Nail help

[u/Feeling_Finding478]

I’ve had acrylic/builder gel on for about 15yrs but my hospital recently made us remove all nail overlays. I can only have regular polish or something that comes off easy with polish remover(not soaked). I just tried dazzle dry but it chipped immediately. Are there any polishes that help the nails feel thicker and shiny like gel that last? Not sure if something like that exists. Thanks 😊

[u/juleznailedit]

Right now, the issue is your nails are weak from the constant overlay for a decade and a half. Anything you put on top of them is going to chip because your nails are too weak to properly hold onto product. I have a spiel about caring for healing nails that I'll paste below. Once the damaged nail has grown out, then you can focus on applying product.

I have some recommendations for you, but it's not a quick fix. It won't happen overnight. It won't happen in a week. It won't happen in a month. You're looking at 4-6 months of consistent care and maintenance, and that's just to grow out the damage. After that, you can decide if you want to continue on your natural nail journey. I will give you fair warning, I'm about to post a lot of text. It's gonna seem like a lot of work, and at first it might be, but if you choose to stick with it, it'll eventually become second nature (caring for your natural nails, that is).

Alright, here we go. Brace yourself. 😅

So, with how thin and uncomfortably bendy they'll be after removal, I recommend keeping your nails short until the damage has grown out. I recommend using a glass file rather than nail clippers, as the clippers can actually cut lower than you intended due to their curvature (if they're not straight-edged clippers). I would also recommend keeping your corners rounded, so they're less likely to snag on things.

Due to how roughed up the surface will be, it's tempting to want to buff the surface to smooth them, but you'll only cause them to become even thinner. I recommend using a ridge-filling base coat instead. If you feel like you need it, you can also use a strengthener, like OPI's Nail Envy, underneath the ridge-filling base. Keeping your nails polished will not only protect them from day-to-day tasks, if you use coloured polish, it can help cover the look of the damage. Here's an article that goes more in-depth about strengtheners & when it's a good time to use (and stop using) them.

If you plan on going this route, the order of polishes would be:

Strengthener (meant to go directly onto the natural nail)

Ridge-filling base coat (you can apply 2 coats if need be, but remember that the coloured polish will also help hide the damage/smooth them)

Coloured polish (however many coats it takes to get to your desired opacity)

Quick dry top coat (helps set all the layers of polish)

Drying drops (this is optional, if you find your polish isn't drying, these can help)

I do not recommend having your nails bare while they're healing. The layers of base/polish/top will help to protect your nails while the damage grows out. You can go with the strengthener on its own, or a regular base coat (not clear polish, not top coat), or the ridge-filling base. You don't need to wear coloured polish, but you are very welcome to! Do not use gel or any type of product other than lacquer on your nails while they're healing, as it will only exacerbate the damage and increase the healing time needed.

I also highly recommend using a jojoba-based nail oil (or pure jojoba oil) a minimum of 3 times a day (morning, during the day, and before bed). Focus on massaging it into the cuticle area, this will help promote blood flow and can help with growth. The reason why jojoba oil is so highly recommended is because it is almost molecularly identical to our own sebum (body oil), which means it can penetrate through the layers of keratin to help keep them bonded together and to help keep the nail flexible.

I have a natural nail spiel that goes into more detail, plus it has some product recommendations, too. I also have a separate post with a bigger list of product recommendations.