Nail slugging. It doesn’t sound like the most appealing thing in the world, but once TikTok is done with you, you may be changing that thought.
Yet another beauty hack going viral on the popular social media platform, nail slugging is the little sister of skin-care slugging—whose benefits we learned about last year.
Skin-care slugging is basically centered on combatting thirsty skin by coating your face in Vaseline or other petroleum-based products before bed and after your usual nighttime skin-care routine. In the same vein, nail slugging is all about locking in as much moisture as possible on your nail beds so that you can say goodbye to brittle nails.
So how did the process of slugging your nails become such a viral hot topic on TikTok, and what exactly does it involve?
Well, basically, we need to take proper care of our nails because nail trends are a massive deal right now and have always been. We’re obsessed with acrylics, press-ons and everything in between, and nail art has become one of the key ways for us to express ourselves in the beauty world.
However, a lot of times this leads to us not having regular breaks and not looking after our nails properly—which ultimately leave them looking a little worse for wear.
Enter skin.care expert Dr. Charles Puza, who explained in an informative TikTok video: “You”ve heard of slugging your skin, but what about your nails?”
“We all know acrylates (nail product ingredients) can damage nails. Slugging the nail cuticle can strengthen nails and protect them from water damage.”
As an example, Dr. Puza appears to use petroleum jelly to slug his nails, informing his followers: “It should be done daily.”
With the expert having made a case for nail slugging, the TikTok beauty community was quick to follow suit and give it a go—and another TikTok user, @lovefreshpaint, was quick to go viral with her own spin on nail slugging.
TikTok content
“If your cuticles are especially dry, try this for a few weeks, I do this every night before bed,” she writes in the thirteen-second clip. Showing her slugging routine, the user drenches her nails and cuticles with CND Vinylux Solar Oil Essential Nail & Cuticle Conditioner before going in with Eucerin Aquaphor Soothing Skin Balm for Face, Body & Hands.
TikTok may have given way to some questionable beauty hacks in recent months, but nail slugging is something we can totally get on board with.
This story originally appeared on Glamour UK.
