Cuticle Care: Should You Always Be Cutting Yours?

There’s no denying that manicures can make you feel great and that well-maintained hands and nails can be the perfect accessory to any look. When you get a manicure you just feel better, and even a quick glance down at your perfectly shaped nails and cuticles makes you smile with confidence. But let’s talk about cuticle care for a moment, because a lot of us don’t really know what to do about them.

Are you supposed to cut them? Push them back? Leave them alone? Opinions vary, and while some people have very strong requests and routines when it comes to their cuticle care, most of us zone out when we get our 15 minutes of pure bliss during a manicure, so we don’t even know if our cuticles get touched. (Spoiler alert: they probably do.) It’s time to put those cuticle clippers down and listen up: cuticle care is actually an important matter and you need to start paying attention to that protective skin.

It is the important part of caring for this area

While for many people cuticle care is an afterthought during a manicure (we’re more concerned with nail shape and polish color), it’s actually the most important part of your manicure, as far as your nail health is concerned. Sure, the massage feels like heaven, the nail polish gives your hands an instant boost and your freshly moisturized skin will glow, but it’s actually your cuticles that can make or break your manicure.

So what exactly goes into cuticle care? According to dermatologist Dr. Cynthia Bailey, “the function of cuticles is to be a seal between your nail and your skin to maintain your natural skin barrier.” Cuticles keep nails healthy and safe, and most importantly they keep out infection. Which leads us to the #1 rule most experts agree upon: you should never cut your cuticles. If you recently got a manicure and went a little snip-happy with your cuticle skin, don’t freak out. But don’t do it again.

The cuticle is your own responsibility

This potential infection around the base of the nail, called a paronychia, is unsightly and often painful. If a paronychia develops, it is important to see your dermatologist for prescription treatment or sometimes to drain the area surrounding the nail,” explains dermatologist Dr. Eric Schweiger in a Huff Post piece. The words “infection” and “painful” are not two words we really like associating with one of our favorite and most relaxing forms of pampering. But the reality is that cutting your cuticles could turn your enjoyable manicure into a nightmare involving fungal infections and really unsightly hands. If you’re at home and your cuticles start to look a little unkempt, do not grab those nippers. We know you want to, but don’t do it.

Don’t cut the cuticle

While you can certainly control your cuticle care at home—all it takes is a little will power and some great cuticle oil—it’s a little harder to avoid cutting your cuticles at the nail salon. After all, many manicurists just start snipping away without even asking you first. So why are many salon technicians so keen to cut your cuticles? We can’t be 100% sure, but we do know that, as Cosmo reports, “once you get into the habit of cutting your cuticles, you always have to cut them because they grow back quickly, but not as pretty,” says New York City nail pro, Simcha Whitehill.

So the more you cut your cuticles, the worse they look and feel when they grow back, and then you have to cut them more and more often. It’s a vicious cycle of cuticle care that keeps you coming back for weekly manicures just to maintain the damage you are doing. It’s clear that cutting your cuticles is bad news for your nails, but the good news is that there are other things you can do to make your hands and cuticles look and feel gorgeous.

The cares

First of all, use a moisturizing cuticle oil to help soften that skin around your nail, making it easier to groom and healthier in the long run. Next, you can push back your cuticles so that your nails look clean and your nail beds look even and fresh. Gorgeous hands with no snipping necessary—now we’re talking.

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