Cuticles need constant care and there are many conditioning creams and cuticle removers on the market for serious hangnail problems or every day cuticle softening.
Many prefer removing hangnails with liquid preparations rather than with cuticle clippers. This is often the case when hangnails are too small for clippers or are potentially painful if removed manually. An inexpensive cuticle remover is Blue Cross which costs about $6 and removes dead skin without cutting. Put a small amount of the milky liquid on the hangnails and let the liquid penetrate. Push back the skin with a metal cuticle tool. This action will slough off most of the dead cells. Take a small towel and rub the skin with gentle upward motions. More of the skin should come off onto the towel, and the remainder can be clipped off. The creative nail cuticle eraser, for $7.95, uses alpha- hydroxyl acids derived from sugarcane. The preparation sloughs off dead cells and conditions the new cells underneath to prevent hangnails from returning. Or use a pen to write off hangnails. The Bloom brush pen, at $15, has vitamin-rich oils as wells as substances that remove the dead cells. The pen has a convenient cap to allow you to remove hangnails at work, school or home.
Many are concerned with the chemicals contained in many nail products, particularly in cuticle removers. The safest, most natural cuticle treatment on the market is Burt's Bees lemon cream for cuticles. Its active ingredients are almond oil, beeswax and rosemary with Vitamin E added. The cream is 95% natural and costs $16.98.
