Never use your nails as tools.
Never “pick” your cuticles. This can lead to infection, then damage or even loss of the nail.
Keep cuticles soft and supple. The skin splitting around the cuticle area and the side wall is a sign of dryness, prevent dryness with cuticle oil.
Keep your cuticles pushed back. For the same reasons as in 3. The tighter the skin around the nail is, the more chance it will dry and split.
Make sure you clean out from under your nails everyday. Debris and bacteria harbor themselves in this area and can cause infections.
Keep your cuticles pushed back.
Never “pick” at places that are lifting up from the nail plate. You can make it much worse than it really is and pull your nail plate up from the nail bed or cause a hole in your nail plate.
Check your nails everyday for lifting. Take your free edge of your nail and gently rock it back and forth looking at the product around the cuticle area. If the product is coming up from the nail plate, you have lifting. Until you can get the nail fixed, you need to apply rubbing alcohol to the area every night after you are done with any “water” activities. Work it into the area by gently rocking the nail like you do when you check them. The alcohol will draw out any moisture trapped between your nail and the enhancement product and help prevent bacteria from growing (See Green Nails). Remember that Mineral Oil—such as Baby Oil and many lotions and creams contain will generally CAUSE lifting, so it is best to avoid products containing them.
Stay away from any products that contain Mineral Oil and/or lanolin! Check all your lotions, creams and cosmetics for them. Remember that Bath & Body Works lotions are LOADED with mineral oil! See the Tips & Tricks Page for more details on WHY you need to avoid these products.
Apply cuticle oil everyday. Even get the oil into the area underneath the free edge. Your natural nail in that area gets very dry and to keep it’s shape and prevent it from pulling away from the enhancement, it need to be kept moist.
When the your nail begins to curl away from the enhancement, the nail has become dehydrated and you need to care for it the same way you would if it were lifting. Keeping the nail hydrated everyday with oil will help prevent this problem, just apply it to the underside of the nails.
ALWAYS wear gloves while gardening or doing house work! Not only will they keep your nails looking nice, but they will also keep dirt and parasitic things out of your skin! In the house, there are a lot of chemicals used for cleaning that will ruin your nails, and try to remove your enhancements, such as dish detergent made to get off stuck on foods—Enhancements are “stuck” to your nails, so why wouldn’t it try to remove them?
