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Surprisingly, I couldn't find an existing post on this topic.

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What's the best nail advice you've ever gotten?

• Products: There's no way I can get a solid practice (let alone a two hour show) in without something on my nails (I mostly play for dancers). I've tried superglue alone, but found that it chips off way too easily. Fiberglass (applies like silk) with glue works pretty well for strength, but still only lasts me a day or two (four tops). What I've been using lately (as in the last five or six months) and absolutely love is an acrylic "dip." A "dip" isn't what it sounds like--it's actually a jar of fine acrylic powder: you put a thin coat of glue on your nail, then dip it in the powder. I usually do three layers. The stuff sets up in about an hour, but sometimes I put it on before bed and work on it in the morning just to make sure it's solid. Anyway, once you've got the stuff on (I cover about half the nail), even it out with a medium file (80), then again with a fine (100). The acrylic will be smooth but sort of dull. I usually smooth and buff it (with a buffing block). This will make it look better--and I can't help but think my tone is just a bit sweeter with the smoother surface. This whole process sounds time intensive, but (setup time aside), now that I have a system, I can do it in about 20 minutes. The result is a thicker, harder nail--in my case it hasn't failed me yet (knocking on wood). Sometimes the edges start to come up, but a bit of glue will put them back down (I use glue with a brush applicator). The other nice thing is, if you do loose a chunk, you can "re-dip" the missing area only and re-shape; it blends smooth. I usually have to re-do my whole hand about once every two or three weeks. (My apologies if this is obvious to a lot of you, but I had never heard of this stuff before, so I'm explaining it like it just fell out of the sky. I did warn you that I have a "special" relationship with this topic.)
  
  BTW, I DO NOT recommend the Sally Hansen brand "nail hardeners." These make nails "shiny" by putting a layer of not quite hard stuff on them--stuff that sounds crappy and scrapes/peels off in a day or two. I also don't mind saying that the fumes from this stuff made me physically ill.
  
  
• Tools: A medium/fine emery board (I like the soft core ones) and a buffing block. I've experimented with metal and glass files. They work all right, but they don't feel very good (for what that's worth).
  
  
• Shape: I'm in the same boat as Stu:

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  my nails seem to be getting shorter as I progress.

  One thing I've notices since I've started in with the acrylic is that I have to file my nails more often--I'm pretty sure this is because I'm no longer wearing them down on my bass strings (i.e. they're holding up better). Also like Stu, I have also started ramping my index and middle up away from my thumb. I find this helps my picado a lot--it means that I can have a "shorter" nail thumb-side, so that fast runs are easier to hit with a flesh/nail combination (does that make sense?), but so that my nails on the little-finger side are still long enough for a crisp rasgueado. This has done some unholy things to the angle of my wrist during some passages (i.e. canted it back just about as far as it will go), but I've also found that by turning my wrist a bit and using the short (ramped) nail edge, the hand position makes up for the difference in length between my index and middle finger. This makes certain picado runs easier--and, just as importantly, doesn't seem to make other things harder. It took me a while to learn how to relax my wrist in this position, but so far so good.
  
  Regarding the thumb, I again agree with Stu:

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  someone on the foro (koella??) posted that he had some advice to make his thumb nail shorter, and it massively improved his alzapua... I tried it and it did exactly the same!!

  I (alas), didn't pick this up of the foro, but I too find that a shorter thumb makes for a much easier fast alzapua. My recommendation: shave a bit off, try some alzapua, shave a bit more, try a bit more. It all depends on the shape of your thumb, but, in my case, anyway, once I hit the sweet spot (or length, as it were), I knew it. I also find, with a short thumb nail, that keeping a slight amount of flexion in the last joint of the thumb makes for wicked attack and control.
  
  (I find, having written this, that a lot of the "nail shape" stuff might not make a lot of sense. If anyone's interested, I can elaborate later. If not, well, that's fine too.)
  

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best nail advice you've ever gotten