Long fingernails - How do people do it?

[AbbysMom]

Usually in the summer my nails are clipped extremely short because I do huge amounts of gardening and yard work. I tend to keep them short the rest of the year as well as they will break from me doing things around the house. My nephew is getting married tomorrow and I have been trying to keep my nails slightly longer for the past few weeks, but it has been tough. I have two that have been glued to try to preserve them until the end of the day tomorrow.

How do people with longer nails get anything done? I am constantly breaking, chipping, etc. them. I don't have very weak nails either. :dk:

 

[magiksgirl]

As you mentioned, you do a lot of gardening work so if they were longer they would get dirty very quickly. You inadvertently adapted your behavior to short nails.

I usually cut my nails when one of them breaks. I have medium strength nails, so rather, mine start to peel from a random weak point on the sides, so I just cut them all to the same size! 

long-zebra-nails.jpg

• magiksgirl
• Sep 18, 2015

 

[Draco]

With the medicine and supplements I'm forced to take, my nails grow pretty hard and doesn't chip easily. but it seems like when one chips, all the others follow suit, lol.

They aren't too long, yet, not too short. I can't have them too long when I am working with my tablet at work

 

[denice]

My nails won't grow naturally so they are short.  I used to keep acrylic nails on but I had them cut fairly short.  I used to have a manager who had them really long so they looked like claws.  She had the acrylics but I don't think she had any of the length cut off she just had the tips shaped.  If you have ever seen the acrylics that nail salons use you know how long her nails were.  She didn't do much work, one of the ones you wonder how they got to the point they got to, so I don't think they were too much of a hindrance for her.

 

[sivyaleah]

When I was young(er) I had beautiful nails. Really healthy and was able to keep them long.

Not so much now. Aging and more usage I guess. I tend to keep them clipped on the shorter side - but not all the way down.

I had them done for the first time in about a year this past weekend because I had a family function to attend. Got a gel manicure, supposed to last 2-3 weeks. Last time, it starting peeling in 9 days or less.  Today, is Day 8 and they look pretty good still so, I'm hopeful!  I forgot how much I like seeing them nice and neat and colorful.  If only I could afford $35 2x a month lol.  

 

[Willowy]

My nails are nice and strong but I have a physically tough job and they chip/break if they get too long so I keep them short. I don't know how people function with longer nails. I've even known female mail carriers who had full acrylics, I have no idea how that's even possible! It must be a learned talent :lol3:.

The one nail that can get semi-long before breaking is the ring finger on my left hand. I must not use that finger for much :tongue2:.

 

[magiksgirl]

 
When I was young(er) I had beautiful nails. Really healthy and was able to keep them long.

Not so much now. Aging and more usage I guess. I tend to keep them clipped on the shorter side - but not all the way down.

I had them done for the first time in about a year this past weekend because I had a family function to attend. Got a gel manicure, supposed to last 2-3 weeks. Last time, it starting peeling in 9 days or less.  Today, is Day 8 and they look pretty good still so, I'm hopeful!  I forgot how much I like seeing them nice and neat and colorful.  If only I could afford $35 2x a month lol.  

Have you considered buying your own kit? There's a huge range of prices for the systems and while you may put more effort into it, the payoff would be saving money. I've actually never had my nails done. I like to style and paint them myself. 

 

[Norachan]

The trick is to use plenty of hand cream and make sure you work it well into your cuticles every time you apply. If your cuticles are healthy then your nails will be stronger and more flexible, so less likely to break. Wear gloves whenever your cleaning. Dish washing liquid, laundry detergent and water are all very drying, so keep your rubber gloves on when your doing housework.

I always put hand cream on just before I go to bed at night, so it has plenty of time to soak in. You can get those cotton gloves to sleep in to make sure your hands get the full benefit, as long as you don't mind looking slightly eccentric.

 

[Winchester]

Right now, my nails are fairly short. I measured and they are 1/4-inch from the end of my finger to the tip of my nails. That's actually short for me. I had cut them back last month when I started breaking one after another and they're in the growing out process. Natural nails only; I've never had acrylics, although people have asked me if my nails are real. 

For years when I was younger I chewed my nails down into the quick, to the point where they bled. I had no fingernails. I had no cuticles. I had virtually nothing on my fingertips, except chewed-up flesh. And then I bought some Nail Biter (very ghastly-tasting stuff you put on your nails). Used it for weeks on end. And that did it. I won't say I never bite my nails anymore, but it's rare and usually when I'm very stressed. My son does the same thing; I gave him a bottle of Nail Biter; it worked for him, too.

