Have been wearing gel over my natural nails for a few months now. Prior to that had tips over natural nails. Now that I've removed the gel, my natural nails are a total mess!! They are SO soft, that they bend forward, backwards everytime they touch something. What an awful feeling. Has anyone found a remedy to put over nails until they grow out (other than tips again)?

Please, any suggestions would be appreciated. Are there any nail hardeners that actually work??

Its gonna take time, but heres some ideas you might want to try.
Keep them short until you get them a little stronger or you chance hurting your fingers and delaying nail repair.
Get a nail lotion. They make a few but the one I used is called Hoofmaker. It was made for horses, but riders saw the benefits and the made a people version.
Try to avoid prolonged exposure to water. Water makes nails soft, thus going against what you are trying to acheive. Wear gloves for dishes or gardening.
Moisturize, but don't overdo it. Work the moisturizer on the skin around the nail.
Sometimes certain foods help, like jello. Eat up!
Avoid nail polish. Polish & remover strip layers off the nail. Stick with hardeners.

Hope this helps a bit.
It will take time.
Good luck
Corissa

Hands down the best thing I have ever used that made my thin nails grow was nailtiques nail protein available at drug stores and Sallys. I was never able to grow nails until I used this stuff. It's worked great for me!

My nails are the same way!! Bending forward and backward.. ugh! I thought I was the only one

Hi, my nails have always been really thin and bendy and I couldn't grow them. Last year I tried Sally Hansen Teflon Tough. Works awesome! After a few weeks my nails were so strong they never broke and everyone thought I had fake nails (they looked so good) I would put one or two coats on under or over my nail polish. I stopped using it a while ago. Haven't had the time to do my nails and now they are breaking and yucky again. So definatly Teflon Tough it comes in a ton of different colors I just used the clear and used my other favorite kind over it.

Thanks for your replies. Will try to keep my nails short and out of the water as much as possible. I don't have a Sally's close to where I live, but I should be able to get the Sally Hansen Teflon Tough. Will also try to find nailtiques nail protein.

I take a lot of vitamins and my nails are very hard and strong. Even a multi-vitamin once a day should help you in addition to anything you put on topically. Vitamins really do make a difference in the health and condition of your nails.