“Taking a break from gel or acrylic nails during the winter is a tip I recommend for people who struggle with brittle nails, as these treatments can weaken and dry out the nails even more. That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to give up fun nails, though. I recommend opting for polishes that are free of harsh, damaging chemicals,” Dr. Dendy E. Engelman, MD, told BuzzFeed. For the sake of trying this trend — and in the hopes of desperately bringing my nails back to life — I stuck to the habit of applying my cuticle oil and Aquaphor combo every night for an entire week. I settled on trying it out for a week because I figured that would be an adequate amount of time to see if nail slugging really made a difference and improved the health of my nails before I made it a staple in my nighttime routine. Although this wasn’t exactly one of my goals when trying nail slugging, I am a cuticle picker — one of my nervous habits. I think by keeping that area of my nails heavily moisturized, there wasn’t any pesky dry skin sticking up waiting to be picked by me. Another win! “Applying a thick moisturizer or salve on top seals that moisture and other nourishing ingredients from the oil into your nail and cuticle, while providing additional hydration and adding a protective layer to keep out aggressors,” she added.
