Life After Acrylics: How To Treat Your Nails After Acrylics

Hola :) I really hope I'm not the only one who is too impatient to get infills, when my acrylics grow out, I'm guilty of biting/peeling/bending/filing/clipping/anythingelsethatwillpossiblygetthemoff. And everytime I say 'Next time I'll just get infills because this ruins mine so much' and you guessed it, I never do ;). So just yesterday I was on the look out for a way to help my nails recover because they're in a pretty poor state, short, stumpy, dented, peeling and flaking left right and centre and just overall pretty rubbish. I did a bit of research and have combined my findings with what I have done in the past to bring you a step by step guide to beautiful nails again! Bear in mind this is a learning curve for me too...

YOU WILL NEED: ♥Acetone
♥Cotton Wool Balls (these grip better than pads)
♥Cuticle/Nail Oil
♥A 4 Sided Nail File/Buffer Block
♥Cuticle Trimmer
♥Strengthening nail polish
♥Nail polish of your choice
1. DON'T BITE THEM OFF IN THE FIRST PLACE.
2. But if you're reading this, you probably have. So chances are there's the odd bit of acrylic still stuck to your nails, don't pick it off. Get yourself some acetone which you can find in Boots next to the nail polish remover, soak a cotton wool ball in acetone and hold it on the acrylic for as long as you can until you get bored/pruney fingers (not that long). Then wash your handies.
3. Take the cuticle/nail oil, available in Boots, and put a blob on each nail, massaging it into the cuticle and nail edges. Then use a cuticle trimmer (Boots, a couple £'s!) to trim off you're cuticles, giving you a clean base to work with.
4. You should,in theory, have the worst of it off, if you don't, you're going to have to file it off. Try and get your hands on a four-way nail block thing. I got one from the body shop and one from Boots, they're fairly cheap and are perfect for this situation.There's basically four sides to this nail file, 1. file nail, 2. remove ridges, 3. smooth nail and 4. shine nail. You'll need to use the file preferably with a fine grit on the surface of your nail, and no it's not ideal but neither is biting off acrylics haha. Do this until your nail is relatively smooth again, leave the oil on as it acts as a form of protective barrier.
4. Then follow it step by step with the other 3 sides of the block.

5. Next shape your nail, and even if you've got a few long ones still standing you're going to have to file them down too! Make sure you only file in one direction (not the band) as your nails are going to be thin and weak enough already. You'll have to keep your nails short until they're a bit stronger otherwise you're not going to get anywhere.
6. If there are any splits right in the middle of your nail, that are literally going to make your nail so short that it's painful, use the nail glue you get in DIY false nail kits to glue them down until its grown out when you'll have to file it off! I'm sure you can buy the glue seperately. No prizes for guessing where from ;)
7. I read a lot of differing opinions, some said to keep nails free of polish, some said to wear a clear coat, so it's up to you but I like to wear nail polish, because they're still not going to look great as they are. Use a strengthening clear base coat, I like the Sally Hansen Miracle Cure one.

8. Once that's dry, you can either leave it as it is or pop on your favourite colour! Darker colours disguise ridges remember ;) and then a clear top coat of your choice!
9. Et Voila! Your nails should hopefully be marginally better. Keep them short for at least a month, if not two, and apply the cuticle/nail oil regularly. Avoid soaking your nails in water, if you have to do washing up then wear gloves, and just take general care not to put strain on your nails.

Let me know if you've got any good tips :) Remember I'm in no way a professional, this is just what I do!
Thanks for reading :)
Grace
xxx

ps. none of these pictures are mine!! I'm writing this at college and so don't have my camera... Remember to follow me by email!! :) xxxxx