What does cuticle oil do and how do you use it?
What your cuticle actually is
Your nail is made in the matrix, the bit under the fold of skin at the base of your nail. The cuticle is the thin layer of skin that seals off that spot from water, dirt and bacteria.
If that edge dries out, it tears and you get hangnails and sore corners. And because the nail is formed there, a while later you also see a rougher or more ridged nail growing in.
What cuticle oil does
Cuticle oil does two things. It keeps the skin around your nail supple, so you get fewer hangnails, and it works against your nail plate drying out, so it splits less easily.
What it does not do: make your nails grow faster. No product can. A well cared for nail does grow in more evenly and breaks off less easily, and in practice that makes the biggest difference.
What is usually in it
Most cuticle oils are a blend of plant oils with vitamin E. Jojoba is the one you see most often, because its structure sits close to your skin's own oil and it absorbs better than an oil that stays on the surface. Almond, avocado and grapeseed are other common base oils.
So a thick, glossy oil is not automatically better. An oil that absorbs quickly and leaves no greasy film is one you reach for more often, and that is what counts.
How to apply it
- One drop per nail, on the cuticle, not on the nail itself
- Massage it in with your thumb, along the sides and under the free edge too
- Do this once or twice a day, ideally before you go to sleep
- Finish with a hand cream, that holds the moisture in better
The massaging is not just for show: it brings extra blood flow to the matrix.
Cuticle oil and gel polish: mind the order
This often goes wrong. Oil and grease are exactly what gel polish does not want. Use oil right before you apply your polish and your base coat bonds less well, so your polish lifts sooner.
The right order is: leave the oil out the day before, degrease your nails, apply and cure, and only then go back to oil. On cured gel polish, oil does no harm. In fact, a supple cuticle means less pulling at the edge and so a manicure you enjoy for longer.
Pushing back is fine, cutting away is not
Push your cuticles back when they are soft, so after a shower or after a few minutes in warm water. Use a wooden or rubber pusher from cuticle tools and work without force.
Only trim the loose bits of skin that have already come away. Leave the living edge alone: it is there for a reason, and if you cut it away it comes back thicker and harder. If it is not budging, first use a cuticle remover to soften the dead skin.
When do you see a difference
On the skin around your nails you see and feel it within a week. On the nail itself it takes longer, because it grows about 3 millimetres a month. Count on a few months before the damaged part has grown out.
In short
- Oil on the cuticle, every evening, with a hand cream over it
- Pick an oil that absorbs quickly, not the thickest one
- Never right before polishing, always after
- Push back after the shower, do not cut away the living edge
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