After 10 years as a nail technician in Houston, I’ve noticed that some of my favorite people have also been having horrible nail breakage. I’ve had clients who have been sharing photos of their high-dollar plaques that have literally fallen off of their fingers, pins and scraps from manicures, white and black dots of nail that can show where other manicures have been used on the area, and a lot of chips that start off as bumps but end up sticking together as they heal. A lot of times, it’s due to one nail being dead or scratched on its own, but also due to malfunctioning appliances, cleavers, sharp tools, tiny nails, or other causes.
If you’ve decided to up the ante of your manicure, and you’ve chosen to do a nail photo shoot, or if you’re the type who does it all the time, you may want to protect your nails from potential damage before you get down to business with them. The #1 tip I’ve found over the years is to use tape.
Don’t Wear Your Nails Outside in the Outdoors
Nail polishes contain zinc oxide that has a drying effect. As cars drive by on the side of the road or nearby, your nails can bleach and deplete the zinc oxide from your nails. Follow by using a peel-off zinc oxide polish once your nails start to heal and stop the oxidation process.
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Do Not Use Mascara or Eyeliner in the Nails
Eyeliner and mascara can clog your nail gels and give you super dry and cracked nails. You can turn to nail wax to help fill those spots, but be careful! A lot of nail waxes contain either talc or petroleum — talc has a strong adhesive to it — so be very careful about that when you’re using it.
Make Sure You’re Getting Dirty Products Out of Your Nails
Many people don’t clean off polish before applying dryer sheets, but you shouldn’t. It’s easier and cleaner to use wax that’s been treated with chemicals rather than using chemicals on your nails.
Get an Early Start
It can be hard to clean a daily routine with dryer sheets and wax once it starts to dry out and start to fray on your nails, but you should clean them off quickly to give your nails a chance to dry out and take care of themselves.
What’s more is that there are many things that you can do to avoid dryer sheet residue on your nails. Some of my favorite products are to use lukewarm water rather than hot for half an hour before putting on dryer sheets. I love to put dryer sheets on a dryer to dry out the ones I use on a daily basis. Just add extra water to the sheets once you’re done drying for an extra thorough rinse.
Use a Glass Nail Fitting
Because the rays of the sun are plentiful in Houston, it’s important to be sure your fingertips are well protected before the summer is over. Also, the high humidity can make nail polish and rubber seals hard to clean out of the cracks and crevices in your nails.
Be sure to get your tips worn away before you get your nails insured, too. If they’re too long, they’re going to set in the polish and really cramp it out from moisture and natural oils.
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