I also keep my nails polished at all times. One coat of clear base, two coats of color and then a finishing clear coat. I also brush the finishing clear coat on the underside of my fingernails as I think it helps to keep them from chipping. I have a serious nail polish fetish. And I'll do them for the holidays....candy corn for Halloween, red and green for Christmas with lots and lots of glitter. Red, white, and blue for July 4th. You get the idea. Love nail polish. It's my guilty pleasure.

When I work in the garden, I always wear gardening gloves. When I work with fresh meat (mixing ground meat for meatloaf), I wear food-grade gloves because I don't want the meat under my nails. Same with really, really hot peppers. I buy the box of 100 gloves from my hair stylist. I think you can buy them at WM, too.

My nails are not oval, but more squarish. I think that helps them too. I think it keeps them from breaking and chipping. The more oval they are, the less strong. I read that somewhere and I believe that. My nails are also curved at the tips; they're not flat. I don't know why, unless it's because they are so damaged from the years and years of biting abuse.

One of my co-workers calls me Woody (Woodpecker). He said I'm a redhead and my nails sound like a woodpecker when I'm typing. It doesn't bother me until they get too long and then I end up hitting the key above the key that I want. If I want to type an "h" I end up typing a "y". He says it gets annoying to listen to me after a while, especially when I'm typing up a long review and then all he hears is clickety-clackety-click-clack-click for minutes and minutes on end....I can type like nobody's business and it makes him crazy when he has to listen to it for an hour at a time.

But I like my nails long. I do them myself. I usually set aside Sunday evenings for me. A nice long leisurely shower, a facial, a manicure, etc. It's pretty much the only "me" time I have all week. When Rick is gone, sometimes I'll wear cotton gloves to bed. Socks, too, after slathering my feet with lots of lotion. He wouldn't say anything if he came to bed and found me in gloves and socks. But I'd feel funny.

 

[miagi's_mommy]

I just... can't. Long fingernails bug me if they're my own. I type a lot so it would be a pain. I know a lot of receptionists have them but I just prefer not to. Not even growing up I had them. I always had nail decals on my nails but never nails you could attach to your fingernails and definitely don't want my fingernails long. I always clip my nails with fingernail clippers. My mom likes having long fingernails.

 

[Norachan]

I can feel a manicure photo thread coming on.......

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I had great nails before I had kids!!  I think I still do.  They are pretty strong and grow in a nice shape without me having to file or anything.  I used to get compliments all the time.  But with little kids around I keep them cut shorter so I don't scratch them. The kids are quick to complain.  I used to paint my nails all the time.  Now I don't have the patience for it.  I keep my toes painted most of the year; but it chips off my fingers too fast.  

When I took my typing class my sophomore year of high school the teacher went around on the first day and told everyone we had to cut our nails off or we wouldn't be able to type.  I was not doing that.  

  A month or two in she stopped one day and told me she didn't know how I could type with my long nails.  I don't think I've ever let them get more than 1/4" past the end of my finger.  Maybe a tad longer.  I've not had too much trouble doing things with them and they certainly never slowed me down typing! 

 

[happybird]

I would never be able to have long nails- I'd poke my eye out! :lol3: Seriously. I am amazed when I see people with long nails doing certain tasks, but I guess you adjust. Some of the photos on the site of people with really long nails holding teeny tiny kittens freak me out a little. I'd surely poke and scratch and possibly injure the little darlings if it were me. My old roommate used to buy dish sponges specially made for long-nailed folks. I didn't even know they made such a thing!

A few years ago, I lost 7 of my fingernails. It was horrible. The Ecolab chemical dispenser system in the restaurant where I worked was malfunctioning and the cleaning product it put out was way too strong. When mixed correctly, you can use the sanitizer with bare hands, no problem, but no one realized the dispenser wasn't working properly. After a couple weeks my nails began to peel off. It looked like the nails were slowly detaching from the beds in little patches until nothing was holding them down. It didn't hurt because the beds healed over before the nails came off, but it looked terrible. Especially considering my job- who wants to have a diseased-looking hand serving their food and drink? It happened to another employee as well and we were both nail chewers. I am much more appreciative and conscious of my fingernails now that I have them back. It took almost two years to grow them all the way back in without ridges and without being misshapen. I don't chew them anymore, but do keep them very short.

 

[NewYork1303]

I type for a living. I don't know how I could ever do that with super long nails. Mine aren't long right now and they're driving me crazy. I used to chew my nails all of the time. I haven't done this since January, but I have to keep them short to resist.

 

[natalie_ca]

My nails are thin, weak  and soft and tend to peel off in layers.

When I want to grow my nails out I keep nail polish on them.  I love, love, love Revlon nail polish because it has endurance. I don't dig in gardens, and if I did, I would be wearing gloves.  But I do dishes, laundry, house work, lots of typing .... and my Revlon polish lasts almost a week without chipping.

