So...I've been a nail biter for my whole life and I want to stop! But everytime I get better about it, I go to an audition or class or something and tear them up again!

I really want to stop this horrible habit. I've tried all the usual ways (the hot stuff on your nails, manicures, etc). I had acyrlics on for a while too but it's expensive to maintain and destroys your nails when you remove them.

Anyone have any advice???

Sit on your hands. Seriously. I used to bite my nails to the quick and this was the only thing that stopped me. It's like physically restraining yourself! Ha!

My daughters do the same thing and I can't get them to stop.

I can relate to the same thing. I'm a nail bitter. For new years eve i said "i'm gonna stop bitting my nails" I stopped for three months and then started again. The first three months were so hard but when i seen them growing and looking nice I loved them. But I never got rid of the habbit of putting my fingers in my mouth, so i was putting my teeth behind my nails and that was it until i didn't realize that i bit it off and that was the end of that lol. This habit is like any other habit anyone has. If you have good will power and keep your mind to something then you'll do it. Picture yourself right "An Actor" you want it really bad right?? so if you want to become an actor you'll do anything in your power to get there. Use the same method for bad habits, like bitting nails, smoking, drinking, etc.... I hope this helped you out. I currently stopped bitting my nails again and this time i'm gonna stop for good.

I totally understand, I used to bite my nails til they bled! I tried all of those things too, but what made me quit was biting a piece of nail off and looking at it under a microscope...absolutely disgusting!!! Do you have access to a microscope?

ok don't laugh but here is a suggestion...buy yourself some lovely lace gloves (this only works for ladies I guess) No one is going to be watching you hands in the waiting area at your audition. (they're too into their own thing going over cold copy etc.) Remember gloves were something women wore as part of their fashion attire up till the 70's and it's still very retro.
When I was a young girl my grandma suggested this for another bad habits like thumb sucking. Of course at home you can wear white cotton gloves habitually with hand cream, enabling you to have nicer nails and smoothe silky hands!

Sadly, the way I broke the habit was when I had to get veneers for my two front teeth. The temporary veneers kept popping off so I couldn't bite into ANYTHING for the month that it took to get the permenant veneers. In that time I was so terrified of my veneers popping off that I didn't bite my nails and by the time I had my permenant veneers I was basically out of the habit (and am still leery since even permenant veneers aren't indestructible)

I used to chew my nails to the bone when I was a kid. My mother made me a wager that if I'd stop, she'd give me a whole dollar per hand if I could quit (that's two dollars for the mathematically challenged!!). I took her up on her offer. It was so difficult to do, I never went back, never wanting to go through that agony again. The tough thing about nail biting is that unlike drinking or drugs where you have to actually go out of your way to get them, your finger nails are as close as, well, your finger tips. Plus, it's almost an unconcious reflex, so maybe therein lies the key- always be conscious of it. I guess it's like every other thing, you really, really have to want it.

Thanks to all for the advice. It's good to know I'm not the only one fighting the nasty habit!
I'm working on it! Like the gloves idea!!! Never occurred to me!

Have you tried putting Alumon your fingertips? My grandmother swears by it (literally). She assures me that it is 100% foolproof, unless you develop a taste for Alum.

(I won't tell you what she suggests in that case.)

What is Alumon??? I'm intrigued.

try the nailbitestopper. it prevents the bite

Same problem. I like the gloves idea too! I got fake nails for about six months. Those are harder to chew/break and expensive so I didnt want to ruin them! It helped. I now have them off and I will still bite my nails occasionally but it defintitly helped. I also don't bite them as short anymore either (I also used to bite till they bled). The bad thing is the fake nails made my real nails look horrible until they started growing out.