Help! I’m having a bad nail day
When her signature power nails began to break and split, Chrissy Iley sought expert advice
Iused to have great nails. But then, quite dramatically, after the pandemic, they started breaking and splitting. For a woman who thinks Barbra Streisand is her real mother, this would not do at all.
In fact, for me, it represented something of a personal disaster. You see, I’m obsessed with my nails, and I realise that probably isn’t healthy. I have ‘power nails’ in the way that other women have power suits.
Back in the day (for about a decade, pre-pandemic), I used to be a regular customer at the Jessica Nails salon in Hollywood. My favourite look was oval and long, with Tiffany blue or Greek cobalt polish. Sometimes I’d go for white or silver – but always long. Jessica’s was the closest I ever got to a girl power gang – all the top agents and lawyers getting their nails done on a Saturday.
All mini Barbras.
Having already suffered the horrors of my hair falling out due to stress – a divorce, a broken leg and a very unwell mother – I was consequently fully dosed with all kinds of vitamins and minerals but it wasn’t helping my nails.
In desperation I turned to 48-year-old Leighton Denny. For anyone who doesn’t know him, forklift-truck-driver-turned-nailguru Denny is the man who was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s 2015 Birthday Honours for services to the nail and beauty industry. Yes, that’s a thing! ,
His multi-award-winning crystal nail file (one sold every 60 seconds) is an industry favourite and his products are widely available either at Marks & Spencer or at leightondenny. com. He’s worked with everyone from Adele to Penélope Cruz.
The key to getting my beloved power nails back, he tells me, is really very simple: ‘You have to treat your nails like your hair.’
It’s no good trying to keep length if the condition is bad.
‘You can’t really repair damaged tips,’ he says, ‘but you can save the nail bed and start again.’
What does Denny think has happened to wreck my once beautiful talons? A mixture of age (no, I’m not fessing up –
I am ‘age fluid’) and Covid is his verdict. Apparently nails become more fragile just like skin does as we age but the effects of frequent handwashing and sanitising – which both have a drying effect – during and after the pandemic can’t be overstated.
The remedy, says Denny, is intense moisturisation: ‘Oil is the best thing.’ I counter that the lady at my local salon has told me it’s better to give my nails a complete break from everything in order to let them breathe a bit. ‘Nails don’t have lungs,’ he sniffs.
So it’s back to basics for my fingertips. On the right is a round-up of the best rescue products for brittle nails.