For dry, sensitive hands with nails breaking constantly...

Q: I'm 36 and over the last 12 months my hands are getting very dry and sensitive, especially the fingers. The nails keep breaking and I have hard dry skin around the nail which becomes very sore and hurts. Is there anything that you could recommend?

Alison: Firstly it would be good to try to find out what is causing this. You haven't mentioned what your job is or if your hands are in and out of a lot of chemicals or irritants.

So, I'd recommend you use something really gentle, such as an A'kin Handwash as they don't contain ingredients that a lot of people can be allergic to. Then when your skin becomes irritated as you've described use L'Occitane 100% Shea Butter as this only contains one ingredient. That way we're lowering the amount of potential allergens that are on the skin.

Do bare in mind, however, that this skin irritation could have been triggered off by something. If you are really concerned about it then you must consult your doctor and he may be able to prescribe something for you that you can use alongside your beauty routine.

Comments

[Yvonne South]

I have solved the problem of my weak, short nails. Prior to having my son in 1992 I did have nice nails but ever since then I have not been able to keep them long. As I was attending my niece's wedding in September 2008 I needed to have nice nails again - I'd tried acrylics but they looked too false and ruined my own nails - I bought the OPI Nail Envy and my nails are beautiful, long and very strong now. I wear OPI nail polishes every day now because I want everyone to notice my nails these days - no more hiding them from view for me.

However, I do find that if I catch my nails on anything - and I seem to do it quite often - because they are so strong they don't snap but do lift off the nail bed causing bruising and soreness. Should I be using the Avoplex oil too to combat this problem or can you suggest something else?

I recommend OPI Nail Envy to everyone I meet who have short, brittle nails. I am so glad I found it.

I am also suffering with very dry skin on the ends of my fingers, particularly my thumbs, layers of skin peel off and I get small splits too which are very sore. What would you recommend for this, the above products or something else?

Thanks Alison