u/BeccaM861

Maisie, approximately 10 months old, very fluffy toes.

My fluffy cow, Maisie, and a feature from her best friend, Dug the dog.

We adopted her earlier this year and we couldn't be happier with her. She's also my 21 month old daughters best friend, and is always by her side.

She's also pretty weird 🤣

This will sound weird 🤣 but I'm working on strengthening my nails and not picking them or scraping under them.

I SWEAR I can feel the hyponychium growing under my free edge (I need to repair it after years of thinking I was cleaning under my nails) and its driving me nuts. The temptation to scrape it out is sooo hard to ignore.

What mental illness is this? 😭 (I already have a few, so I can joke about it)

I've been keeping my nails short to help strengthen them, and I was doing so well to not pick at them and today I had an oopsie with the cheese grater 😭

First two photos are from today, second from 20 July.

I've been mostly good about putting on oil and moisturiser but I got sick and missed some days. But I am keeping them short and filing with a glass file if I notice any peeling or chips.

I can see the proximal fold growing back on most my nails, and the side wall! I have regressed with the skin picking a little 🙃 but not as much. If I catch myself doing it I stop and oil straight away. It's an anxiety thing so I knew it would be hard to stop.

Products - Revitanail Intensive Strength. This is working well as it doesn't chip or get flaky - it absorbs into your nails.

I was a terrible nail biter until about 3 years ago but continued to pick at them so they're still really thin and brittle.

I have a question about my sidewalls, I get these little tough bits of skin on the side and I've been cutting them off but they keep coming back? Example in photo 1.

Photo 2/3 are from last Monday, I had Sally Hansen Hard as Nails on them.

Pictures 4/5 are from today. I've been keeping them short, using clippers if they break or split (like my left ring finger) as a small break makes me peel my nail. I've also been filing in one direction with 180 grit file for a smooth edge. I've also been really good about applying cuticle oil (has jojoba oil in it) and vaseline hand cream any time I wash my hands.

It has been sooo hard to leave them alone! I was sooo obsessed with having 'clean' nails and skin around them that I damaged the hyponychium and proximal fold. So I'm making sure to target these areas with the oil/cream.

Any other advice? They're super thin and bendy, so I'm ordering some Mavala strengthener, as I have seem some good reviews.

I've decided to keep them without any polish as I just pick at it as soon as it lifts or becomes flaky. There's some habits I need to break 🤣. At the moment, any time I get the urge to pick at my nails or skin I put some oil on them.

I've got a long way to go! But I am determined to get nice, healthy, and strong natural nails.

Has anyone used Mavala and it be successful in strengthening their nails?

I was a chronic nail biter for most of my life. Even though I stopped a few years ago, I had gel on them so they are still awfully thin, brittle, and weak. I'm also a bad skin and nail picker due to my anxiety.

They break and chip easily when I have any length on them. I have a Glamrdip kit that I'm taking a break from while I help get them stronger.

Here's what I'm doing so far:

1. Keeping them short, filing in one direction with a Gelous nail file

2. Having a layer of Sally Hansen - Hard as Nails

3. Lathering them in cutical oil (one of the ingredients is jojoba oil) and massaging this onto the cuticles and in the hyponychium

4. Using Vaseline hands and nails moisturiser

5. Wearing gloves when doing dishes

I'm also trying my best to leave the eponychium folds alone as I thought this was the cuticle. So I need to grow these back. It's a big learning curve for me because I've been so obsessed in the past with having clean nails (I.e., Russian manicure basically).

I know there's a long road ahead of me until I can be happy with my nails, so I'm open to any wisdom. Thanks in advance ☺️