I use
1 layer of quick dry basecoat

1 layer of Revlon nail polish.   Let it dry really, really well.  A few hours or even overnight. then apply another layer.

1 layer of Revlon nail polish.  Again, let it dry really well. A few hours or again, overnight.

1 layer of top coat. Let dry really well.

Now I find that works for me, but it may not last you a full week with what you do.   I do strongly recommend that you wear gardening gloves and rubber gloves.

In the Spring I had lovely nails.  They were about 1/8 inch beyond the top of my fingers.  But one-by-one they broke and I've not been able to get them to grow again; they are constantly peeling and breaking, even when I put on polish.

This is the length that I like my nails. Any longer and I find they become a nuisance.

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• natalie_ca
• Sep 19, 2015

 

[Columbine]

Mine are hopeless! Any kind of length to nails is impossible with jewellery making in my experience! Last summer's days at the stables didn't exactly help either :lol3:

 

[natalie_ca]

 
When I was young(er) I had beautiful nails. Really healthy and was able to keep them long.

Not so much now. Aging and more usage I guess. I tend to keep them clipped on the shorter side - but not all the way down.

I had them done for the first time in about a year this past weekend because I had a family function to attend. Got a gel manicure, supposed to last 2-3 weeks. Last time, it starting peeling in 9 days or less.  Today, is Day 8 and they look pretty good still so, I'm hopeful!  I forgot how much I like seeing them nice and neat and colorful.  If only I could afford $35 2x a month lol.  

A gel manicure where I live is $50.

I had gel nails put on twice. The first time, I paid $90.  Three of the nails broke within 2 days of them being put on, and the girl didn't do anything with my cuticles, so there was a large gap between the nail and my cuticle once I pushed it back.  I complained and they redid my nails, which meant having to sand them down even more. One nail she sanded down to the point she hit my nail bed!!!  The nails chipped and broke and within 6 weeks they were all off and my nails looked horrible! It took months to grow out the damage and the one she sanded down to the nail bed grows funny.

I've had 2 gel manicures. Both times my nails were in great shape, and the length I wanted them, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch beyond the tip.  Both times my nails were mush after removing the gel polish. I mean super soft and spongy/mushy.  And they peeled and the length tore off.  I did research on gel nails and found that the gel doesn't allow the nail to "breathe" which causes it to become soft and spongy.

I'll never do gel nails, or gel polish again. I'll stick to polishing weekly with Revlon polish.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

My fingernails grow fast. They are strong and grow in an oval shape. I have to keep them short because I play a guitar and long fingernails don't mix well with that. But I try to keep them neat and sometimes polished with a clear polish. I like the way painted nails look, but I hate the way that stuff feels on my nails. So I have only had my nails done two times. Then I had it done at the local extension of the college where the hairstyling students were learning how to do nails too. However I have been thinking seriously about how nice a professional pedicure would be. :lol3:

 

[Winchester]

Long fingernails don't work when I play the piano either....the click-clacking annoys me to no end. (Oddly enough it doesn't bother me when I type, though.) I won't do gels. Won't use acrylics either. They're just not good for your nails. I have a lot of Revlon polish, but I also use a lot of China Glaze and Sally Hanson products. Orly is good. So is OPI. Love OPI....even the polish names are cute. My sister only uses Revlon; she won't use anything else.

Check out Pinterest for nail ideas....there are a ton of ways to do nails and I get some good ideas that way. I am definitely artistically-challenged, though, so what looks good there doesn't necessarily work on my nails, not if I do them. I like glitter for the holidays. Did you know that you can put Elmer's white glue on your nails, let it dry, and then brush on the glitter polish? I saw it on Pinterest....and it works! And then you don't have all that hassle trying to get the glitter back off; the whole thing just peels off, glue, glitter, and all. Trying to get glitter off nails can be a true PITB.

Every once in a while, all the women in the family will go out for manis and pedis. I don't let them near my fingernails, but I'll get a pedi sometimes. It's a nice day out: some shopping, a nice pedi, followed by a nice dinner somewhere. We enjoy it. I had a professional manicure once and wasn't all that impressed. I'll do my own.

Natalie_CA, like your color!

 

[denice]

I quit getting the acrylics because of the damage to my nails.  You're supposed to take a break from them at least once a year, have them soaked off and let the nails grow out before getting them applied again.  Of course I didn't do that.  One of my thumb nail beds started hurting so I soaked them off.  I had a really hard time getting that thumb acrylic off because the nail was so thin it kept trying to come off with the nail.  I just never went back to them after that.