Need help rehabbing my nails!

[groggyduck]

So I got my first ever set of enhancements for my mother's wedding back at the beginning of July, and they were HORRIBLE! The tech left them not only incredibly thick overall, but also incredibly flat (thicker on the edges, thinner in the middle). Despite me being very gentle with them, (I wouldn't even open a pop can with my nails, instead I'd get a butter knife and use that, and I didn't knock them against anything) they started lifting within three days of having them put on. So I went to another salon (highly rated on Yelp) at the one week mark and got them rebalanced (more like "remade") and filled with a shellac job on top. At this point I'm out about $100 ($50 for the original job before tipping and another $50 for the fix, fill & Shellac) so I look up how to remove them myself. I go to the BSS, get some acetone and soak them off. I'm left with dry, scratched, nails with a GROOVE from where the second tech filed off the lifting for my fill! The dryness I've mostly taken care of by drinking lots of water and using coconut oil (I'm sensitive to all of the "cuticle oils" that I've tried) at least once a day, but my nails are still scratched and grooved and I'm at a loss. How can I fix this?

Picture at: imgur: the simple image sharer

 

[jhgiorgi]

OPI NAIL ENVY works wonders. Also a lot of care and patience while they grow and get strong again

 

[groggyduck]

Should I try and file the grooves out, or just have new enhancements done over them?

 

[anonaw]

If I was you I would go for a shellac, or natural nail overlay equivilent as it will help your nails grow out and be able to make the nail appear smoother, I would'nt file or buff your own nails, that will make it worse. Go for a soak off gel of some sort. perhaps go back to the place who 'remade' them and ask for a shellac, and she may even do a brisa lite smoothing gel underneath to help fill the bumps and things.

 

[groggyduck]

Neither place had gel nails, I asked. Only regular polish, plain Shellac or L&P tip overlays that could have Shellac done on top of them. And English was not a strong point at either place, so I don't know how much success I'd have trying to explain exactly what it is that I need.

At this point I'm pretty much out of money, and the salon that I went to to get my nails fixed is over 2 hours away (I can't drive, so that's busing time), so I'm looking for things that I can do at home to help nurse my nails back to health.

 

[anonaw]

then loads of cuticle oil, opi nail envy and just waiting it out is probably the answer. I wouldn't suggest buffing or filing at all as that will only make matters worse. unfortunately it will just be a waiting game for you to wait for them to grow out, which they will do. rub cuticle oil on your nails twice daily every day and with nail envy put on one coat, then a day or so later another coat, then after another two days take it off and reapply. and keep doing this til they look better.