Peeling Nails – Does Polish Prevent It?
ASK ANA: Peeling Nails
UPDATE: Since writing this article, I have replaced the 3-Day Hydration Treatment with a faster Intensive Hydration Treatment that works in 2 to 12 hours.
“Hi Ana, every time I try to complete the 3-Day Hydration Treatment, I never get past the 1st day because my nails start to peel. I revert back to using my polish for protection. (I’ve noticed my nails do not split or peel when I have them polished). I just feel like I have not been able to get the full benefits of your oil because I am afraid of going naked. Because of this, I only have a picture of my nails polished.
Do you recommend I still do the 3-Day Treatment even if my nails continue to peel? I know you have recommended to just trim the peel portion off & not filing it down or buffing. That’s damaging.
Now, the main problem for me is after my shower. I try not to take long showers so my nails are not in water for too long. If I apply a thin layer of base coat & completely wrap my underside. Can the oil penetrate through the one layer?
Image Source: Carmen
I just feel frustrated because I am not being able to benefit completely from your oil because of the peeling so I am afraid to go naked. Do you have any recommendations or suggestions? Should I just do the oil treatment for 3 days and then polish? How long do you oil in between your manicures? I appreciate you taking the time out of your very busy schedule to answer my questions 🙂 PS: I am taking my nail vitamins & drinking water.” ~Carmen
ANSWER
Carmen, I totally understand your desire to go back to polish for protection. It is a very important temporary strengthening product and a big component to having healthy nails.
Based on your description, 2+2 is not equaling 4 for me. Peeling usually doesn’t happen with one exposure to water . . . it’s usually several, if not dozens of exposures. But of course, everyone is different.
Never Shower Naked
One of my rules is to never shower with naked nails. Like I’ve written in previous articles, water is extremely damaging to nails.
This is why I now recommend doing a 2 to 12 hour intensive hydration treatment.
Now I must confess—I like long hot showers—so I never shower without at least one coat of basecoat completely wrapped around my tips.
The combination of hot water, rubbing shampoo in your hair, and water absorption can pull a lot of oil out of our nails.
Polish Prevents Additional Peeling
Once you apply polish, the oil is trapped in your nails. Water absorption is decreased about 99%—this is a completely non-scientific guess based on my personal experience.
Your pink nail bed also continues to pump the perfect blend of 18% water and 5% body oil into your nail plate under the polish. This is why the nail plate over your nailbed is transparent.
So in a sense, yes, polish can reduce further peeling. It encapsulates the peeling layers so that water can’t force them to peel more.
The oil you apply after your nails are polished simply prevents premature cracking of the polish. It absorbs into the surface of the polish keeping it more flexible.
Polish Is Essential!
People love learning that polish is actually a great way to keep our nails healthier! Especially because everyone they know tells them the opposite.
After people have completed an Intensive Hydration Treatment then my Fab 5 Wrap technique takes over in importance.
It’s the combination of consistent oiling and wearing polish that helps reduce nail breakage and additional peeling.
Carmen, your skin looks beautiful! So maybe you’re getting all the benefit you need. If your nails bend instead of snapping when you bang them against something, then you’re fine.
Bliss Kiss™ Simply Pure™ hydrating nail oil helps people who have brittle nails because they are dried out. This causes them to break all the time.
As I mentioned before, our pink nail bed provides the perfect blend of 18% moisture and 5% oil. But once the nail plate has left the nail bed, our tips are no longer being hydrated. This is where Pure Nail Oil™ helps increase strength and flexibility.
The Magic is Between Manicures
I do a mini-hydration treatment for 2 to 6 hours between manicures . . . depending on time . . . and then apply at least one layer of basecoat wrapped around my tips to reduce water absorption during a shower and hand washing.
Daily Maintenance
Many people are afraid that using a high quality, jojoba wax ester based nail oil is going to leave them greasy or is too time consuming.
From start to finish, it takes me 30 to 60 seconds to rub about one drop of oil to my nails and skin. I do that about 4 times a day.
In Conclusion
I think when all is said and done, your nails and skin are beautiful. The polish is helping prevent premature breakage and the oil is keeping your skin hydrated. It looks like you’re doing everything right.
And if you’re happy with your nails . . . then you are certainly doing everything right. Keep it up!
But if you have the peeling what do you do as it grows out? My problem is the peels continue to go deeper into the nail bed if I hit them or whatever. Do you remove the peel and leave the bottom layer to grow out? Or do you continue to file the nails to nubs until all the damage has grown out. I’m having huge issues with this right now.
Personally I do a little of both. My nails peel pretty badly although I’ve been taken care of them and they have gotten better. My thumb nail currently has a pretty bad peel I am trying to grow out and basically I buffed my peel down so it wouldn’t keep splitting, and now I file my nail a little each week when to help file the peel out. Sort of what you do for a broken nail and growing out a patch.
I’ve been using your oil for about 2 months now. It’s great but my nails still peel. It can be mild or so extreme that I can’t put nail polish on properly. Should I buff out the nail before polishing so I have a flat surface to work on or is that bad?
Naurah, If you have peeling nail layers that are sticking up, it’s ok to trim or file those. I wouldn’t recommend buffing your nails because you will make them even thinner and they may peel more.
Make sure you clean your nail plate with rubbing alcohol and a lint free pad, before applying your ridge filling basecoat. If you have enough tips, wrap basecoat and topcoat all the way around to the underside. You want to use the Fab 5 Wrap to seal in the peeling layers and prevent water absorption. ~Ana
I have been using your oils and I absolutely love them my nails grew back stronger and healthier in the first week but recently I have noticed my nails still peel slightly I revert back to polish as my protection and it works only for a little while then they peel again what should I do?
Hello!
After the 3 day hydration, you should keep your nails polished. This helps keep the oil locked in. You should then continue to oil at least twice a day.
https://www.nailcarehq.com/products/pure-nail-oil/anas-3-day-hydration-treatment/
I also like to do a mini hydration between manicures (a few hours, if I have the time).
Do you have your hands in water a lot?
Adrienne
Assistant to Ana
I think when all is said and done, your nails and skin are beautiful. The polish is helping prevent premature breakage and the oil is keeping your skin hydrated. It looks like you’re doing everything right.