For many people, that regular trip to the nail salon easily doubles as self-care. Something about sitting down in the chair, having your cuticles pushed back, nails buffed, and finishing them off with some sort of nail polish is an experience that truly eases the mind. But have you ever considered that your nails may need a breather?
To find an answer to the question of whether our nails actually need a break from polish, I chatted with two manicurists to find out how nail polish affects our nails and how we can keep them at their healthiest. Here’s what they had to say.
Is it good to give your nails a break from nail polish?
If you love a good manicure, it turns out you don’t have to make any rash decisions about altering your standing appointment. “Rather than following a strict rule about taking a break after a certain number of manicures, I’d look at how your individual nails feel,” Thea Green, MBE., founder of NAILS.INC, says.
She explains that nail health isn’t directly related to how often you paint your nails, but more so how you are caring for your nails overall. “Often, it’s how we treat our nails around the manicure that makes the biggest difference,” Green says. “Picking or peeling polish off, aggressive buffing, and improper removal can all leave the nail plate feeling weaker or more dehydrated.”
When you notice signs like nail dryness, weakness, or peeling, that’s when Green advises to “give [your nails] some extra care and recovery time before your next manicure.”
Julie Ventura, global education manager at ORLY, agrees. She notes that proper nail care is key to avoiding taking breaks. “As long as nail products are applied properly, you absolutely do not need a break from nail services to maintain healthy, happy nails,” she says.
How can you preserve nail health while wearing polish?
So how exactly should you maintain healthy nails while wearing polish? Proper moisture and hydration.
“Hydration is one of the simplest and most effective habits to build into your nail routine,” Green says. “I always recommend using cuticle oil regularly, not just when you’re doing a manicure.”
In addition to nourishing your nails and helping to promote growth, cuticle oil can keep your polish “flexible so it bends with your nail rather than against it, which can lead to early chipping,” Ventura adds.
Another way you can protect your nails between manicures is by ensuring you are removing your polish correctly. “For regular nail polish, always remove your color properly rather than picking or peeling it off,” Green says. “For gel manicures, avoid peeling or scraping the product off, as this can damage the surface of the natural nail. I always recommend having gel removed properly and gently.” This can be done by soaking off gel polish with acetone.
Overall, maintaining healthy nails boils down to proper prep, upkeep, and polish removal. Once you have that down, it’s smooth sailing.
