturally have strong and fast growing nails but sometimes they do spilt or go a little weaker so thanks for your tips.
Great post and your nails look fab!
Charlotte 🖤
theporcelaindollblog.blogspot.co.uk
I’m soooooo bad at taking care of my nails- this is so DYI inspiring!!
It’s so easy to take care of your nails at home and much cheaper than getting manicures all the time!
PaleGirlRambling xo
I love OPI! I love the Gadi 21 minerals buffer for my nails. Your nails look great!
Tasha x
http://itsatashathing.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/mothers-day-gift-guide-2017-last-minute.html
I’ll have to check out that buffer!
PaleGirlRambling xo
My nails are my life but I must say I don’t have a routine for them but I really should! Thanks for sharing!
Jessica | growchangeaccept.co.uk
I have to admit, I am awful at taking care of my nails! I’ve worked in a coffee business for over 6 years now, and sometimes I have to get behind the coffee machine and get my hands dirty- literally! It means I just always have short nails which I sometimes paint nude. Hardly exciting!
I might try some of the treatments, though! If I can’t paint my nails I might as well get them looking healthy haha!
Bisous, Faz
http://www.livinglikeaparisienne.com
Cleaning a coffee machine is the worst when you have long nails! I used to get coffee granules from the grinder stuck under my nails so I know your pain!
Even if you keep them shorter it’s worth while trying cuticle oil to make sure they look healthy and hydrated!
PaleGirlRambling xo
Your hands are so nice! I have dermatitis on one of my hands, so sometimes they look nice, other times they look a mess haha! I love Rimmel’s nail nurse for strengthening, it’s so good!
I just had a lucky day as my eczema can make my hands look awful so i fell your pain!
I’ll definitely check that strengthener out!
PaleGirlRambling xo
Your nails look lovely and healthy! I really want to try this Rituals cream you recommend too! Emily x
Emily-Alice.co.uk
I definitely need to invest some time into this! I’m guilty of always having gel on my nails or some form of varnish. Yesterday was the first day I let my nails breathe in about 10 weeks. How bad is that?! Thanks for the inspo!
with love, b.xo | withloveb.com
It is so tempting to always have gel on!
Hope these tips have given you some nail TLC inspiration!
PaleGirlRambling xo
My mum uses a lot of the same products as you and she takes SUCH good care of her nails. Mine are absolutely awful. I’ve picked my nails since I was about 5, it’s actually quite a problem now and they look horrific. I’ve been through phases where I stopped and my nails were long but… sigh. I’d love a nail care routine like this!
I definitely should keep up with an actual nail care routine.. I don’t. :/ I’ve stopped polishing my nails for a while now, as with my job and lots of typing, it seems to always chip off! But once in a while, a good manicure is always nice! OPI is a great brand btw!
Well done you for such a fabulous nail care routine! I absolutely love OPI (I think I’ve bought so many polishes from them I could open a shop! Aha) and have worked with many of their products in salons I’ve worked in. The avoplex cuticle oil is one of my fave cuticle oils ever and I’ve always found their nail envy strengtheners to always give great results.
Ellie Xx | http://www.make-it-up.co.uk
Oh my goodness me too! I have FAR too many nail polishes! Apoplexy and Nail Envy are the best!
PaleGirlRambling xo
I am finally getting proper nails, because I stopped biting/pulling them, so yay for this post! All things nail related get me really excited now haha. Loved it! X Larice
Ohhhh I hope these tips help! Congrats on stopping biting! I know how hard it is
PaleGirlRambling xo
I’ve been getting acrylic nails for around 8 years now so my nails are in awful condtion. I keep thinking about having them taken off and trying to take care of then but I just love the super long black coffin nails too much x
Makeup with JayXo
I’m THE WORST at caring for my nails, I normally just stick on a base coat, a pretty colour and then a top coat and be done with it. I think it’s because I’m quite lucky to have naturally strong nails (even though I used to bite them for 18 years of my life) so I kinda take that for granted.
Alicia x
http://www.aestheticobsessed.co.uk
This was an amazing post! I am LITERALLY the worst at nail care and I’ve always blamed it on having super weak nails but maybe I’m just doing it wrong LOL I’m definitely going to try to adopt some of these habits!
Samantha // aleggygal.blogspot.com
I hope these tips help lovely! If used properly Nail Envy is honestly amazing at strengthening p! Definitely give it a go!
PaleGirlRambling xo
This is so useful! I paint my nails a few times a week so need to make sure my hands and nails are in the best condition so I’ll be keeping this in mind. I need to get into the glove wearing habit, in colder weather I hate the feeling of them on my hands so I usually skip them but it makes my hands feel awful without!
Claire xo