How I Stopped Picking My Nails & Grow Them LONG WITHOUT BREAKING

I’m officially one of those girls that is nail-obsessed, as in, I must have perfectly shaped, painted, long nails in order to feel like my life is on track, and I usually do have nails like that. But I’ve only been this way for about a year. Until recently, I picked at my nails constantly, and was always dealing with jaggedy-edged, painful stubs for nails.

I was honestly embarrassed if I ever went for a manicure around an event or something, because the nail tech would always comment on how short they were, how they couldn’t really do anything to them but they would “try their best.” They also hurt really badly sometimes when I picked them too short, but I couldn’t seem to stop.

Everything changed, however, with one fat stack of nail files. I realized that the reason I was picking at my nails was sort of a perfectionism thing. I hated when a nail wasn’t perfectly smooth, or when there was any uneven spot or snag. It bothered me so much that I couldn’t seem to relax until I had picked right away at it. When my nails were perfectly filed, I could go a little longer without picking.

1. NAIL FILES EVERYWHERE:

So, I took my new stack of nail files and placed a nail file everywhere I could think of — one in my car, one in my bag, one next to my bed, in my desk, in the kitchen… everywhere. Any time I had the urge to pick, I told myself to file instead. I also kept my nails painted, which helped hide a few imperfections and also gave the feeling of something “finished” that I didn’t want to mess up.

This worked so well, up until my nails would get long enough to break. Once one nails was broken, the rest were pretty much doomed if I didn’t cut and file to match right away. But it was still a huge improvement.

2. CND LONG WEAR TOP COAT:

One of my friends then gave me this CND Long Wear Top Coat, which I fully credit to keeping my nails from breaking, because ever since I started using it, it’s like my nails can bend in half without breaking. (Note: It says “gel-like” in the description because it kind of does have a gel feel, however it is not a gel polish, so no UV light or anything is needed. You can just use like normal nail polish.) I’m actually now trimming my nails because they get to be so long that they’ve become inconvenient in daily life. I also just love how this top coat looks — makes everything look more shiny and more professionally done.

3. NAIL HYDRATION:

If you’ve ever had that peeling on the top or edges of your nails where they seem to peel in layers, I realized that this is something that can come from nail dehydration. Your nails get dehydrated from acetone, wearing nail polish too long without changing it, and probably lots of other things. I now try to change out my nail polish once a week, even if it’s not chipping yet, and in between colors I let them breathe for a little bit, and apply coconut oil or a nail oil to give them a little refresh. I also buff away any layers that may be starting to peel up or any textures that might snag or leave a bump under the polish. It all seems to help and is also a soothing weekend activity!

So in the end, my perfectionism is still raging, and I still feel the same urge to remove imperfections in my nails, but it’s simply been channeled into immediately filing them and taking care of them instead of picking at them. Unfortunately, to this day, if I’m ever caught without a file nearby: nails beware.

P.S. Here is my brief review of several non-toxic Nail Polishes. My favorite brands are Zoya and Olive + June.