From typing and washing up to hefting around our luxury handbags, we expect our nails to put with a lot. If you work with your hands, paint your talons regularly or cover them in acrylic on a weekly basis, you might be horrified to find them weak, peeling or damaged. But what’s a girl to do? Go around wearing protective gloves all day? Of course not, simply follow our handy tips for rescuing damaged nails.
One of the most common causes of nail damage is using ultra-drying polishes. Instead of having loads of cheap lacquers in your arsenal, choose a few key shades from a salon professional brand like OPI or CND. These high-end polishes leave out all the nasty drying chemicals — such as formaldehyde and toluene — used by other brands and so won’t make damaged nails worse.
Of course a polish should never touch your bare nails if you want to maintain extra strong talons anyway. Always, always include a base coat in your routine to protect your nails from staining and drying, and to make sure your colour is longer-lasting.
It’s also just as important to look after your nail beds and cuticles as it is to look after the nail itself and moisturisation is key. Make sure to purchase a good hand cream to keep your skin and nails moisturised and use cuticle oil to help your nails grow faster and grow stronger.
If poor nail quality is in your genes and all the best nail practices aren’t making any difference, there’s a good chance you might need a speciality treatment. Swap your normal base coat for a nail strengthener or turn to one of OPI’s formulas specifically designed to treat the likes of soft and thin, dry and brittle or sensitive and peeling nails. These treatments are custom made to rescue damaged nails in all sorts of conditions and should be able to fix up your nails whatever their problem.
Remember; prevention is better than cure and, while specialised treatments will cure your problem nails eventually, stopping them from getting damaged in the first place is far more effective. As long as you moisturise and protect, you should find your damaged nails growing into strong, beautiful talons in no time.
