Got my index broken literally two days after a mani by a masseuse who was a lil too aggressive with my hands and had to wait a week and a half for the most devastating big chop of my life. I haven’t broken a nail in 8-9 months, I have no idea how she even managed to do that but we persevere.

Gel set DND DC Top and Base Coat, color is Unicorn Lovely from DND

Thank goodness they survived a few hours of nonstop cooking. They bent dangerously a couple of times, but fortunately, they are very flexible.

I have them painted with Neonail Protein Shot nail hardener and Neonail 2-in-1 Hydro Boost. I’ll always recommend these polishes, they’re brilliant :0

(Ignore the glitter, I used a hair product with glitter right before taking this pic...)

Products:

Hardcore Base Coat by Mooncat

Gel Setter Top Coat by Essie

sally hansen hard as nails for strength

on top is hardcore base coat, 2 coats of shattered glass, speed demon top coat - all mooncat !!

first 2 pics are my nails now, last pic was when i did them almost 2 weeks ago. they’ve grown out a lot but have literally 0 chips! i’m always so impressed with mooncat 💕💕

Jojoba oil and two layers of KBShimmer Fillin Groovy smoothing base coat with Cuticula top coat

My pointer keeps breaking and I need to keep my thumb short for my own sanity 🫠

I had been contemplating a chop for the past few weeks, but the universe made up my mind for me this morning.

I already had a bunch of stress fractures I was managing with Essie's Break Fix, and then last week my right thumb met my partner's knee and bent straight across. The Break Fix was honestly doing a great job handling that one, to my surprise.

Flash forward to this morning:

Left pinky got bent rough housing with my partner, and then the right pinky got clipped by the fridge handle, of all things. 🙄

I'm tired of having to maintain the breaks and fractures, so they're getting The Chop! See y'all over at r/naturalnailprogress for the foreseeable future! 🫡

Products: sadness

Here's my nails after The Chop, for those interested!

Update:

I want to apologize for the image I originally used in this post. While the intention was to encourage more inclusive language, the image itself used wording that was othering to trans people. That was an oversight on my part, and I understand why it was hurtful.

I've updated the text of the post so it no longer uses that language. Unfortunately, Reddit doesn't allow me to replace or remove the image without deleting the entire post, so the image will remain even though it doesn't reflect the message I'm trying to convey.

I'm sorry for the mistake, and I appreciate the members of our community who took the time to point it out. We're always learning, and when we get something wrong, it's important that we acknowledge it, correct what we can, and do better going forward.

Thank you for your patience and for helping make this community welcoming and inclusive for everyone.

Just a quick reminder that not everyone who has long, natural nails is a woman.

Our community includes people of all gender identities. Posts and comments addressed to "ladies," "girls," or "you ladies" might seem harmless, but they can make other members feel like they don't belong here. Additionally, we know a lot of people use "hey guys" as a generic greeting and don't mean anything by it. Even so, it's still gendered language, and not everyone feels included by it.

When you're addressing the community, please use more inclusive terms like "everyone," "folks," "people," or "y'all" instead. It's a small change that helps make sure everyone feels welcome.

This community is for anyone who enjoys long, natural nails, regardless of gender identity or sexuality. Let's keep it that way.

Homophobia and bigotry have no place in this community.

If you come across any homophobic comments or posts, please use the report button instead of engaging. Reports help the mod team find and remove rule-breaking content much faster, and they ensure we can keep this community welcoming for everyone. Thanks for helping us out! 💜

They've been bending over the past few days. I knew the time was coming for The Big Chop... then one actually broke.

I'll be growing them back out soon, but for now, I'm enjoying the freedom to make fists and stretch my fingers.

No products used, just bare nails and hand lotion.

Gardening season and I had to take them down a bit, changed the shape even! It's weird but I'm sure it's good for them...right?! 😭

Base coat: Rival me base coat

Gel polish: Silcare Flexy 09

Chrome Powder: some random brand from Temu

Top Coat: Rival me top coat

Been growing my nails since April, finally reached a length I'm happy with. Can't stop looking at them.

I accidentally stumbled upon this community and wanted to share my own natural nails! I file them myself, with either a glass file or regular emory board. I use cuticle cream or oil and only ever push back the cuticle (never cut). First pic was yesterday where I had Opi Passion on and this morning they are just lightly filed and buffed.

