hardening nails

[Silly Moustache]

For me :

1.Get old.
2. Eat lots of fish
3. file them every few days.

[Br1ck]

I got so tired of this I quit finger picking altogether. If you go the nail salon route, be prepared to keep doing it. You won't like what it does to your real nails.

[difalkner]

Originally Posted by Misifus

A word of caution - if you commit to using acrylic on your nails, be prepared to keep on using it the rest of your life. I began using acrylic on my nails about 2001. I continued until sometime after 2010. Since I discontinued the acrylic, several of my nails crack and split whenever they grow out any length at all. My nails were fairly strong before the acrylic, but after using it for a decade or more, my nails are far weaker than they were. Just my experience, but be warned.

Bluebonnet Hair Skin Nails

I have no connection to them, it's just a product that works and I take the supplements every day. Nails are great but they were like yours.

[Bob Womack]

Ah, the thin, brittle nails complication. I was waiting for it to surface.

When I began having trouble with my nails becoming, um, thin and brittle, my wife dragged me down to the salon where she had her nails done and got me started with her tech. A few years later, after decades of nails, she decided to quit. Her nails grew out completely normally.

I've been using acrylic for nearly thirty years. I've had a couple of injuries where I had to drop the acrylic on a nail and let it grow out. Strangely, they grew completely normally for me. By the way, my left-hand nails, never having had acrylic, are... wait for it... thin and brittle. Having your nails become thin and brittle is something that occurs to some when they, *ahem*, mature. I suspect that many who report post-acrylic thinning simply wear the acrylics across the threshold when their nails are becoming thin and brittle naturally.

One funny side effect of acrylics I've seen is that the side with them on rarely seems to get finger splits in cold weather like the other side does. That could be due to my clipping the left side short, though.

Bob

[Ugly Dougling]

I can relate. Swimming five days a week and fingerpicking was not a happy marriage. I stopped swimming (and started rowing) a year ago and my nails have made a dramatic recovery. Right now they are the best they've ever been. I can actually watch carefully how they engage the strings and trim them accordingly

The solution I found while struggling with my waterlogged nails was TipTonic fingernail picks. I have reviewed them on this site. They are wonderful; it takes about 30 minutes to adjust to them the first time, they feel so natural.

https://www.tiptonic.com

[quickpickin]

ISDIN SI-NAILS, Nail strengthener.

I play finger style acoustic steel strung and have used this for years. Makes my nails almost as tough as a plectrum. I think a daily intake of Omega 3 fish oil is also helping. That’s good for you anyway.