I will never, for as long as I live, forget the day I decided I had to give up acrylics nails.
Rewind to 2 summers ago… we were in Italy & one of my nails broke, this ALWAYS happened when travelling, but this one was particularly painful. PLUS- it broke as we were waiting for our train from Florence to Positano, a place where I KNEW I would not find a nail salon. I grabbed some super glue & bandaids before getting on the train and did my best to hold it all together. That train ride was terrible, my finger had a heartbeat & these nails HAD to come off ASAP. A painful 6 hours later, we arrived at our hotel & I grabbed Zack’s travel kit that *praise be* had nail clippers. I pried each nail off & felt immediate relief. I got some nail polish at a local store to hide the horrendous mess I had made, & then….
… I got home, went straight to the salon & GOT NAILS PUT BACK ON. You thought I learned my lesson in Italy, huh? NOPE- I was addicted, I had worn them for the last 6 years, & I needed my nails back. The nail tech didn’t flinch when she saw my THIN, destroyed nail beds, she just got her glue & went to town. It was painful & she made my nails way too long, making it so every time my nails touched anything I felt a zing through my entire body. My entire hands ACHED. Then, me & my long ass nails went to visit my Dad in Vegas. I was at his house, it was late at night, & I hit my nail on a door frame. The pain was excruciating & I couldn’t take it. I lost my shit & there I was, again, prying off this semi-new (aka extra painful) set of acrylics. Once I got them off, my nails were sad, raw, & throbbing, but again- the relief from the nails was INSTANT.
I had, clearly, hit rock bottom & the second I got home I made my first appointment with Bronte at Bluxom, a clean NATURAL nail specialist. I was officially in nail rehab & I was now obsessed with the idea of growing LONG & STRONG nails that actually belong to me.
SO, here I am, one year later, & my nails are FINALLY something to be proud of!! During this whole nail rehab journey I have learned so much from Bronte about the right way to take care of your nails. She is all about clean products, the actual HEALTH of your nail bed/cuticle, & she really just does things the right way. NATURALLY, I had to share this amazing info with all of you guys…
10 Tips for Rehabbing Your Nails After Acrylics
1. BE PATIENT, IT’S A PROCESS
it takes about 9 months to fully grow out your nail from cuticle to tip, so that’s your baseline! For me, my damage was severe, so I am still dealing with a few TINY splits at the tip of the nail… but I am so close to having all that damage grown out! Once the damage is grown out, you can focus on length, but until then your main focus should be working on the health of your nail/not worrying about length (your nail tech should be cutting your nails down every time to help get rid of damage!)
2. WATER IS THE ENEMY
the first & most important thing Bronte taught me is to avoid water at ALL COSTS. She immediately said I need dishwashing gloves & to only get my hands wet when 100% necessary (even avoid putting your hands in the bath!). Here’s the deal: when water gets into your nail it causes the nail to actually expand & when it dries up, it literally dehydrates/sucks the moisture out of the nail. A dry nail is NOT healthy nail (plus, your nail polish will chip faster). Water is also carries a lot of germs/bacteria in nail salons, so waterless manicures are also more sanitary! Bronte’s manicures are DRY manicures, meaning she doesn’t soak your nails in water like most nail places. You can read more about no-water mani’s here– it’s all the rage these days!
3. FIND A CLEAN/NATURAL NAIL SPECIALIST
This is getting more popular, so luckily, it’s easier to find these days. Look for natural/clean salons & see if they have someone or you can even call to see if they have a recommendation. If you really can’t find someone, the other option if you could start to slyly teach your current manicurist a few things. Bring your own crystal file (we will get to this in a second!), ask her to try a no water manicure, tell her you want oil on your nails, etc! They may think your super picky, but it’s worth it for your nails!!! If you’re located in San Diego, you HAVE TO GO TO BRONTE at Bluxom Salon.
4. OIL, OIL, MORE OIL!
Bronte is a huge advocate of oiling up your nails ALL THE TIME. Every time your hands feel dry, if you have to wash your hands or just got out of the shower (extra oil after water exposure), before bed, when you wake up- SO MUCH OIL all the time. Her favorite is jojoba oil & she suggests making sure you massage the oil into the nail bed/cuticle/& a little bit under the tip of the nail. I also keep this *amazing* hand + nail cream by Caudalie in my purse for when I don’t have my oil & need some moisture on the go.
5. “YOUR NAILS ARE JEWELS, NOT TOOLS”
Bronte coined this amazing phrase & I always think of it when I am about to use my nails as tools, which was a bad habit I had. I would always open packages with my nails when I had acrylics, or pry open cans of La Croix- but with natural nails, I have stopped all of that. I swear, I got a cute little knife just for opening packages to keep on my keychain for this exact reason… & I make Zack open all my cans from here on out.
6. USE A CRYSTAL NAIL FILE ONLY
Regular nail files are SO damaging for your nail & really should only be used going in one direction. When you rub the emery board back & forth on your nail like you see in movies, it will cause your nail to break & split. Instead, get yourself a crystal nail file– they are safe/gentle on your nails & can be used any which way.
7. SWITCH UP YOUR PRODUCTS
First & foremost, replace your nasty acetone nail polish remover! Acetone will weaken your nails, so toss that out & replace it with Ella & Mila’s soy polish remover. It has no acetone & is vitamin enriched so it strengthens your nails while removing polish.
In between manicures, I use Ella + Mila’s First Aid Kiss nail strengthener. It has no nasty chemicals in it, is infused with Vitamin E, & keeps my nails STRONG AF between appointments. It’s a must have game changer!!!
Lastly, swap out your hand soaps. Naturally you’re gonna be washing your hands, so it’s best to find a hand soap that has oils in them such as Mrs. Meyer’s hand soaps!
8. THE IDEAL NAIL STRENGTH
It’s important to know the GOAL you are going for when it comes to the strength of your nails & Bronte broke it down perfectly for me.
+ If your nails feel like paper, which they probably will after acrylics, this is far too weak.
+ If your nails feel like glass & break super easily, your nails are actually too strong.
+ The goal is for your nails to feel like plastic- strong, but pliable without breaking!
9. GEL & DIP IS NOT THE WAY
So many people ask me- but what about gel? Why not dip? They make my nails so strong!
First, let’s talk dip powder. Dip powder has acrylic, and other chemicals, in the powder. When mixed with the solution, it sort of turns into an acrylic situation & is equally as damaging. Yes, there are vitamins infused, but the vitamins don’t cancel out the chemicals/acrylics. ALSO- let me say, DIP IS GROSS. People are getting nasty infections because nail techs are pouring powder into a bowl, dipping someone nails into it, and pouring it back into the container. It’s just not the way.
As for gel, gel isn’t completely off limits. Bronte herself does gel manicures, but she does a natural kind of gel & she never does it on a damaged nail. Your nails need to be fully healthy to handle gel, because regardless of the kind you use, it’s still damaging to the nail. If your nails are healthy, they can take it, but if your nails are weak- it’s a no go. I still am not ready for gel manicures & it’s been a year!
10. NATURAL NAILS ARE SO CHIC
Lastly, can I just say- natural nails are so cute/chic/stylish. I look back on my acrylics & can’t believe I loved that look so much. More often than not, the shape was wrong & they just looked chunky/tacky. Or they were too long & then I just cringe for myself over the pain of them. OH- & all those chemicals that were seeping through my nail beds. NO THANK YOU. Natural nails, all the way.
NAIL REHAB AFTER ACRYLICS | YOUR SHOPPING LIST
