Expert: Maggie Franklin - 5/4/2008

Question
QUESTION: My nails have gotten so soft over the past 2 years, some of them shred repeatedly.  I struggled with the idea of trying the pink/white powder French nails for a long time, and decided to try it a month ago from my usual salon. I have been back 2 times for filling, each time having noticed cracks in two of my nails. Yesterday, I had another "filling" which took 1 1/2 hours and left the skin around my nails scraped and sore (from the hard filing).  I think I should have my artificial nails removed and hope there won't be too much permanent damage to my nail beds. Is there anything I can do, instead of the powders, to fix the original problem I have been having with my shredding nails??

ANSWER: My first instinct is to be quite blunt and say, "yes, find a better salon!"

I cringe at hearing that you experienced "hard filing" that left the skin around your nails "scraped and sore."

This is NOT the way it's supposed to be done! Having any type of product applied to your nails should not be painful and should definitely not leave you feeling injured! I highly recommend shopping around to find a professional who is skilled in applying product without damaging your nails, or your skin!

Aside from that... While there may be products and processes available that could help with the originally problem of your shredding nails, I find most of the time it is so time consuming that almost no one wants to put forth the effort to see the results. Even with weekly manicures, the chances are that it won't be enough to correct the problem without daily dedication from you in the way of applying creams, lotions, oils and potions and at least one coat daily of a high quality nail strengthener... I know I, myself, don't even have the patience for this type of nail care regimen, I can't honestly expect my clients to keep up with it!

Even with the effort to maintain your nails, the problem may be due to age, health factors, or heredity that you simply can't correct.

Most often, people opt for enhancements of one sort or another. Usually people end up with acrylic (liquid and powder system products) because acrylics remain the most prevalently used products among nail professionals in the US.

Other options are gels, which have the consistency of thick nail polish and are brushed onto the nail in a similar manner, then "cured" under an ultra violet light, true gel nails are comprised entirely of this product, being built up with the application of 2 or more layers to create an overlay with the appropriate amount of thickness and strength. Also you may want to consider wraps of either silk or fiberglass, which involved using cyanoacrylate resin (the same resin that Crazy Glue is made of, only the beauty industry typically uses a medical grade) to adhere layers of silk or fiberglass fabric to the nail. And, one more option is "powder glazing"-- I have also heard this referred to as "diamond nails," "tip and dip," and is also often referred to by one of the major manufacturers of the system; Backscratchers Extreme-- This is a method of using the same resin used for wraps, but then the nail is dipped into powder for reinforcement instead of using fabric.

All of these options are laminates for the nail that will require regular fills for maintenance. The trick will be to find a tech who is adept at applying them without causing damage to your natural nail or surrounding tissue.

Whenever you remove product from your nails, for whatever reason, it should be removed carefully by soaking in acetone or gentle filing that does not pry the product off of your nail which rips off layers of the keratin that your nails are made of. The only damage that you should expect when removing product is that your natural nail will be dehydrated. Ample use of cuticle oil and a couple coats of hydrating nail strengthener should take care of this in short order and within a day or two your nails should feel normal again. Once the product is removed, you should also not find deep grooves in your nails from aggressive filing done during application.

I really hope I've been able to help you or at least give you some information that will help you decide what to do from here.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: But I'm still in a quandary about whether I should have my nails taken back to their normal state, which I assume will have the same problems as before. I guess I want to do what will be the most effective and least damaging thing. It's hard to know.

Answer
Yes. If you choose to remove the product from your nails, the original problems will persist.

Since you don't want to continue to maintain the enhancements that you have on, it would be best to have them removed. That way you aren't paying for a service that you don't even want, and it sounds like you may be trading one problem for different ones with the product on your nails now anyway.

Have them removed and use a hydrating nail strengthener such as Nail Tek-- OPI and CND also have excellent products for natural nails and may be easier to get ahold of depending on where you are located-- until you decide what type of enhancement would be best for you, or even if you want them at all.