OH WOW. My nails are long for the first time in my life. What do I do?!?

Question

So, I've had short nails all my life - literally. My mom clipped them regularly when I was little, and I've always had the habit of picking at them/ripping them to keep them short.

But I got determined to let them get long, so I painted my nails for a month so that I couldn't see them getting long and try to pick at them. Well, it worked - I now have long (-ish) nails. They're only 3 millimeters long or so, but that's 3mm more than usual.

How do I stop myself from picking at them (aside from painting them so I cant see their length)? Any tips are great, I really want to break this habit!

Answer 1

the same thing happened to me and i used band-aids on my thumbs so i couldnt use them to pick at my nails, it didnt prevent me from doin it. it just reminded me not to.

Answer 2

they have this nail polish. i think its called "bite no more" or something like that. if you bite them, it will taste horrible!!! my friend did that and she has long nails now. or you could get acrylics

Answer 3

You have a habit, just like me, I pick at my lips constantly, usually when I'm nervous, and its usually till they bleed, what did I do to stop this horrible habit? Lip gloss.

Every time I wanted to pick at them, I used lip gloss instead, sometimes you have to replace a really bad habit with a little not so good habit, so you can work your way out of the habits all together.

So far it sounds like you moved this habit to nail polish, but are still so ingrained with tearing up your nails its hard to not go back to it.

So, keep on painting them, and when you're not painting them, file them or buff them with a nail buffer.

It will really really help.

Its going to take will power, but I know you can do it.

Good luck!

Answer 4

put anything else in your mouth, candy, cigarette, it just an aural tendency to relieve anxiety and can easily be channeled to another device.  

Answer 5

paint them again so they look really nice and you won't want to mess it up!

Answer 6

Try some special bad-tasting (clear) polish, available at most drugstores. It's like a little reminder to keep from biting them =] However, picking might be a more difficult habit to break. Maybe buy some strengthening polish as well, so your nails are less likely to peel and are more difficult to pick at. Also, keep them clean and filed so they look nice, so you will be less tempted to ruin them.

Answer 7

i had the same exact problem with my nails. when you pick at them they are never a very pretty sight.  so if you want to pass the uncomfortable feeling of nasty fingernails try to remember that you always want your nails to be presentable.since you have longer finger nails add a little shine to them with some clear coat to make them stand out. once you get comments on your glamorous nails you will never want to pick at them again.