THE BATH, BODY & NAIL CARE THREAD

[veronika23]

A place to discuss anything relating to body care. Formerly known as the THE HAIR, NAILS AND BODY CARE THREAD

Ask a question, post a review, share your favorite products, tips or tricks... anything goes and is welcomed!

[veronika23]

Aww sorry @bakeamuffin. 😞  Have you ever tried the JOSIE MARAN - Divine Drip Argan Oil and Honey Butter Balm? This one has honey in it.

https://www.sephora.com/ca/en/product/divine-drip-argan-oil-honey-butter-balm-P410618

[Ispend2much6]

@bakeamuffin  I'm sorry I just saw your question!  It does smell like honey in addition to the regular base scent all the Creme de Corps products have.  To be honest, the honey scent was too strong for me.  However, as far as the product goes, it is very moisturizing, as is the regular Creme de Corps.  I really enjoyed how that one made my skin feel.  Just so you know, eventually the scent on those goes off.  When I bought a large bottle of it near the holidays two years ago (it was featured in Nordstrom's Anniversary sale,) the scent had gone bad when I went to use it six months or so later.  Maybe it was a fluke.

Right now Kiehls has a $20 off of $65 purchases on their direct site. 🙂

[bakeamuffin]

I really appreciate your feedback @Ispend2much6, thank you for taking the time to write it up! 

[veronika23]

Does anyone have a recommendation for nail polish base coat.  I think the one I am using now is destroying my nails.  Hoping for something that will also make the polish stay on longer.  Thanks!!!

@RGbrown@Tamara76@Beadshopgirl@lmi82????

[playingdressup]

I'm so late to this discussion @veronika23 , but I wanted to throw my two cents in! I like Jin Soon Power Coat. It helped stop my nail tips peeling or breaking from the side. My mom has problem nails that don't grow, and this helped her get some length. 

Jojoba oil has been great for my nails too! I learned this tip from Simply Nailogical on YouTube: use jojoba oil on the underside of nails as well as cuticles. I do this a few times a week, whether I have polish on or not. 

I also like using Unt peel off base coat.. Manis don't last so long, but I love skipping remover completely. 

[veronika23]

Thanks @playingdressup! I'll check it out. Right now I'm just trying to use up products I have but will try jojoba oil when I'm done. How long do your manis last with that peel off? Thx! 🙂

[RGbrown]

@veronika23

I know it's been a while, and I don't know if you found your HG yet, but I have another suggestion now. Perfect Formula was a huge step up for me, but this stuff is even better! I have 3 nails that are significantly thinner than the rest, and are very prone to bending, peeling, splitting, and breaking. Perfect Formula helped a lot, but polish still had a tendency to crack on those three bendy nails, even if it didn't chip off. 

Londontown Kur Nail Hardener has been a huge turning point in extending my manicures, and growing out my particularly weak nails. Even if I break one now, it's a small piece off a corner, not across the whole nail. And I'm finally starting to need to file the weaker ones a bit, not because of a jagged tear, but because they're actually catching up in length with the rest of my nails. Peeling has also been greatly reduced, and I am starting to have a little hope that they'll grow out far enough for me to get behind it (these three currently peel behind where the nail meets the finger, so I can never seem to get clear of it...if I could ever cut off the nail behind the peeled areas, I hope it's something that won't start back up). 

In any case, rambling aside, I'm totally loving this stuff! 

[veronika23]

@RGbrown  are you still loving the Londontown??? Thanks! 🙂

[RGbrown]

@veronika23 

Not anymore. Every time I swapped strengthening base coats, the newest one seemed to help for a bit, but then I was right back where I started...brittle, peeling nails that always broke and never seemed to grow. I got fed up with buying more and more expensive strengtheners and finally took Cristine/SimplyNailogical's advice to heart: ditch the hardeners altogether and get serious with cuticle oil. And I am shocked at how well it has helped. I made my own cuticle oil (roughly 3-4 parts jojoba and 1 part 100% vitamin e) and put it in pens all throughout the house. Even with them everywhere, I tend to forget it most of the day, but I use it religiously every night before bed. My nails are longer and stronger than they have been in years...I had trouble taking my contacts out a couple of weeks ago because they were in the way, and I couldn't even begin to tell you when that last happened. Making sure they stay moisturized (and therefore flexible, instead of brittle) has made a huge difference for me.

My two weakest nails are still a wee bit behind the other 8, but I have *actual*hope* now that they'll catch up. 

Unfortunately I don't have any bare-nail pics to really demonstrate the difference in health between then and now, but I can at least document length a bit. Before cuticle oil, I'd break at least one or two corners off a week, and while I don't necessarily keep my nails all at the same exact length, the overall effect from the continual breakage was that they all stayed short, and I couldn't get them much longer than this. Random pic from my pre-cuticle oil days:

Versus this week's manicure:

Oh, current base coat is Butter London Nail Foundation, BTW. Not sure I'll stick with it once I finish this bottle off because it's a bit pricey, but it was already in my stash and I like it for filling ridges (which I have in spades). 

[veronika23]

Thanks so much for the info! Your nails look awesome! I already do the cuticle oil/butter at least once a day sometimes even more... they've just been in a bad shape lately and I wanted to try something else.  I think I have that base coat... I have a few different ones but was looking to try another one to see if that would help. I use a sticky base coat when I polish as it helps me a lot for wear time. I was just looking for something to help get them stronger and stop the peeling. Thanks! @RGbrown 

[RGbrown]

@veronika23 

Sometimes it just takes time and patience...it can take 4-6 months to grow out previous damage, so really all I can recommend is keeping up the oil, and maybe trying to keep them painted if you aren't already. Avoid water as much as possible too...it can dry nails out and aggravate the peeling.

