Nailing It: Fan Shaped Nails

From narrow and small, to curved and clawed, nails may come in an array of shapes and sizes, but not everyone is blessed with a perfectly formed nail plate.

Fan shaped nails are a common, yet unsightly shape guaranteed to draw unwanted attention to even the most immaculately manicured hands, and with their distinctive 'fan' like free edge, its easy to understand why this particular shape creates nothing but an inconvenience. 

Despite the natural nail gaining its support from the sides of the nail, a great tip when shaping fanned talons is to disregard this vital piece of information and do the one thing you shouldn't...file the sides!!
Although this may appear to strip the nail of its structural strength and support, the body of a fan shaped nail has an unsightly habit of becoming progressively wider the closer it gets to the fingertip. Therefore, filing away the sides in order to create an oval or rounded shape will provide the nail with the straight sided nail tip it desperately requires.

Remember, as this problem nail shape is often flat, it already lacks the natural structural strength to grow to any considerable length. Opting for an oval or rounded shape, and ensuring that nails are kept short will prove to be particularly beneficial when minimizing the unwanted effects fan shaped nails create.