It’s a popular phrase you might have heard from a girlfriend or even from your own Nail Technician, but contrary to popular belief, nails don’t need to breathe! Our nails aren’t alive, and they can’t absorb air into the nail plate. All of the oxygen needed for the nail plate comes from your blood stream. Our nails are comprised of non-living keratin cells like our hair. Take great care to condition them and hydrate, hydrate hydrate! If your Nail Technician is properly taking care of your nails and using the right products, you should never need to take a break for your nails to ‘breathe’. A high quality Jojoba based nail oil like CND’s Solar Oil or Essential Balm will keep them looking freshly manicured between appointments- as well as acting as a plasticizer for your nail enamel which extends the wear!
Many of us notice over time that we develop small ridges lengthwise on the nail plate. You may be tempted to buff them down until the nail is smooth again, but don’t! The sections that dip down in those ridges are areas where the cell production has weakened over time, and if you file everything down you’re making your nail plate level with the weakest point. Although a smooth nail plate can be more aesthetically pleasing, opt for a ridge-filling basecoat instead.