STOP BREAKING NAILS
How to Stop Breaking Nails
I’m often asked,”How do you keep your nails so long?”
I have many strategies and techniques to strengthen my natural nails, which I will share in this article.
Let me start off by saying that my nails are incredibly thin. I was not blessed with thick nails.
Sadly, this is not something that can be changed since the thickness of your nail plate is determined by the size of your nail matrix. The nail matrix is where new nail cells are created right behind the cuticle line.
Tortoise or Hare?
The most important thing I do is—Slow Down.
There is no part of our body that is used more frequently during our life than our hands. We do everything with our hands.
Most of us wouldn’t make it through the day if we couldn’t pry, pick, or scratch with our nails. They take a lot of abuse, especially if we use them as tools.
Nails will only tolerate a certain amount of bending before they tear or snap.
A woman with long, natural nails moves through life very consciously. She pays attention to where her hands are moving at all times. I know it might sound like a lot of work, but it really isn’t.
I have found that being in a rush can be the most damaging times to my nails.
Credit: Beavotron.deviantart.com
If I’m in a hurry and I am rushing to get everybody into the car, throwing jackets and bags, and slamming doors, I’m not paying attention to what my hands are doing.
And that’s when accidents happen.
One misplaced finger on the car door handle will result in a broken nail. All because I wasn’t paying attention.
Another example; a busy, preoccupied woman will talk to a friend and blindly dig through her purse trying to find something. She’s not paying attention, and that’s how a nail tears or breaks.
When I’m looking for something in my purse, I look inside, I carefully move things around until I find what I want.
Every move is conscious. Every move is deliberate.
Will the Guilty Task Please Stand Up?
If your nails are breaking a lot, try paying attention to how you use your hands all day long.
You might be surprised.
Are you actually using your nails to remove the frustrating, security plastic wrapping around the salad dressing bottle, or mascara tube?
Are you opening soda pop can lids with your nails?
Do you peel stubborn sales stickers off of packages?
If you do any of these things, it’s time to become friends with paring knives, scissors, handles of forks or spoons, and some brand of sticker adhesive dissolving product. (Goo Gone™, Goof Off™, Un-Do™, etc.)
And if you are in the DIY frame of mind using 2 ingredients from your kitchen, I found a great tutorial at DIYNatural.com
What You Can Do
1. Know Your Proper Nail Length
If you are a mother of small children, or have a job that requires a lot of tough use with your hands, make peace with a shorter length that looks nice.
Now that my children are older and I spend most of my working time on the computer, I can maintain a longer length.
5/2017 Update: Now I own horses. My nails are significantly shorter now since long nails and horses don’t mix.
Keep your nails the same length. Short nails can be beautiful when maintained and polished well.
2. Reduce Water Absorption
Water is the most dangerous chemical affecting your nails.
I’m not kidding.
On average, we have about 50 layers of keratin that makes up our nail plate.
Our nails also have the capacity to absorb three times their weight in water.
Where does that water go? In between every single layer and it pushes them apart.
Our nails do have the capacity to dry out, but it doesn’t take too many exposures to water for those layers to start peeling away from each other.
Polish is an integral part of blocking water absorption.
Now, for those of you who think water isn’t a chemical, you might be interested in my Chemicals – Are they Life or Death article.
3. Increase Nail Strength and Flexibility
Oil is the glue that holds our nail layers together. We wash our hands on average 20 times per day! This strips the oils from our nails and skin.
Regular use of a jojoba wax ester based nail oil will increase natural nail strength, while improving flexibility.
Strong nails bend when exposed to external forces.
If you use nail strengtheners or hardeners on already dry, brittle nails, your nails are going to be too hard and snap with any external pressure.
4. Keep Nails Polished
Polish is a resin that bonds to and protects your nails.
Even if you’re someone who doesn’t like to wear colored polish, it’s important to wear at least one layer of base coat to reduce water absorption.
Use my Fab Five Polish Wrap technique and never shower with naked nails.
For my Ultimate Nail Care Routine, click here.
5. Wear Gloves
Credit: LaylaGrace.com
“But I hate gloves! I won’t wear them.”
I hear this all the time. Especially right after I’m asked how to grow longer nails or get them to stop peeling.
I guarantee you, there isn’t one woman on the planet who loves to wear kitchen gloves, myself included.
Yep, they’re annoying.
You have to remember to put them on and you don’t get the same grip as with your fingers. You sweat in them causing them to be a pain to remove.
Gloves protect your skin and nails from the drying effects of water and soap. Gloves also help protect your nails from breaking.
I even use them when doing the laundry. I’ve broken too many nails transferring heavy, wet towels to the dryer.
Every decision we make has a natural consequence.
It simply won’t work to desire beautiful nails and refuse to wear gloves.
