Nail slugging is a care routine that seals the nails and cuticles overnight under a thick occlusive balm such as petrolatum, often over a cuticle oil, so that moisture cannot evaporate from the skin and the nail plate.
Also known as: cuticle slugging, overnight nail mask, petroleum jelly on nails, nail slugging TikTok
Slugging borrowed its name from skincare, where a face is coated in petroleum jelly at night. Nail slugging does the same for the hands: a thick occlusive such as petrolatum or an Aquaphor-type ointment is spread over the cuticles, the skin around the nails and the plates, then left on overnight. Dermatologist Dr Angela Lamb explains that a thick emollient traps moisture and stops water evaporating across the skin surface (Today).
The routine has two steps. First, a drop of cuticle oil on each nail, massaged in. Second, a thin film of occlusive balm over the top to seal it. The oil supplies the lipids; the balm stops them and the skin's own water from leaving. Cotton gloves keep the balm off the sheets (HuffPost).
It helps most in winter, when heating and cold air dry the cuticles, and for people who wash their hands often or wear polish continuously, since removers strip oil from the plate every time. A softer, better-hydrated eponychium also means fewer hangnails and less picking, which is one of the common causes of white spots on the nail.
Slugging is a night treatment because petrolatum on the fingertips makes daytime tasks awkward and would lift fresh polish. Do it after the polish has hardened fully, several hours after painting, and wash the hands in the morning before anything else touches the nails. Two or three nights a week is enough for most hands.