Nail care?

[helenahhandbasket]

Hey ladies- this is sort of a silly post, but I wanted to see if anyone had any DIY tips for at home nail care.

Again-- I feel like I am coming off sounding like a half alien/ half spoiled brat, but here goes-- I have had my nails professionally manicured for the better part of 15 years.  Nothing crazily expensive, just a regular mani/ pedi, but I literally have a weekly standing appointment at a salon

Anyway, many of you know that now that I am on my own and am relying on one income (well, some child support as well-- but it only goes so far) I am really taking a hard look at my spending and all non necessities have to go.  So no more manicures for now.

I took all of my polish off and my nails just look grubby.  My cuticles look raggety and my nails are splitting lengthwise.  (I do take Biotin for hair and nails).  I bought a buffer, which helped a bit but they still look awful.

Any recs?  What do you use on your nails to keep them from breaking/ splitting looking like crap?

[eyenigh]

They're going to look grubby for awhile if you've had polish on them continuously. Go grab a base/strengthener-- it doesn't have to be a super expensive one, Sally Hansen makes a good one. Start doing a thin later of that every day/other day. It'll give your nails a little shine and smooth out the dryness. You can do your cuticles at home with one of those little nail kits. Pick up a little bottle of Solar Oil and use that in combo with the strengthener. The Solar Oil also smells great!

[queenbabee]

Ugh sounds like my nails too. I miss manicures, wahhh.
Thanks for the tips eyenigh!

[helenahhandbasket]

Thanks for the rec!

Serioulsy, the first luxury that is getting brought back once my finances allow are manicures.

[penguin129]

Bath and Body Works sells a 60 second manicure scrub. You could probably find a DIY recipe on Pinterest.

[esmerelda]

Taking over your thread for a minute here eyenigh DD and myself both have brittle nails. Hers peel and break constantly is that an issue with vitamins or do you think the base/strengthener would help? I'm asking you since you seem pretty knowledgeable about nails.

[NatashaBromanoff]

I'm pretty anal about nail care but hate getting mine professionally done. Here's some of the things I do:

When they're splitting or damaged, I get a nail treatment. Nailitiques are pretty good and worth the cost IMO. I oil my nails and cuticles. This helps keep them flexible and growing. You can buy affordable vitamin E/nail oil from the drugstore or you can just go to the store and buy virgin coconut oil or safflower oil (cheap and high vitamin E content.) I usually do this immediately after removing polish and a few times over polish. I also use this cuticle cream after a warm shower once a week.

Oh and I check out youtube videos for how to shape nails, which has helped a lot.

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