s/o Nails - polish that doesn't destroy your nails

[Joules]

I've never had nails before, but due to a change in medication, and a resulting lowering in nervous habits, they started growing in the fall and needed care.  I had never really filed or cut my nails and wasn't very good at it, so I decided to try a nail salon for the first time.

 

I did a seaweed gel polish that looked great.  Except for the squicky feeling of having someone do my nails, I was happy with them.  They started growing out after a couple of weeks and I went back.  Apparently the stuff is like cement and took forever to get off and involved using a file on the top of the nail.  I figured it was normal and went back every couple of weeks for a couple of months.  But each time my nails underneath were worse, and they got to the point where they were broken under the polish and the ladies were taking off layers of the nail with the polish.  They looked horrible.

 

So I've given them a few months off as the damage grows out, but they still chip from putting my hands in my pockets and layers of the nails peel off.  The tips are several layers thinner than the base, and since it keeps happening, I don't see how they will get back to normal.  I'm wondering if I can find a strengthening polish that doesn't destroy the nail underneath, if they might finally heal.  It will have to be clear unless I go to a salon, because it turns out that I'm not capable of applying color polish evenly.  I'm really afraid to go back to a salon. 

Edited January 3, 2018 by Joules

[Tap]

I would buy Butter London base coat.  It has fewer nasty chemicals that other brands and has a great reputation

 

It is Expensive! It is $18 at Ulta.  When I bought it, I found it in a base coat/top coat set and paid $25 but that was over a year ago.  Worth looking for online though if you plan to do your own nails.  The top coat is great too.  

[StephanieZ]

Hard as Hoof really does help them grow and heal . . . It's a simple and thick cream. About $6-8 or so at Walmart or Amazon and lasts a loooong time. My son is a guitarist, and classical guitarists play with their nails, so having strong, long nails (on the right hand) that will grow is imperative, and his super-elite level teachers recommended it years ago, and it really did/does work. Now, the whole family is addicted. I put it in everyone's stockings every year. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Strengthening-Coconut-Strengthener-Conditioning-Strengthens/dp/B005HGWGVS/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1514992675&sr=8-2&keywords=hard+as+hoof 

 

FWIW, for me, it works great . . . as long as I don't use polish. As I said in the other thread, if I use polish, my nails get destroyed quickly. I'll be watching here for more ideas on that problem. :) 

[itsheresomewhere]

I would buy Butter London base coat. It has fewer nasty chemicals that other brands and has a great reputation

 

It is Expensive! It is $18 at Ulta. When I bought it, I found it in a base coat/top coat set and paid $25 but that was over a year ago. Worth looking for online though if you plan to do your own nails. The top coat is great too.

Amazon does sales often on Butter. I stock up during it. Prime day was a percentage off ( I think 15 but it could have been 20).

[KatieJ]

Did they remove the polish with a chemical,first? Mine were always soaked in something and no filing ever needed. Yes, I only care do gel polish as regular stuff comes off first time I do dishes. I have had them dine ina few years now.

 

Hair SkinNails. Excellent product to help with nails. Costco carries it.

[Sugarfoot]

Zoya is the only brand that I use. It's formulated without the 10 most caustic chemicals in most polishes. I have terrible eye allergies to every other brand of nail polish. Every time I touch my eyes / put on makeup, etc., they burn and turn red. I also use the remover made by Zoya.

 

Ulta sells a few colors, but I mostly order online from their website.

[Tap]

Zoya is the only brand that I use. It's formulated without the 10 most caustic chemicals in most polishes. I have terrible eye allergies to every other brand of nail polish. Every time I touch my eyes / put on makeup, etc., they burn and turn red. I also use the remover made by Zoya.

 

Ulta sells a few colors, but I mostly order online from their website.

I agree.

 

 

DD19 uses Butter base and top coat and Zoya for color. It has a great reputation and lasts great, with the added benefit of having fewer toxic chemicals.

[Joules]

Did they remove the polish with a chemical,first? Mine were always soaked in something and no filing ever needed. Yes, I only care do gel polish as regular stuff comes off first time I do dishes. I have had them dine ina few years now.

 

Hair SkinNails. Excellent product to help with nails. Costco carries it.

They did soak and then scrub with cotton balls. Then wrapped each finger with the cotton ball in aluminum foil, put baggies around my hands, and then put my whole hands in heating pads. Still sanded at the end.

 

The stuff was like cement. The last time I was determined to get it off without sanding and it took two hours of soaking and scrubbing. On the other hand any polish I’ve put on since has chipped within a couple of hours, so I get why someone would want the cement!