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In a meeting with a Very Senior Manager Type a couple of weeks back, I was utterly mesmerised by his mouth – but not in a good way. I was fascinated and revolted in equal measure… by what he was putting in it.
This man, who meets with clients on a daily basis, spent the entire meeting with one fingernail or another in his mouth. I wondered how he thought it was acceptable etiquette to be trimming the tips of his talons while sitting around a table of colleagues. I wondered if his Other Half clenches her jaw and hisses “Get those fingers out of your mouth!” when she catches him at it. But mostly I wondered how someone who so routinely bites their nails that they don’t even realise they’re doing it in public could break the habit.
Read on for some top tips to help you ditch that durty digit chewing for good!
- Identify when you’re most likely to bite your nails – is it when you’re anxious? Bored? Stressed? You want to train yourself to make a conscious effort not to bite when you feel like that.
- Carry a nail file at all times. That way you’ll never be able to use a broken nail as an excuse to chow down.
- Paint on a nibble inhibitor, that nasty tasting stuff you get from the chemist. (What if it’s an acquired taste, though? Like olives? Would you eventually get used to it or even get to quite like the taste?)
- I’ve heard some people say they bite their nails because the feel that they’re dirt catchers, so if that’s you, keep fingers and nails scrupulously clean. (Although Himself reckons that if his nails are clean he’s more likely to bite them, which upsets this theory somewhat.)
- If you can afford it, go for regular manicures somewhere like Mink. When your nails look all lovely, you’ll be far more inclined to keep them that way. If funds are tight, invest in a nail oil (or snag some olive oil from the kitchen presses) and some snazzy nail polishes – you’d be amazed how fab you could have your nails looking while you sit and watch Corrie. (Just mind the couch.) Remember, we women are fantastic at this multitasking mularkey.
- Give your hands and mouth something else to do. Knitting is the new knitting, y’know. And you could chew gum or nibble on fruit or nuts – or just talk or snog more – to occupy the cakehole.
- Find a habit to replace nail biting. A good habit. Taking up smoking is not the way to go. Some people find that drumming their fingers on the table when they get the urge to bite somehow satiates that desire. Although I suspect colleagues would prefer if you took up quietly medidating instead.
- Leave one emergency biting nail if you feel you’re just not going to be able to go cold turkey. At least then if you give in to the munchies, you’re not ruining all 10 digits. And if the thoughts of giving up gives you the shakes, sure just take it one nail at a time if that seems less daunting.
What are your own experiences of kicking the keratin habit?
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a few years back a friend of mine tried to give up biting her nails and said she would treat herself to a lovley manicure when they were long enough. she bought the stuff thats meant to turn u off biting your nails(cant think of the name,its in a white,blue and red bottle i think)coz its tastes horrible but she got used to it and liked the taste
Ha Lynnie, I embraced Rule 5 a long time ago!
When I first took up regular nail-painting, my Dad mocked my indulgence and vocally disapproved of the mad choices I make for the colour of my fingernails. He has since noticed that my nail-biting ways have long since been left behind, so he now approves of my fancy nails! He still wishes I would stop painting them mad colours, and would stick to a nice, ladylike pink. Bless!
Was at a meeting today and the girl beside me constantly had her fingers in her mouth……yuck. Def one of my top pet hates!
I must admit im the worst for this, I know my nails look horrible but i honestly dont even realise im doing it half the time. And then if i bite one im like oh may aswel bite the rest..gross i kno, even if i manage to let them grow(managed to go about a month without biting them) i end up biting them off again…Might try put some gross tasting stuff on them and try again to stop
getting braces worked wonders for my nails!! They are fab since I got them on in march
bit of an extreme cure though
I had braces and still managed to bite them
Clio, my line manager had to get a mole removed from her lip and she said because she couldn’t put her fingers near her mouth, she just got out of the habit of biting them. (Another extreme case, admittedly!) Anyway she now can’t bear the thought of putting her fingers in her mouth and has lovely nails – she went off and got a French manicure on them last night, they look great compared to just a few weeks ago.
RedAlert, that’s hardcore
lynnie, hopefully I won’t go back to biting. I think its because they never grew strong cos I bit them, so I kept biting – was a vicious circle! But now are lovely and strong.
respect redalert. I can’t even bite a slice of white bread!
I know haha, Im a disaster, its weird coz me and my 2 best friends all bite our nails and we all try stop but cant, any1 know anything gud and yuky to put on nails to stop me biting?
Eugh – I used to use that vile tasting nail varnish – found it got on EVERYTHING. Would pick up my sandwich for lunch and if my nail got anywhere near it it’d taste of the stuff. Yuck. It should bill itself as a weight loss aid, too
i’ve been a nail biter all my life, with occasional ‘remissions’. What stops me is if I can manage to get even a tiny bit of growth in my nails – usually when the weather is warm and they grow faster – so when that happens I then spend my time grooming them and admiring them. Unfortunatly if I manage to grow them, as soon as one splits or breaks thats it back to the old habit again.
I had been biting my nails for years and i find the best way to stop is to put on false nails for about a week, then when you take them off, your nails have grown a small bit, I find this gives me a bit of an incentive to grow them, (as the hard bit is over – you can’t bite your nails when you have falsies on) Then paint them, if your able, do a french manicure and make them look really nice. It worked for me!
I have a serious problem with this. I’m not one of those people who bite them down to the quick so I just look like I’ve very short nails BUT I’m shocking for biting my cuticles mainly.
I’ve tried everything and the only thing that has a chance of working is keeping them painted the whole time. But even then as soon as I get a single flake cracking off from the perfect paint, then I’m in there again pronto.
I do get embarressed about it from time to time as I haven’t a clue I’m doing it. Sometimes I’d catch myself doing it in meetings and I’d get really self-conscious.
It’s actually a total compulsion when you think about it. I mean, I gave up the fags without too much trouble but this is just impossible to stop! It’s crazy!
redalert im the same,i dont even realise im doing it half the time and the thing is i think its disgusting and dirty but i cant stop! the more i grow my nails (wel try to grow them) the more tempting it is to bite them bcuz thers more nail to bite off…gross i know!! super ashamed!!
I have been a long time nail biter, never a white tip in sight! Recently I went to try and get gel or acrylic nails as my sister was getting married. I was worried that holding a boquet of flowers people would notice my anils (or lack thereof). I was stunned when the girl in Nails Inc. in BT looked a my nails (and didn’t look at all impressed) and said, “no. they’re far too short. I wouldn’t put anything on them. And it someone says they will, don’t trust them”.
Well I was shocked! I was never not able to do something because of my nails before! So I bought a packet of fake nails (which I have used several times before) and wore them for a week. And realised I hadn’t put a finger near my mouth. They’re too hard to even bother trying to bite. So when they came off I put on another set for another week. Because of my job the second set didn’t last as well, so I took them off. But at this stage my nails had had a respite and started to grow-white tips all round! I filed them down and put on a clear protector varnish.
I’ve been carrying a nail file around with me since-it’s so important, in case a nail breaks, otherwise, I would be trying to “file” the edge with my teeth, I know I would.
It’s been nearly a month, and I’m so happy with my nails. I’m going to go for a manicure next week-a treat to myself for having come so far.
i tried to stop many times, but never got very far at all. So I guess I should really thank the Nails Inc. technician! Without her comments, I probably wouldn’t have these pretty nails!