Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I have sad nails.

I managed to not bite them over the whole of the summer holidays. They had white bits on the ends and all. First time in living memory.

I painted them. Several times. With Barry M. They looked GLORIOUS.

After a fortnight of painting, chip-fixing, removing that paint, and painting another colour every few days, my finger nails have the strength of wet Tesco Value tissue paper. FLAKY TISSUE PAPER NAILS SUCK.

I moisturised with whatever pots of handcream I had lying around. I used an old base coat and top coat. I used nail varnish remover without acetate. I did my hardest not to pick off flaky paint (although it fell off quite regularly).

It has taken me two months to get them to the not quite as flaky stage. They are short and stumpy and sad. Only 2/10 of them are now flaky.

Big question: what can I use this time to help save my sad, flaky, tissue paper, colourless nails?
Is there an answer to this problem? What does everyone else use? Where did I go wrong?

I use Jessica products and they aren't cheap but they are brilliant. My Jessica salon has a chart on the wall with pictures of different nail issues and which product you should use (flaky, ridged, etc). Mine is Reward, but you may need a different one.

Oh, this is the list http://www.jessica-nails.co.uk/jessica-nailcare/

Start by buying a good quality cuticle oil (I like CND's Solar Oil, if you have a CND tech near you, or if you want something from Sally's - China Glaze's orange cuticle oil is lovely. Massage a drop into each nail at least once a day, twice is better. Also, cuticle oil helps to dry polish quicker!

Use handcream every time you wash your hands.

Buy an acetone free polish remover (superdrug do one that's vegan) and try not to change your polish so often. Make sure you're using a base coat* and a top coat to keep the polish on longer. You can top up with top coat every other day or so. *You can buy base coats with strengtheners in, although I'm not totally convinced they make a lot of difference. I use Seche's rebuild when I wear normal polish.

For filing, make sure you are using a gentle enough file for natural nails, not all files are made equal. It should have a grit with a number no lower than 240 for natural nails. Also a very gentle buffer is good to have in your drawer for gently buffing off flakes. But don't go crazy with it, you don't want to thin your nails down and damage them.

You are all brilliant. Thank you!

i've found a good cream before bed helps me 10000%. the problem is remembering to put it on.....