A place to share mani/pedis and chat about nail polish :)
How do I stop my painted nails from peeling/flaking?
I've always had pretty weak fingernails. In the last few months, with the help of a nail growth serum and frequent maintenance, I've finally gotten them to consistently be long enough that you can actually see some white at the edges. (Yeah, it's always been pretty bad.)
I'm excited to be able to paint my nails and have them actually look semi-nice, but I find that nail polish seems to weaken them. They start flaking and peeling. (Not as bad as this image, but this is basically the idea.)
Does anyone know why this happens, or if there are steps I can take to prevent it? I'd love to be able to have a manicure without a two-week recovery period!




Maybe doing a clear gel manicure and leaving it on would help? Don't remove it when it grows out, just leave it and clip the extra length at the tip of your nail.
You can try biotin supplements too.
Good idea! I'll look into that. Thanks!
This used to happen to me too, and once I started my dailyish nail-care routine I can now seriously injure people (mostly myself) because of how strong they are.
I use OPI Nail Envy as my base coat for every single manicure that I do. Not only does it help protect your nail from staining from your colored polish, but it has additional nutrients that help your nail get stronger the longer you wear it.
I use cuticle oil multiple times every day to help keep my nail bed healthy and moisturized.
I drink way more water now than I ever have in the past (though still way less than I'm supposed to). Hydration is critical for nail (and hair!) growth and development.
Clear gel manicures also work if you want an immediate solution to the problem, but they really ruin your nails and will make them flake more if you ever want to take it off. I'm a big proponent of slow-and-steady-wins-the-race when it comes to nail stuff, so if you're willing to wait a few months before you see any noticeable improvement you can try out my routine!
This sounds like what I'm looking for! I would like accidental weapon nails, haha. Thanks for the suggestions!
Oh oh, also!! Try and keep your nails fairly short while you're doing this process if you can. The shorter they are the less likely they are to flake and peel, and you'll want to try and minimize the flaking as you're trying to strengthen and grow your nails out.
It used to take my nails months to grow (I used to get tons of those white marks on my nails and could use those as trackers for how much my nail had grown... I'd say it probably took 5-6 months to go from nail bed to tip of finger), but now it only takes ~2 months for my nails to fully grow out.
Whoa. You mean your nail care habits make them actually grow faster? Didn't know that was possible.