An eco-friendly nail care option

I’ve never really been one for nail varnish. I love the idea of it, but I’m so bad at the execution that the reality rarely pays off. I’ve seemingly got very unsteady hands (at least my non-dominant hand), so I don’t really manage to get my nails looking even. Arguably some time and practice would help with this, but I’m afraid I’m also very impatient. I’ve never been so into the idea of nail varnish that I’ve been willing to put the effort in to get good at it. I’ve also had several jobs where nail varnish has been prohibited, so it has just never seemed worth it.

I’m also seemingly unusual in never having had my nails ‘done’. This just wasn’t a thing when and where I was growing up, so I never got into the habit. I’d like to give it a try one day, but for now I’m happy enough with my natural nails. I say ‘natural’, but really I mean my unpainted but still polished nails. Over the course of my life I’m sure I’ve got through hundreds of nail buffers and polishers, designed to even out the texture of one’s nails, getting rid of the ridges and leaving them nice and shiny. I couldn’t help but feel guilty about this. They’re almost always made of plastic, can’t be recycled, and don’t even last that long.

So I was really intrigued when the Buff Wand popped up in my Instagram ads. It seemed to offer a solution to this unnecessary waste – and expense. Having seen the advert numerous times, I finally caved and purchased one.

Buffing and filing

This is where the strength of Buff Wand lies. It works really well to gently polish away any ridges in the surface of your nail. It seems to achieve this whilst retaining a lot more of the nail than other buffs I’ve used – you get only the tiniest, finest powder, and my nails seem stronger than when I’ve used conventional buffs. I often used to end up with quite weak nails that would, for want of a better word, snap where I had buffed all the ridges out. While this still happens occasionally with the Buff Wand, it is not nearly as common. The edge is also great for pushing back cuticles, so it saves you using a separate tool for this.

I also find it works really well as a nail file. It gently files away the whole nail. In the past I’ve used files that leave a very thin, soft but somehow still sharp layer, which I have to go back later and remove. This doesn’t happen at all with the Buff Wand, so I can be confident that the job is actually done when I’ve finished.

Polishing and shining

This is where the Buff Wand falls down a bit. Unusually, it is the same surface that both buffs away the ridges and polishes the surface of the nail. Try though I might, I just haven’t managed to get the hang of this. No matter how I use it, I always seem to end up with very slight nicks from the hard edge of the Buff Wand. I’ve tried to capture this is the picture below. This isn’t the end of the world,  as you still get a reasonably polished finish. But if you’re looking for a flawless finish which won’t require any further tools or treatment, I haven’t found the Buff Wand to be the answer.

Should you buy it?

Although it didn’t quite live up to all it promised, I still think the Buff Wand has been a great purchase for me. Even if I was only using it as a file it would be saving me money and waste. With the extra use as a ridge remover, it has cemented itself as a useful tool in my arsenal. If you’re looking for an absolutely everything in one tool, in my experience this won’t quite do the trick, but if you’re just looking for a useful tool to reduce some of your waste and expense whilst keeping your nails in pretty good shape, this is a great option.

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What is your go-to nail routine? Do you regularly get your nails done, or do you have a more casual nail regimen like me?