Why Cuticle Picking Strategies Fail
We recently came across a Glamour article titled, “Every Strategy I’ve Tried to Stop Picking My Cuticles, Ranked.”
It was written by a beauty writer who’s struggled with the cuticle picking habit for a long time. She writes, “people pay me to know about grooming and how to make everything, including my nails, look presentable. And, yet, my hands always look slightly mangled and sad.”
She went on to list ten strategies she uses on a regular basis to distract herself from cuticle picking. And after reading her list, we wanted to guide our readers onto a better path.
As Philadelphia’s nail care experts, we feel for her as her desperation comes across quite clearly through the article. Stepping out of any habit, much less one that’s literally at your fingertips, is a much more difficult task than any of us give it credit for.
But from our perspective, there’s a fundamental problem with her approach – an approach that centers on distraction.
As long as distracting yourself is at the heart of any effort to stop a habit, it won’t last. Because through distractions, you’re avoiding looking the problem in the eye. You’re really shying away from it, hoping the habit will just go away on its own.
We’ve analyzed a few of the strategies in the article in reverse order – “most effective” to least, in the writer’s opinion – and discuss why none of them are a sustainable long-term solution.
Strategy: Regular Manicures
Effectiveness ranking: 10
“I’ve had the most success when I get a mani weekly. No rough spots = less picking.”
This is a perfect place to start because so many women use this strategy already.
As providers of True Nail Care, we can tell you that weekly manicures are one of the worst things you can do for your nail health.
There’s one big reason for this: nail drills.
Nail drills – or E-files – are the single most dangerous thing to your nails.
Nail drills thin nail plates by destroying the keratin layers of the natural nail and wreak havoc on nail walls and cuticles.
The supposed “skill” or “experience” that nail salons claim with the nail drill doesn’t matter — just the fact that the tool is being used guarantees nail damage.
The smoothness the writer talks about is temporary – women who are in a routine of weekly manicures always pay with nail damage that will haunt them for years.
So what can you do about this?
At our Philadelphia nail care studio, we never use E-files. Ever. And clients are never on a weekly schedule.
Very much the opposite – all clients at Atelier Anaiis are on a three week schedule (sometimes longer). And we still help clients’ cuticle picking habits recede gently into the past. How?
Our approach revolves around treating hangnails, damaged skin, and callouses – areas the writer describes as “rough spots” – gently using hand tools.
Over time, we help reduce clients’ production of loose skin. Less loose skin means less things to pick at.
Strategy: Applying Cuticle Oil Regularly
Effectiveness ranking: 9
“OK, this one actually helps—by keeping your skin really moisturized, it’s harder to pick at. The only problem is that your hands get all slippery, so it’s kind of annoying.”
As we wrote in Nail Care 101: Your Guide to Strong, Healthy Nails, our thoughts against using cuticle oil surprises many of our first-time clients.
This is especially relevant here because the writer combines weekly manicures with cuticle oil.
Oil has a tendency to creep into the micro-gaps between the product and the bare nail plate, forcing small separations in the seal.
These gaps could then trap water, in an environment ideal for bacteria and fungal growth.
If you have bare natural nails, we’re all for cuticle oil. But with manicured nails, it’s a misinformed choice.
Our clients use hand creams and lotions instead. They’re much better at moisturizing without compromising our long-lasting, protective manicures.
Strategy: Keeping Your Mouth Busy by Chewing Gum
Effectiveness ranking: 5.7
“This takes care of some of the problem, but I just switch to picking with my fingers.”
Strategy: Those Nail-Biting Serums
Effectiveness ranking: 8.3
“These are effective at making you not put your fingers in your mouth for sure, but again, I just move to picking with my hands.”
Here, we’re introduced to two distraction-based strategies. And as we discussed at the very beginning, distractions are really only effective at prolonging habits.
Why?
Because as the writer admits here, it’s too easy to sidestep both strategies.
If the mind can find another way to satisfy the urge, it will find another way.
There are also other issues here. Nail-biting serums use bitterness to distract and discourage you from going any farther. But we know from research on habit loops that once a habit is triggered, it’s like a runaway train — your body moves before you realize what’s happened.
The human brain has an uncanny ability to adapt – if you have too much of a taste for the serums, what was once shockingly bitter will stop tasting as bad.
Worse, you may come to find comfort in the taste of the serum, as bizarre as that sounds.
We want to avoid a situation where putting your fingers in your mouth becomes a habit.
As any nail biter can tell you, the mouth will absolutely destroy your nails over time.
Strategy: Going Cold Turkey
Effectiveness ranking: 1
“How does one stop something she doesn’t even register she’s doing half the time? Good luck with that.”
Although we agree with the writer that going cold turkey is not a long-term solution for most women, what she writes here is actually very important.
As Dr. Judson Brewer, psychiatrist and neuroscientist, explores through his book, “Unwinding Anxiety: New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind,” awareness is the key to stepping out of any habit loop.
You can practice becoming aware any time you’re picking on your cuticles, and note all the things you’re feeling in that moment: the physical sensations, emotions that arise, the thoughts that trigger the habit.
We help our cuticle picking clients learn to combine awareness throughout their recovery, and emerge finally successful.
