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Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,936
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Speaking of manicures, don't get overzealous with the Emjoi

After finally accepting the fact I am allergic to nail polish, I had gotten my nails back in semi-decent shape with TIPS.  So I bought the Emjoi manicure smoothing and polishing tool to deal with ridges.  Yes, I smoothed them out fairly well, and gave them a nice shiny buffing.  A month later I did it again, huge mistake.  My nails are now so thin they are breaking like crazy.  Back to the religious use of TIPS.  I'm not saying don't use the Emjoi, I'm just saying be careful with it. 

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Registered: ‎05-22-2012

Re: Speaking of manicures, don't get overzealous with the Emjoi


@depglass wrote:

After finally accepting the fact I am allergic to nail polish, I had gotten my nails back in semi-decent shape with TIPS.  So I bought the Emjoi manicure smoothing and polishing tool to deal with ridges.  Yes, I smoothed them out fairly well, and gave them a nice shiny buffing.  A month later I did it again, huge mistake.  My nails are now so thin they are breaking like crazy.  Back to the religious use of TIPS.  I'm not saying don't use the Emjoi, I'm just saying be careful with it


 

Good warning! Yes, any buffer that smooths the nail does so by sanding the top layer or more of the nail off. The more you smooth, the thinner the nail becomes. I try to buff only when I have peeling nails and want to buff the edge of the peel out, or buff lightly as infrequently as possible to remove staining. I don't worry about buffing ridges out because the few I have would require too much buffing to eliminate.

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Posts: 4,833
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Speaking of manicures, don't get overzealous with the Emjoi

Great advice!!  I once tried artificial nails - probably about 15 years ago.  The technician was clearly over zealous and buffed the top layer until it stung. It's been a very long time and I still have very weak nails on those fingers she "got to" before I stopped her.  They don't grow and when they do grow a bit they peel and break.  I really feel she ruined my nails and nothing I can do has ever made them better.  A doen "treatment" products, including Tips, and stilll no strength in the nails. Very disappointed.  Rats!

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Posts: 16,566
Registered: ‎04-04-2014

Re: Speaking of manicures, don't get overzealous with the Emjoi

I noticed the same problem!! But even when I try to make just a couple of swipes with the course attachment they're still breaking like crazy!

I've been taking biotin so hopefully it will help at some point. I've stopped using the device altogether.

The worse part is that I gave one away as a gift!

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Posts: 2,656
Registered: ‎03-13-2010

Re: Speaking of manicures, don't get overzealous with the Emjoi

[ Edited ]

Wow!  I had actually thought about getting one but wondered if they wouldn't end up doing damage.  My nails peel and break easily so maybe this isn't the best tool for me to use. 

 

@depglass do you find that TIPS works well for nails that peel and break easily?

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Posts: 619
Registered: ‎07-08-2010

Re: Speaking of manicures, don't get overzealous with the Emjoi

[ Edited ]

@KentuckyWoman wrote:

Wow!  I had actually thought about getting one but wondered if they wouldn't end up doing damage.  My nails peel and break easily so maybe this isn't the best tool for me to use. 

 

@depglass do you find that TIPS works well for nails that peel and break easily?


@KentuckyWoman, TIPS works very well for me, but you have to be religious about using it every day.  My nails are not as strong as they used to be, and TIPS helps them grow faster and look healthy.

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Registered: ‎10-21-2014

Re: Speaking of manicures, don't get overzealous with the Emjoi

@depglass I got sidetracked and didn't get a chance to respond earlier. You experienced what was my first thought when I saw the demonstration of the Emjoi...a bunch of nail disasters waiting to happen. You need to think of it as having "valleys" rather than "ridges." It's far better to do little, if any, filing, using a ridge-filling base coat instead. Needless overfiling is a major cause of the damage (and the so called dry nails) attributed to gel and acrylic manicures.

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Posts: 1,328
Registered: ‎10-21-2014

Re: Speaking of manicures, don't get overzealous with the Emjoi

@Perkup It sounds like you found a very poorly educated nail tech. I'm glad you made her stop before she damaged more nails. From what you say, it sounds like she managed to damage your nail matrixes. I assume that could happen if she was filing that aggresively and did so all the way to the matrix area of your nails. I would guess that she might also have been too rough with your cuticles, or actually the eponychium. It's sad that there are so many nail techs out there who don't have enough knowledge of nail anatomy. Also, the lack of knowledge regarding the chemistry (and physics) behind the products they are using to minimize long term risks.

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Posts: 13,936
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Speaking of manicures, don't get overzealous with the Emjoi

Kentuckywoman, brooklynny already answered this, but I'll chime in, too.  I had been using TIPS for years and it really helped.  My problem is I have to keep experimenting, thinking I can use a certain brand of polish, or another nail oil, or my latest fiasco with the Emjoi.  I think it just sanded off the depth to which the TIPS had infiltrated and left a thin dry shell of a nail.  So the moral for me is use TIPS only, religiously every day, and quit messing around with anything else.  A wrong step takes months to correct. 

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Registered: ‎10-21-2014

Re: Speaking of manicures, don't get overzealous with the Emjoi

@KentuckyWoman The thing to remember is that whatever is filed off is gone forever. Unless the matrix is damaged, new growth will be the normal thickness. But it takes months for the new growthh to reach the tip.

 

I've never used TIPS (which is promoted as a "conditioner"). But I did learn the hard way that there's a reason the products sold as hardereners/strengtheners instruct you to only use them for a certain amount of time. If your nails get too "strong" they also tend to become brittle and the free edge breaks much more easily. 

 

I've come to the conclusion that I'm always going to have a nail or two that is peeling. But mine are to the point that I sometimes file the peeling spots a bit to smooth them as @ChynnaBlue mentioned. Luckily I like my nails relatively short and don't have near the problem of chunks of nail peeling off (taking the polish on top with it) that I used to. It helps to seal the tips, avoid water contact and use lots of cuticle oil.