So much of our hard-earned money can go into having beautiful nails, but we often sabotage them with bad nail habits – oftentimes without thinking, like when we’re anxious, upset, or trying to concentrate. Other times, we don’t know how to care for our nails properly. Here, we will go over the most common nail habits and how to break them.
Biting Your Nails
Nail-biting is a common nervous habit that you may not even realize you are doing! But it does ruin your nails, leaving them frayed, easy to tear, or infected. Biting your nails also exposes you to dirt and bacteria. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends using a bitter-tasting nail polish like Ella+Mila’s No More Biting ($10.50, shop here) to keep your nails out of your mouth. You can also prevent yourself from biting by regularly cutting your nails to keep them short and recognizing what triggers your nail-biting so that you can be more self-aware and able to stop yourself.
Picking Your Cuticles
When you don’t take care of your cuticles, they can become ragged and dry. But if you pick at or improperly cut your cuticles, it leaves them vulnerable and susceptible to infection or, worse, paronychia. Your best option? A cuticle remover like Sally Hensen’s Instant Cuticle Remover ($5.69, shop here) works to remove dead skin and keep the nail bed healthy.
Peeling Off Nail Polish
When your manicure starts to chip, you may find the urge to peel the rest of the polish off. Don’t! Picking at your polish can also cause you to remove the top layer of your nail bed and weaken the nail. This is particularly true when picking at gel manicures. To keep yourself from peeling, keep polish remover packets like Tenoverten’s Acetone + Paraben-Free Polish Remover Wipes ($12.20, shop here) with you at all times.
Constant Polish
Once in a while, your nails need a breather from nail polish, gels, acrylics, and everything else you put on them. During these breaks, you can practice some self-care by moisturizing your nails and cuticles with oils and creams. We like Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream ($7.49, shop here).
Do you have any tips for breaking bad nail habits? Share them with us in the comments below!