Restore damaged nails

Have you had overlays over Christmas/New Year? Want to Repair your damaged nails? Find out how here from our resident Nail Tech & Beauty Therapist....

So you’ve had enough of the ‘glitzy’ look and want to get your nails healthy?

Firstly you need to trim your nails down in size (you may be reluctant to do this but it will pay off). Trim your nails down to just beyond the tip of your fingers. By now you’ll have quite a gap between your cuticles and the overlay.

You can see the sort of gap I’m talking about in the image above.

So once you’ve trimmed your nails, tidy them up with a nail file.

After you’ve done this, you’ll need to gently buff the surface of the remaining gel overlay with a nail buffer. You can get one of these from most cosmetics shops & cosmetics companies or even beauty salons.

Don’t over buff - if the nail gets too warm, stop. You’ll damage the nail plate.

Once you’ve achieved removing some or all of the overlay, you’ll need to apply a nail strengthener. Try Avon’s True colour expert 7 in 1 nail conditioner (at £6 it’s a great price, although it’s currently on offer for £2.50) or Most reputable beauty stores will have a decent nail strengthener.

Once you’ve applied this and allowed it to dry, wash your hands with a moisturising hand wash and apply hand cream. After this, apply a cuticle conditioner.

Regularly moisturise hands and nails with hand cream and every day apply the cuticle conditioner. This really will help the nail bed to keep hydrated and strong as the old nail grows out. Plus regularly washing your hands with a moisturising hand wash and applying hand cream will help keep your hands in great condition. Trimming the nails will mean your nails will get back to normal more quickly.

Keep regularly tidying your nails, removing the strengthener once per week with a conditioning nail polish remover and re applying a new coat of strengthener.