Slow and Steady Wins the Race
The few seconds you gain by rushing around only shortens your temper, increases your blood pressure, and leads to annoying chips and painful breaks.
Long, beautiful natural nails don’t just happen.
Gorgeous nails require time, care, maintenance, and just a few extra, deliberate seconds through the day.
I know you can do it! … now … go buy some gloves … slowly.
Ana, your tips are spot on, as usual. The Fab 5 wrap technique works! It really does. Also, adding cuticle oil to my nail care routine is probably the #1 reason for the overall improvement in my nail health. Thank you so much!
Thank you so much Huglor! I’m so happy to hear you are loving your results! That’s what it’s all about! <3
I’ve even taken to wearing vinyl gloves in the shower every day. I wrap a cloth headband around at the wrist and my nails stay DRY!! I’ve been doing this for about 2 months now and the improvement is amazing. And of course when washing dishes and cleaning too…
Lisa, ooo, thank you so much for this tip! Now I know what to tell people when they want to do the 3 Day Hydration Challenge and they shower daily. I really appreciate you taking the time to leave your experience! Thank you!
This tip is fantastic!
GREAT article!! Thank you Ana! My arch nemesis is the laundry…I never would have thought to wear gloves! I am going to get some!!!
Alena, yay!!! Glad I could help!
Hey Ana! This is, as usual, a wonderful and informative article!! I do everything I can to help my thin nails, including all of the things you mentioned. I really wanted to tell you that there are some really great kitchen gloves that cut back on the sweating. I was finding that my nails and finger tips were getting too wet from the sweat when I was doing a lot of chores in one day – read: pruny skin and soft nails. So I went on a search and found these at WalMart for less than $3!!! They are “Clean Ones Pure Comfort Latex Free Gloves”, and they are absorbent!
Thank you for all of your hard work and amazing oil!
Oooo,cool Jen! I’ll take a look the next time I’m there. I also just found them in a 6 pack on Amazon
glad i seen this i dont wear gloves when cleaning i’ve tried plenty of times but they end up coming off either sweating or getting hands wets water gets down in the gloves or i get grip stuff right. but i will give those gloves a try =-)
You spoke right to me, as always! Point number 1 you could have been talking directly to me LOL And it’s not so easy to keep up with #4 these days. Also, about slowing down. Yea remember the nail I told you about that I broke when I jabbed my finger into the bathtub faucet? I was definitely moving too fast and hurrying and that’s why my nail was sacrificed to the sharp edge. And even though I do already know fairly short nails are for me, I really hate when they break down to super nubs. Thanks Ana for another great article and the reminders I needed!
Thanks for stopping by Donna and sharing your story. Slowing down is important and easily forgotten. Here’s to fewer broken nails! ~Ana
I have very short nails and I am guilty of every single one of these. Thanks Ana!
This was so great!! I am gonna get some gloves, I cut my nails because I had three broken nails and I couldn’t stand the two lengths! So I’m starting all over again!
I’m a computer technician, so I am regularly taking apart computers and tablets. It (obviously) requires a lot of prying. I keep my nails relatively short, but they would still break ALL the time, but I noticed it rarely happened when I was actually working with my hands. It was always during some regular day to day task. So, I started carrying a prying tool (i.e.: spudger) that I use in my line of work with me in my pocket or purse. If I need to open or pry anything, I’ll use the spudger in place of my nails. Alternative uses for things we already use. 😉
As soon as I received the email and read some of these awesome nail tips in particular about how to mend broken nails, I quickly went and purchased and tried some of the recommended products. They are awesome and work wonders especially since I am on the natural nail journey coming off using acrylic overlay.
I just got my starter refill kit and the base and top coat nail polish in the mail today, I’m so excited to start the Fab 5…after my 3 day hydration, of course.
I will be sure to keep these tips in mind! I’ve always had a bad habit of biting my nails. Because of that, I was in an endless cycle of getting acrylics to grow them out and then when I take the acrylics off, my nails break within a week! My nails have always been thin and easy to break or peel. I’m very confident, given the personal testimonies of others, that I will see a huge difference!
Every single thing you said here is on point! i have been doing all of these for the past 5 months and i have not had a single breakage. A lot of people immediately assume i dont do anything because my nails are naturally strong, and that pisses me off so much, because i do what a mother is supposed to do on daily bases, the only difference is that i take good care of my nails and hands! its a lot of dedication and patience and as you said, “A woman with long, natural nails moves through life very consciously. She pays attention to where her hands are moving at all times” i am always conscious of where my hands are going and doing. Great article, would love to see more.
Thank you for these wonderful tips. I am off to get gloves first thing. I told my mother too and now she wants me to put base coat on her nails all the time. Lol and her nails are long but they are getting brittel. What about ridges on the nails.
Ana has written a great article about Ridges.
https://www.nailcarehq.com/ridges-in-nails/
Thanks!
Adrienne
Assistant to Ana