If you aren't using it already, jojoba is what I see recommend the most. It's the closest to our skin's natural sebum, and absorbs really well, even on the nails. I find most cuticle butters too thick to really soak in well, and they just wear off the top of my skin instead of getting absorbed like the jojoba. Plus, I can get the oil under the free edge of my nail easily, whereas I'd never puts globs of cuticle butter under there 😂

I reread the original question and convo after posting my hardener rant and realized you weren't necessarily asking about them originally. They've just been on mind a lot the last year or two, and several of the other responses leaned that way (including my own with the Kur 😛 ), so I just ran with it lol. In any case, I am quite content with the Butter Nail Foundation as a basic ridge-filling base. It holds up relatively well for me, I get a week or so per mani, give or take a day or two (and I'm fine with that, since I get bored after a week and am ready to change polish anyways). It's not super amazing in any way though, I don't think, at least not for the price...I mean, it's better for me than the hardening base coats I used to use were, but it's been so long since I used a non-strengthening base that I really can't compare it to anything else quite yet. 

BTW, how do you like the sticky base coat (other than not helping damage)? Does it really help polish last longer? I've been thinking of trying the Orly Bonder next, but I still have a while before I run out of my Butter stuff, and I already have a bottle of Zoya Naked Base lined up to try at some point (...so maybe I've already talked myself out of it any time in the near future haha!). 

[veronika23]

@RGbrownyeah I know... I've been doing the oil thing for a while now but just recently they've been a mess. I also read about keeping them painted but it's hard when they just peel so I take breaks when I shouldn't I think... ugh. lol  Like I had a few manis in a row and the last one had a lot of peeling so I decided to keep my nails bare for a while... now I have of the the strengthening polish on. Which I use on my nails first, then the sticky base coat and then the rest...

Oh yeah I love jojoba for that! Has that kinda waxy feeling. I guess I'm just a sucker for certain scents and wanna try new ones (even though it's a gamble because of my sensitivities) so I end up buying either cuticle oil or butter every month at PPU. 😄  Hahaha yeah would be uncomfortable to put cuticle butter there! 😄 😄 😄

Yeah originally I was just asking for a base coat but remembering what you had said about yours I thought I would ask if it was still your go to as you had mentioned it helped with peeling.That's what I'm after now... That's great that it works well for you! A week is what I would want as well... I usually barely make it a day without a problem. 😄  I'll have to try that one again... pretty sure that's the one I have... although I might have to pair it with the sticky base coat. Thanks!

[RGbrown]

@veronika23 

Have you tried putting the sticky base coat down first? Having that applied directly to your nail instead of another layer in between might help with the manicure lasting longer?

[veronika23]

@RGbrown  no I haven't tried that yet but using the sticky base coat with the other base coat has helped. The one day mani is pretty much every other base coat I've tried. I mostly get a few more days with the sticky. I just haven't been able to experiment enough with the sticky base coat because of the peeling... and the reason why I use the other is to help with the peeling. Sorry if I'm not making much sense. lol 😄  Right now I was hoping to find something I could wear to help strengthen my nails and help with the peeling so I can go back to using polish and try the sticky base coat without another base coat. 😄

[RGbrown]

@veronika23 

Try going without the strengtheners for a few months. There will probably be some breakage as the weaker tips grow out, but then...wow. I stopped using them and started oil daily at the same time, October or so, and I'm finally happy with where my nails are at. For me, it was just an experiment at first, born out of frustration that nothing else was working. But I was so impressed with the outcome that I threw away all of my hardeners in January (because I had kept them, just in case) once I saw that Cristine was right and I didn't actually need them after all 😋

My peeling hasn't stopped completely yet, but it is sooooo much better now. My two weakest nails are my only two still peeling at the tips, but even the peeling spots on those have reduced dramatically in size. Water is probably my biggest enemy there, and I may never be fully rid of it, but I feel like keeping up the oil has been instrumental in keeping them more flexible and less likely to peel, and perhaps in time I can grow all of the peely spots out of my nails for good. 

Nails are dead, just like hair. There's not much you can do to repair current damage. It's like trying to "fix" split ends...can't be done. I think the best you can do is try not to pick at the peeling spots, keep 'em covered (whether just a clear coat or full manicure), keep 'em dry as best you can, and keep up the oil. 

[veronika23]

@RGbrownThanks! I might try that... just stop with all the strengtheners and just use my sticky base coat going forward or clear coat if I don't feel like doing color.  But yeah I'm definitely gonna keep up with the oil and cream... it's become a solid habit now. 😄  Hope your two other nails stop peeling completely!

[veronika23]

Thanks! Haven't found my HG yet and still have problem nails. I'll check this out. Thank you! @RGbrown

[PrettyPaint]

@veronika23 I have read that oiling before applying the base coat helps for some people in terms of longevity and overall condition of the nails. People seem to like liquid coconut oil. I plan to try next time I paint my nails (I have been too lazy to paint them lately). 

[veronika23]

Thanks @PrettyPaint!  How can the base coat stay on oily nails though?

[PrettyPaint]

@veronika23 I was wondering about that too. It sounds like you let it soak in a bit and then wipe off excess with a paper towel or something before painting.  

[veronika23]

Interesting @PrettyPaint.  I guess I'll have to try that too. Thx! 🙂