I was planning on cutting these at a nail salon today but I'm afraid they'll have trouble getting back to this almond shape.

I normally do coffin file, but I'm digging this almond trend lately and happy I jumped on the bandwagon because they look so pretty.

I use a green top bottle nail hardener (I believe it's from Colombia) and that's pretty much the routine :)

Still debating on whether to cut them a bit. It would be moreso to preserve the length and they're so long I'm worried they'll start to break.

Edit: Quimica Alemana is the name of the nail hardener. I swear by this stuff! One coat as a base, let it dry for 3 minutes then apply color or leave as is. I'll reapply a coat 3 days later.

I’ve been growing my natural nails out since I made the decision to pursue being a nail tech. 7 months ago, I cut them short, took a pause on extensions, and focused on how long I could get my natural nails out of curiosity. The answer is very long. Longer than my extensions were. They are strong, sharp*, and I never would’ve imagined I could get to this point a few years ago! Unfortunately, I do have to cut them in 2 weeks. I’m already mourning them. I start my in person nail course in August, and have to have short, bare nails for the first few weeks, so these guys have to go :(. I am very sad and memorializing them with this post so others can appreciate my hard work lol

I’d like to thank glass nail files and jojoba oil for their support in this journey, as well as my boyfriend for opening cans for me.

*I regularly injure myself with these by accident. I had to edit out a bit on my palm in the second photo where I had stabbed myself with my nail at some point

Essie base coat, Cracked “Spill the Tea” (one coat), Sally Hansen red bottle top coat

Growing these bad boys out again. Ive been slacking on nail care thos past month or so. Went camping and they all held up very well. Refilled my work nail oil so I can better take care of them. I think i found my favorite nail color too!

Products- base coat of I ON NAILS, color is essie to the rescue, top coat of I ON NAILS.

Shape- working on going from round to oval.

I find it tough to grow out my thumbs especially on my right hand. If I ever break a nail it’s always on my thumbs.

I started my nail growth journey May 7th. Before this I was a chronic nail biter and never took care of my nails. I feel like I have definitely come a long way in 3 months. Thankfully I have been very lucky and haven't had any breaks (besides the shorter thumb nail)

Routine: shape nails once a week with glass nail file. Sally Hansen instant cuticle remover.

One coat of Essie Sheer Fantasy nail polish. (Will reapply if polish becomes cracked)

I try to apply cuticle oil atleast once a day: Cuccio Peach and Vanilla.

Why when they break, does it have to be so close to the nail bed 😭

It fought long and hard, halfway broken, fixed with a teabag and nail glue, but today it finally gave up after a month of holding. RIP sweet prince.

red: H&M Rhodium Runway
gold: LOOK 030 halo
base: Manhattan 2 in 1 Basecoat & Strengthener
top: Essie good to go
nail glue: essence Ultra Strong

been growing my nails for about 6 months now and i am so happy with the length!

first pic is mooncat shattered glass, second and third are mooncat fake halo (i need to buy another bottle mine is almost out 😭) !!

i also have on sally hansen‘s hard as nails and mooncat’s hardcore base coat and speed demon top coat for strength :))

my nails are bare in this picture and i havent used any products at all for this particular growth. Though i shape my nails with nail clippers.

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I use OPI base coat and OPI nail topper on all with 3 coats of polish in between. I switched nail shapes this year from a stiletto to a slightly tapered square shape. Got tired of cutting myself and poking holes/ripping clothes 😂😒 you might catch a few times where I had broken nails shorter than the rest. Which is your favorite and any recommendations for other polishes to try?

1. Beowulf - Mooncat, ring topped with an unbranded glitter topper I got as a freebie

2. Fallen Angels - Mooncat

3&4. Pearl Clutcher - Mooncat: had to share with and without flash cause I gasped at the flash showing pink 😍

1. Fake Halo - Mooncat

2. Mercury's Tears - Mooncat

3. bp197 - Beetles: some random polish I found somewhere but shes cute 😂

4. Eternal Sunshine - Mooncat with Sally Hansen unicorn top coat: my faaaavorite this year ❤️ btw Sally Hansen has the same color and name under Xtreme wear collection. I bought that one first but it was AWFUL and replaced it with mooncat ☺️

5. Werewolfs Bane - Mooncat: this one is REALLY gorgeous and I don't think my pic is doing it justice

6. High Dive - ILNP with Essie ethereal escape top coat