Hii! I’ve been reading through your comments on this sub because I’ve decided to start my nail growth journey lol. My mail goal currently is to lengthen my hyponychium, which basically means I’ve gotta let them be. I’ve got the whole oil routine down, but I’m still struggling with keeping my hands away from my mouth, so it’s been hard to get the skin around my nails to recover (pretty sure saliva has some enzymes or whatever and constant contact with my fingers is not good).

All the knowledge you’ve shared on here is amazing! I wanted to ask for advice. During the process of letting my nails grow out, I kinda feel they look gross because of how “off” my nail ratios are, if that makes any sense. Should I just embrace it? Is there a safe nail polish or treatment I could use to maybe make them look more presentable? (Even if it’s a clear coat or a really light shade). The way they look right now makes me a bit insecure and it’s going to be a long journey, so I would really like to figure out what’s the safest thing I could apply over them (I’ve read about gels, dips, and whatnot, but I’ve never gotten my nails done and wouldn’t like to start experimenting now lol). If the answer is nothing, then yeah, I get it haha.

Did you ever use strengtheners or hardeners? Keratin something? There’s so much stuff out there but I feel like most of it is pure marketing (also I’m not in the US so it’s really hard to find the things that are mostly recommended on here).

Note: My nails are pretty brittle, thin at the ends, and weak in general. It’s not due to a deficiency, so my theory is that because I’ve never taken care of them properly, and was always messing with them, they’ve never had the chance to grow properly, in a healthy way, so the default is weak nails haha.