Nail and Cuticle Care

Cuticle oil does more than it looks like

It is the single highest-value item in nail care and the most skipped. Oil keeps the nail plate flexible and the surrounding skin from cracking, and flexible nails bend where brittle ones snap. Apply it daily, ideally more than once, and rub it in around the whole nail fold. It is also what keeps a gel or acrylic set looking fresh, since dry cuticles are what make grown-out product obvious. Buy the pen or dropper format that you will actually carry.

Push cuticles, do not cut them

The cuticle seals the gap between the nail plate and the skin, and it is a barrier against infection. Push it back gently after a shower when it is soft, using a rubber-tipped tool or an orange stick. Cutting living cuticle opens that seal and is a common route to inflammation and infection. What can be trimmed is the loose, dead tissue that sometimes lifts onto the nail plate, and only that.

File in one direction

Sawing back and forth generates heat and frays the layers at the free edge, which is what starts a split. File in one direction, from the outer edge toward the center, with a fine file. Use a 180 grit or finer on natural nails; anything coarser is for enhancements. File nails dry, since wet nails are softer and tear more easily.

Why nails peel

Usually repeated wetting and drying, which swells and shrinks the layers until they separate. Dish water, hand sanitizer, harsh cleaners and acetone all contribute. Gloves for washing up make a genuine difference, and so does oil after every hand wash. Peeling is also caused by prying enhancements off, and by using nails as tools. A nail hardener helps some people and makes others more brittle, so introduce one cautiously.

Handling a break

File the broken edge smooth immediately rather than leaving a catch, which will tear further. For a break in the nail bed, a repair patch or a piece of silk or tea bag set in nail glue holds it together until it grows out. Do not tear a partially broken nail off. If the break is deep, bleeding, or the nail lifts from the bed, that is worth medical attention rather than a repair kit.