Do you let your nails "breathe"?

For the past couple of months, there haven't really been any periods longer than a few hours in which I have no nail polish whatsoever on my nails. I've read that you're supposed to let your nails breathe, but I also have nails that break easily (especially my middle finger nail...I think I must use it the most to get things open). Wearing clear nail polish or a base coat really helps keep them from breaking. Is this bad for my nails?

How often do you let your nails breathe?

The only "breathing" is the once in a blue moon where all I wear is nail envy for a few days. They're never bare.

I let them breath for like day and a half last week but just because I didn't have time to paint them.

Usually I'm wearing nail polish 24/7.

Yup....there can be weeks when my nails go without polish.

Sally Hansen's Diamond Hard is my best nail friend. No polish, but with that stuff on, the nail never breaks.

The only time my nails are naked is when I'm too busy to paint them. I don't hold much stock in the "let your nails breathe" theory.

Once the nail has grown out of the root and past the matrix that is how your nail will be once it reaches your tip. Allowing the nail to "breath" does not for the nail itself since the nail isn't living. The nail bed get its source of nourishment from the blood not the air so I don't see how allowing your nails to "breath" would help the nail bed.

Yeah, that's what I figured (re: nails being dead). I'm just concerned that painting my nails all the time & always removing polish (1-2 times a week) will somehow wear them down? They're already pretty easy to break.

I think i get what you mean, but if you're healthy, like not lacking iron, your nails will be too (the hair/skin/nail supplements are also good to promote strong nails and helps them grow faster). If you don't want to wear nail polish, then just wear a base coat, with nail hardening properties (i find it also protects them against the usual cleaning products in your house). You can also use some oil like castor or olive on the tip of your nails, it hardens them and moisturizes them, so that they don't break so easily.

I think we get told this because the nail polish removers and the polishes themselves are hard stuff if you look at the ingredients list, but letting them breathe doesn't have much sense for me.

No. Like zadidoll said, it doesn't do anything for your nails. In fact, nail polish really helps to protect your nails and keep them healthy. This doesn't refer to acrylics though, which are very damaging to nails. I really like the new CND Shellac, its only available at a salon though, but it lasts around 2-3 weeks, depending on how fast your nails grow.

I let them breathe from getting them professionally done.  I love artificial nails, but every 6 months, I would take them out so they can "breathe". 

My nails like to chip, peel, and break when I let them breathe, so no, I try not to leave them bare. If I don't have time for a full manicure then I at least make time to throw on a layer of nail treatment or base coat.

I've gone months and years without putting any polish on my nails before, but like some of the other girls said, when my nails are being especially bad with the chipping and peeling, I try to get on top of keeping a manicure on, so at the very least, I'm not staring at my nails all day peeling and trying to peel those suckers off.

If they're painted, I keep my hands off because I don't want my polish to get screwed up!  It also helps to force the nail to stick together so it has time to grow out for me to cut it instead of peeling even worse every time I wash my hands or shower.

When I feel lazy they breathe I guess. But that's when they break the most, so I'm with Lola and give the "breathe" theory a side eye.

Most people I know haven't ever seen me without polish - fingers or toes.  lol  I've been painting them for years and years non-stop.  My nails have never been bare since I first discovered nail polish when I was a wee one!   

The only "breathing" they get is the 10 minutes between polish changes.   My nails are healthy and strong as well.  No problems. 

My nails breathing is purely dependant on whether I want them painted or am way too lazy to do it haha. Sad but true.