5. Cutting your cuticles
Whether you do this yourself, or let a manicurist do it for you, cutting your cuticles is a major nail habit to break, according to Sally Hansen nail expert Alison Bowhill-Hayes.
When cutting cuticles, you can risk infection in the nail bed and a loss of moisture, she explains. “[It] breaks the protective layer that feeds and nourishes the nail and could result in bacteria, causing nail concerns such as dryness, cracked rough skin, hang nails and infection.”
Bowhill-Hayes says you can groom them by neatly pushing the cuticles gently back, but you should break the cycle of cutting because every time you remove them, they over-grow, resulting in thicker skin. “We need soft, intact cuticles to be healthy and not broken to protect the matrix where the new cells are born.”