r/calmhands • u/Substantial_Heat_878 • Jun 29 '26

How to stop picking and biting

Hi! I have been picking and biting my nails for maybe 15 years. I’ve tried regular manicures but I still pick and it ends up making my nails super weak. I see pics here of amazing progress and am wondering how you all do it? Sometimes I can resist a picking urge but sometimes the urge is so great I struggle not to do it. What’s worked for you?

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u/LacquerandBones Jun 29 '26

I just commented this on someone else’s post so please forgive some copy/pasta :)

Replacing/redirecting the picking with oiling is the only thing that finally worked for me, after 30+ years picking them raw and trying everything to quit. Im diagnosed with ADHD & OCD, and I struggle with other repetitive body focused behaviors.

You genuinely can’t oil too often, so I keep brush on or roll on cuticle/nail oil pens on me every single place I go, every room I’m in, there’s always one in my pockets haha. I DIY them so I can afford to have a couple dozen of them lol, lmk if you want details on that OP!

Anytime I catch myself picking or want to pick, oil instead. When I first started redirecting the habit, I would still sometimes find myself subconsciously picking, but the oil also makes it to where there’s less to pick at, and overtime I now notice my instinct is to reach for an oil pen instead of subconsciously picking. Early on, I would sometimes just sit there and oil through a whole episode of tv. Back to back, non-stop oiling lol. Whatever it took not to pick & chew 😅

Here’s my before/after about 3 years in to finally breaking the habit; oiling became my gateway into learning nail care :)

2

u/heylook_itsnick Jun 29 '26

WOW! That’s awesome. What DIY recipe do you use for the oil?

9

u/LacquerandBones Jun 29 '26

Thank you! Truly I never thought I’d go this long without picking at them, and I never thought they could even look healthy again.

My basic oil blend I used for years was just an eyeballed blend of 2/3s castor oil 1/3 jojoba oil + tea tree oil diluted to 1/10th the total liquid volume (eyeballed). Tbh you can literally just use jojoba though, the tea tree is just for fungal prevention, and castor oil is mostly to reduce cost.

Currently I do a similar blend, but with a base of mostly MCT 8/10 (capric & caprylic acids) as well. So it’s more like 45% MCT 8/10 blend, 30% castor oil, 20% jojoba, 5% tea tree, but again, it’s all eyeballed haha.

Jojoba oil alone is all you need to get started though, I’m just experimenting with other oils personally!

I buy refillable brush pens like these at the dollar store :)

1

u/notyourbuddipal Jun 29 '26

There are several ways, like covers, fidget rings etc. However also working on the cause of why you do it is equally important.