ugh...i need to stop biting my nails

[froufrou]

my boyfriend is taking me to look at rings on Saturday for the first time!! so that is a pretty cool step towards engagement, yay.

anyway...i cannot break my lifelong nail biting habit (i bite the cuticle part and make it bleed..i know, gross)...so i just realized, ew, i cant go try on rings with gross hands. i am really going to try to quit, at least so far i have managed this week not to bite the cuticles on my LEFT hand (hahaha). everytime i tell myself to quit though i just forget or think, ill quit tomorrow.

so..ive decided that i absolutely HAVE TO quit because then WHEN i get engaged I will not be able to show hand pics if my hands are gross

anyone else have this nail biting problem? maybe it will miraculously go away in the future because i will be too mesmerized by the diamond on my finger??

 

[Blenheim]

I don''t have a nail-biting problem, but from what I''ve heard it won''t just go away unless you work on it. Here''s something to start you off:

Stopping my Nail-Biting Habit

Help - I have ugly nails!

 

[JenStone]

Froufrou, I too have a problem with my cuticles and the skin surrounding my nails....except I don''t bite...I pick at it! Read the threads Blenheim suggested. For me, that solution was to apply clear nail polish every week and rub cuticle oil on my cuticles every day. If I''m taking care of my nails, it makes me think twice before attacking them. Cuticle oil is great because you can use it even without nail polish and your cuticles look so smooth and clean afterwards - that makes it a lot less tempting for me.

Good luck!

 

[Scooba]

I pick too all the time, I pick the pads of my thumbs the worst, the only way I don''t pick if when I have acrylics because you can''t, i had them all through high school and college, it is the best solution, I just hate the maintainance on them. I pick because I am easily bored and need stimulation, so getting my nails done is like torture for me because you just have to sit there and you can''t do anything,

 

[jesterjigger]

I used to bite my nails all the time. My mom would bribe me to stop but I never did. I don''t think I stopped until I went to college, and suddenly, I could quit. I think I just wanted to turn over a new leaf, so I did. I polished my nails yesterday and told my bf I''m going to keep them polished, just in case. He asked just in case what. I said, Oh, I don''t know... Then the light bulb went off in his head and he was like OOOOOOOH! And he laughed. I love teasing him

Maybe if you polish your nails and take good care of them you''ll have an easier time of leaving them alone?

 

[sumbride]

I agree that acrylics would work but they''re horrible for your nails. You might want to try silk wraps. And keep a good manicure, because with a manicure, you don''t have cuticles to bite. I just had mine done the other day and he trimmed my cuticles so perfectly that nothing hangs to be bitten. I only got clear polish because I''m very hard on my hands and tend to chip polish almost immediately. My nails rip and break way too easily. I''m happy with them short now, but it took forever to realize this was the best course of action for me.

Oh, a few hundred threads ago somebody mentioned Neutrogena Instant Nail Enhancer. I bought it and I love it! It makes my unpolished nails look much better. It''s basically a wax, and it lasts about a day, but it dries instantly so you can put it on every day and make your nails shine. It''s great. My hands feel worthy, but I''m not holding my breath...

 

[froufrou]

thanks everyone. i will try that neutragena thing and cuticle oil... ive tried having acryclics before too but it left my nails even more weak and brittle than usual after they came off, plus i type so much i dont like to get longer nails.

 

[Scooba]

Yeah with acrylics you just have to keep them on all the time, you can''t just have them sometimes because it takes your nails so long to recover

 

[swt_acacia]

Yes! I have the biting problem, too. A long time ago, I started biting my fingers every time I started to bite my nails, thinking that since it hurt, it would break my habit. Instead, now I have a nail and finger biting habit. It sucks. One thing that has sort of helped is just keeping my nails really short, and keeping nail polish on them. If there isn''t a lot of nail there, I''m less likely to feel the need to bite it off. Also, using hand lotion a LOT helps. I keep a bottle in my bathroom, my bedroom, on my desk at work, in my purse, etc. Kind of like people trying to quit smoking chew gum instead, whenever I feel the urge to bite my nails I put lotion on them instead.

 

[ilovesparkles]

I pick at my cuticles sooooooo badly! I make em bleed too! I started carrying around nail clippers so if there is ever something I want to tear at I snip it instead so I don''t wound myself

But it still happens! I would reccomend a good cuticle cream or oil. Good luck!