An Edmonton winter is hard on hands. Stretches of minus twenty and colder are a normal part of December to February, and air that cold holds very little moisture. Then you come inside, where the furnace has been drying the air all day.
Your nails and the skin around them live in that swing, cold and dry outside, warm and dry inside, for months. Here's what it does, and what helps.
Why cuticles split in the cold
Skin needs water to stay flexible. Cold, dry air draws it out of the thin skin around the nail faster than it's replaced. That skin tightens, then cracks, usually at the corners, where it moves the most.
A split cuticle is small, but it's sore, and it can bleed or get infected if it's picked at.
- Don't pull or bite a hangnail. Pulling tears it further back into live skin. Clip it close with clean nippers or small scissors.
- Moisturise after every hand wash, not once a day. A plain, unscented hand cream or a cuticle oil both work. Work it into the cuticle and the sides of the nail, not just the back of the hand.
- If a split turns red, swells, or is getting worse after a few days, have a pharmacist or doctor look at it.
If they keep coming back, hand the job over. Keeping cuticles tidy heads off most splits before they start, and cuticle care is part of a regular manicure. With sterilised tools and someone who can see the whole nail, it's also safer than trimming at the kitchen table, where it's easy to nick live skin and start a new split.
Gloves help, and they cause their own problems
At minus thirty, gloves aren't optional. They still come with trade-offs.
- Hands sweat inside insulated gloves, especially when you're shovelling or walking fast. The skin softens, then dries out quickly once the gloves come off.
- Wet mittens are worse than none. Snow melts into them, and damp skin chaps faster than dry skin.
- Rough wool and stiff seams rub the same spots every day, often right at the fingertips and nail edges.
A thin liner glove under a warm outer glove keeps something soft against the skin, and it can be swapped out when it gets damp. Dry your hands completely, between the fingers too, before gloves go back on.
Dry indoor air
Heated indoor air in winter is often very dry. Nails lose moisture the same way skin does, and dry nails are brittle. They chip, peel in layers, and snap instead of bending.
- Run a humidifier where you sleep. That's eight hours in the same air.
- Wash hands and dishes in lukewarm water, not hot. Hot water strips oils from skin and nails faster.
- Wear rubber gloves for dishes and cleaning. A long soak followed by dry air is hard on nails.
- Hand sanitizer is drying. Follow it with hand cream when you can.
If your nails are already peeling and snapping, leaving them bare isn't the kind option it sounds like. A short, light set protects a brittle nail through the worst months better than a bare edge that catches on every glove, zip and car door. It's the same case we make in how long a gel manicure lasts.
What winter does to gel and acrylic
Gel and acrylic sit on top of your natural nail. When the nail underneath dries out and turns brittle, it no longer bends and moves the way the product on top expects. That's when you tend to see:
- Lifting at the edges, often near the cuticle.
- A crack across the tip of an acrylic nail after a knock that wouldn't normally matter.
- A natural nail that peels or breaks at the free edge as the set grows out.
Quick changes in temperature can add to it. A warm car, then minus twenty-five, then hot water indoors: the nail and the product on it go through that several times a day.
Your nails and the skin around them live in that swing, cold and dry outside, warm and dry inside, for months.
None of that is a reason to go without a set until April. It's why a set needs slightly closer attention while it's cold.
- Keep length practical through the coldest months. Longer tips take more knocks and more leverage.
- Oil the skin around the set every day. A flexible nail moves with the product instead of pulling away from it.
- Don't pick at a lifted edge. Pulling off gel or acrylic takes layers of natural nail with it, and winter nails have less to spare.
- Don't let a set grow out too far between appointments. A long overhang gives the cold and every knock more to work with.
And if a nail does lift, don't wait it out. Anything that breaks or lifts within seven days of your appointment is fixed free of charge, so let us know as soon as it happens and book it in.