12 Tips And Tricks To Growing Longer, Stronger Nails

The nail art trend has been a bit of a double-edged sword. There are so many cute manicures, like Hailee Steinfeld‘s at Comic-Con, but those seem to be limited to people who actually have nice, strong fingernails
so the paint job will last a long time.

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That’s not me. I think it is possible that I have the worst fingernails in the world. They’re weak, bendy, they peel constantly, and they snap right off if I attempt to do anything with my hands. Two separate manicurists have asked if there was something wrong with me. There’s nothing wrong with my diet or physical health; I just have terrible fingernails.

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Growing stronger nails is possible, but it’s a process. For me, it took about three months of fastidious nail care to get my nails a few millimeters past my fingertips. (And it turns out that I hate them that way. I loved the look, but I blog for a living and the clacking sound they made on the keyboard was infuriating.) But taking care of your nails does make them last longer and gives you more opportunities to play with fancy nail art styles, so here are some ways to grow yourself some healthier nails.
1. Take off the nail polish
If your nails are really bad, you might need to go through a healthy, nail-repair program for a few months before they approach “normal” nails. This starts by taking off your polish and leaving it off until the repair work is done. (It took me three months.)
2. Start from zeroSince we’re basically starting from scratch here, there’s no reason to try to keep the nails you have now. Just file them off super short and try to regrow them stronger.
3. How to file nails
Filing your nails back and forth weakens the nail. Since the goal is to make the nails stronger, file your nails towards the center.
4. Choose your nail shape wisely
Personally, I hate square nails. But a square nail seems to break so much less often than other shapes. The almond shape can be particularly fragile.
5. Soak in gelatin
Apparently, soaking your fingertips in warm water with gelatin helps make them stronger. Good to know.
6. No cutting cuticles
You can push your cuticles back, and even go over them quickly with the soft side of a nail file if they are particularly overgrown. But don’t cut them.
7. DIY cuticle remover
This pinterester recommends scrubbing cuticles with a mix of white sugar and olive oil. That sounds like a decent idea. You could also just use a purchased sugar scrub if you don’t want to DIY.
8. Moisturize your cuticles
I love a good cuticle oil. Essie makes an apricot oil that is nice because the bottle can just go right along with your other nail polishes, but many oils are great. Rose oil smells wonderful, argan oil is another good one, and of course everyone on Pinterest is up to their elbows in coconut oil. Do this every day, especially before bed.
9. Biotin supplements
Nail art people will constantly tell you to take biotin supplements to help grow longer and stronger nails and hair. I’ve been taking them, but I’ve been doing so many nail-improving things lately that I can’t tell for sure if it’s the vitamins or the cuticle oil or a combination of everything.
10. Apply a strengthening treatment
Every nail company seems to make one of these now. I used Nailtiques Formula 2+ for about three months and it worked beautifully. I can’t get it where I live, though, so I recently switched to Essie’s Millionails. It’s still too soon to say if I’ve seen a difference.
11. Mix Garlic in your base coat
Hmmr. This might be one of those situations where I am getting tricked by Pinterest, but this tip says adding some crushed garlic to your base coat can help strengthen your nails. It might be worth a try.
12. Wear gloves
Wearing gloves while cleaning will help. Really. Get a pair of cute ones if it will help remind you to use them.
(Photos: Pinterest)