A Fingernail Feat

I’ve been growing my nails for quite some time, although I wouldn’t say that “growing” is the right word. I just haven’t trimmed my nails in quite some time so they have grown really long, which can be seen on a few photos on my Instagram profile and in previous Fashion Friday posts. I really like having my nails long because they look a bit nicer when painted.

I used to have to keep my nails short because I played the piano, and it was near impossible to play the piano with long nails. My piano teacher could always tell if my nails were too long by the “clickity-click” sound they made as they hit the keys. Now, with my nails making some nice music on my laptop keyboard, I am certainly not fussed. In fact, you could say I am used to it.

I’ve had a few compliments – or, well, more like comments such as “Wow, your nails are so long!” – on the length of my nails. For at least the past few years, I don’t trim my nails unless one of them breaks or splits, at which point I trim all the nails to the same length. I think that they have grown much slower in recent years, though. Given that they are currently almost twice the length of the nail matrix (that is, the part of your nail that is attached to your finger), I don’t actually remember the last time I trimmed them. I think they used to grow quite quickly because I remember trimming them a lot. They also used to be very brittle, and split or break easily, not to mention would bend and curve at the sides the more they grew.

I make an effort to file my nails down, and I do it occasionally, especially if I get small chips or splits. I used to just file them down for that reason, but now I have put more effort into giving them a round shape. I think this may have helped them last longer.

I am practically waiting for one of my nails to break… well, not exactly break, but maybe split or chip. I’m just surprised how long they have lasted. One thing that does bother me with chipped nails is that it sometimes snags on certain items of clothing. It’s summer and I don’t wear leggings or pantyhose much during this time, but I still worry about my nails getting caught on any kind of material.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how my nails go!