Skip the Russian Manicure Trend

💄HG Reality Check: Russian Manicures are bad for your cuticles and possibly your overall health

Hello, Gorgeous!

By now you’ll have noticed that the weekend roundups have moved to Thursdays AKA Friday Jr., so you can start your weekending on your own schedule and plan (or shop!) accordingly.

Moving forward, Fridays will be the Hello Gorgeous! Reality Check (HG Reality Check) where I break down sometimes dubious sometimes magnificent trendy topics. I’ll also sift through ye olde mailbag and tackle your questions or suggestions, or revisit past favorites to see if they’re still fabulous.

First up: Russian Manicures, yea or nay?

Spoiler alert: It’s nay all the way.

Russian Manicures 101

Russian manicures have been trending for a while and a few of you asked about them.

First off, Russian manicures aren’t performed solely by Russian manicurists, though the trend originated with them. And they aren’t a design element like French manicures/French tips, but rather more of a technique.

In a nutshell, instead of a gentle file, trim, or clipping of hangnails, a Russian Manicure seeks to obliterate cuticles by any means possible. That sometimes means using machines designed to file down acrylic nails, overzealous nippers, or super sharp scissors.

Why would anyone do this? you may ask. Well, the aesthetic is clean with more visible nail bed, which is said to make the manicure look even better. Here’s why you should avoid it.

Care for your cuticles instead

Cuticles are there for a reason. They sit directly atop something called the nail growth matrix and protect your nails so they can grow healthfully. Or is it healthily? Whichever is more correct, ridding your nails of cuticles can have detrimental effects.

Roughly cutting cuticles can lead to infection. That can prevent your nails from growing in and become a pretty nasty business. A better idea is to gently push cuticles back with an orange stick. If you have really gnarly cuticles consider a cuticle removal liquid (I’ve been using this one from Butter London). One trick that always works for me is to use an overnight lip mask on my cuticles (this strawberry lip mask from Tree Hut is under $10 and lasts a long time and magically softens cuticles too). The results are incredible. If you must trim, limit it to unsightly or painful hangnails. And skip the Russian Mani. It’s a trend that might leave you looking great for a short while, but for the long term you could be damaging your nails and potentially putting your health at risk.

Have you tried a Russian Manicure or are you as weirded out as I am? Let’s meet in the comment section to discuss!

Rachel, Your beauty concierge 💋