Fabapocalypse
Member
Having been a life-long and pretty severe nail biter - to the point where doing virtually anything with my hands was painful (bag of crisps? Ow!) - I finally managed to stop, with professional help, just over ten years ago.
I stopped with the aid of a set of acrylics which I wore for three months and then my own nails were naked (apart from polish), which they have been since, apart from a summer a couple of years back when I had a gel overlay (if that's the word) to protect them while some building work was going on at home, again for about three months. I didn't enjoy the removal process for either of these; the gel was supposed to be soak-off but there was still buffing at the end which left my nailbeds sore for a while and my nails feeling thin.
My nails look okay-ish with polish on, but rubbish without; even after all this time, I still have a relatively long 'white' as if the nail isn't 'fixed' to the nail bed far enough up the nail which means they snag and break easily. My nails also stain easily: no matter what base coat I use, they're yellowy. Over the past year or so one or two have taken to peeling badly, quite large areas sometimes.
I have vertical ridges on both ring fingers but none of the others; I only have half-moons on my thumbs. My hands and nails look dry; I use good handcream and oil on them every day (either Solar or Avoplex) but this doesn't improve and the nails have a habit of 'tearing' at the sides sometimes below the quick which is unsightly and sore.
I use quality products and am doing my best to look after them (gloves for housework, keeping them short, not over buffing, etc.) but they're pretty grim if not polished and break more easily if I don't paint them, too.
I like having colour on them but it would be nice to know my nails also looked good underneath and that I wasn't going to tear one almost in half just by washing my hair, which happened yesterday... I do have a couple of health issues but the medics say they've not heard of either of them causing damage to this extent.
I've never used anything other than standard nail polish on them myself so haven't damaged them by misusing anything more 'technical'.
I've taken one of those 'skin hair and nails' supplements for three years now with no noticeable effect and I think it's time for professional help again but there are so many issues at once and there are so many products offered I don't know what to ask for! I'm also a bit embarrassed about how they look 'naked'. :sad:
Is there any hope for me to ever have nice, 'normal' nails or is it opaque polish forever? Can anyone recommend salon treatments or programmes?
Sorry for the long post!
I stopped with the aid of a set of acrylics which I wore for three months and then my own nails were naked (apart from polish), which they have been since, apart from a summer a couple of years back when I had a gel overlay (if that's the word) to protect them while some building work was going on at home, again for about three months. I didn't enjoy the removal process for either of these; the gel was supposed to be soak-off but there was still buffing at the end which left my nailbeds sore for a while and my nails feeling thin.
My nails look okay-ish with polish on, but rubbish without; even after all this time, I still have a relatively long 'white' as if the nail isn't 'fixed' to the nail bed far enough up the nail which means they snag and break easily. My nails also stain easily: no matter what base coat I use, they're yellowy. Over the past year or so one or two have taken to peeling badly, quite large areas sometimes.
I have vertical ridges on both ring fingers but none of the others; I only have half-moons on my thumbs. My hands and nails look dry; I use good handcream and oil on them every day (either Solar or Avoplex) but this doesn't improve and the nails have a habit of 'tearing' at the sides sometimes below the quick which is unsightly and sore.
I use quality products and am doing my best to look after them (gloves for housework, keeping them short, not over buffing, etc.) but they're pretty grim if not polished and break more easily if I don't paint them, too.
I like having colour on them but it would be nice to know my nails also looked good underneath and that I wasn't going to tear one almost in half just by washing my hair, which happened yesterday... I do have a couple of health issues but the medics say they've not heard of either of them causing damage to this extent.
I've never used anything other than standard nail polish on them myself so haven't damaged them by misusing anything more 'technical'.
I've taken one of those 'skin hair and nails' supplements for three years now with no noticeable effect and I think it's time for professional help again but there are so many issues at once and there are so many products offered I don't know what to ask for! I'm also a bit embarrassed about how they look 'naked'. :sad:
Is there any hope for me to ever have nice, 'normal' nails or is it opaque polish forever? Can anyone recommend salon treatments or programmes?
Sorry for the long post!