Monday, December 19, 2011

How To: Long Nails

I get a lot of comments on my nail posts that go  little something like this: "I love your long nails. My nails always break and I can't grow them long." Well, I must confess that until I started to go to college, my nails were unbearably and painfully short. I could NEVER get my nails to grow because they would always break. Then I realized that when I started to do a couple of things differently, my nails started to grow. I still alternate between having long nails and short nails just to see if these tricks works, and they do! Here are my tips on how to keep your nails from breaking and how to get them to be long. Keep in mind that you can't really make your nails grow faster, and you have to be patient to get to grow to your desired length.

Here are some example of my nail lengths:


This is my longer nails, and probably the longest I have had them.

This is my relatively short nails that are still not super short.

And this is my shorter, uneven nails.
What I do to get long nails:

1.Wear nail polish frequently
Wearing nail polish is a fantastic way to make your nails stronger and thicker. Nail polish also acts as a protective barrier from things that make your nails more brittle (like water or harsh soaps). In my experience, once I  started to wear nail polish frequently, my nails started to become stronger and they actually grew long. I advice that you re-paint your nails about once a week. Of course you can manicure them more frequently, but not everyone has the time to do them more often. Also, it is better if your wear nails polish when you take showers or wash dishes since your nails will be a little more protected and they won't break as easily.

2. Nail Polish Remover
Nail polish is great for the strength of your nails, but unfortunately nail polish remover is not. Most nail polish removers are very harsh and dry out the cuticle of the nail. I suggest using a acetone-free remover, or a very gentle and nourishing remover. My favorite is Zoya's Remove +. It is super gentle on my nails and does not dry out the cuticle or make my nails brittle.

3. Nail Clippers or Filers
One important thing to maintaining long nails is to either clip them slightly or to file them frequently. Filing and cutting the nails will smooth the edges and prevent rough edges that may lead to breakage. Just like you will trim your hair to avoid or get rid of split ends, cutting and filing the nails will also get rid of an unwanted and damaged part of the nail.

4. Cuticle Oil (Optional)
This may or may not help your nails grow longer, but I really enjoy applying cuticle oil on my nails occasionally. Maintaining healthy cuticles is a key to maintaining healthy and long nails~



 That is all I do to get my nails to grow somewhat long. This may work for you or it may not. Many people are blessed with having naturally long and healthy nails, and I certainly am not one of those people. But I hope this helps a little. Until next time ^_^






14 comments:

  1. I'm absolutely not able to grow my nails no matter what tips or tricks I use, nothing works! I agree with your tip of wearing nail polish though, it has really harden my nails over time!

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  2. lovely tips, my nails grow too fast... they get so long so i cut them every week

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  3. you have awesome nails, great post! i need to get that zoya remover

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  4. thanks for the great tips!! i too noticed that my nails are less prone to breakage since i started wearing polish frequently. i also wear gloves when i do dishes. prevents your hands from drying out & the polish from starting to peel.

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  5. One of my nail just broke today and I find this post!! But even I have noticed a reduction in breakage after I started with my polish addiction!

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  6. Great post! I'm more of a short nails type of girl since my nail beds are more wide and squared off...if that even makes sense. lol.

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  7. thanks for the tips dear! i too, have long nails although i never seem to do anything with my nails hehehe. :D

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  8. Also I found drinking more water helped, most of us don't get enough and this makes nails brittle. I still dont think you need to be drinking 2 litres a day as the experts recommend. It made a diffrence on 1 litre a day!

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  9. So true, if you keep them covered (paint or wraps) they can grow so much longer! My nails always peel/break but can get much longer with protection ;)

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  10. Thanks for the great tips Nancy! I can never get my nails to grow super long like yours in the first pic. The longest they ever get is maybe something like yours in the 2nd photo. And I really like the Zoya remover too - it's probably the best remover I've tried so far :)

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  11. i LOOOVE your long nails! and the red polish is gorgeous too!

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  12. Nice post =) Thanks for the tips !!! I'll get started on these when I'll have a job that allows me to wear nail polish =D hehe

    xxx Vee

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  13. Thanks for these tip Nancy! You have such nice nails. I didn't even realise wearing nail polishes acted as a shield for protecting the nails!

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Thank you for taking the time to comment <3 I appreciate every single comment I receive ^_^