[Everyone's got a vice, a bad habit, something they know they need to change. Unfortunately, everyone also has a million excuses why they just can't do it. Not anymore. Every month we will be following a different CollegeCandy writer as she takes on a personal challenge. Last month Michelle gave up stress eating. This month, Charlotte's going to try to stop biting her nails. Can she do it!? Could you?]

Stuff I learned this week:

1. Shit happens. Nails break, and
2. Having nails is weird

First of all, yes, nails break. Sometimes they snag on something, or sometimes I’m chewing them BUT NOT BITING THEM, and I accidentally break an edge. And then I’m in a panic. WHERE IS MY NAIL FILE GODDAMNIT? However, this bit of advice, to always have a nail file on my person, has definitely helped. Now, instead of thinking “oh god, one nail gone,” I can file it up real nice and yeah, it won’t be quite as long, but it won’t be quite as short either. Breaking nails sucks though. One day my nails are all looking quite good, and then I break my “best” nail and they all look crappy again. But I am getting somewhere and I’m so proud. They’ve gotten to a point now where I don’t even want to bite them. Sure, I want to chew. But the idea of biting off that much nail is really weird. While I definitely haven’t completely kicked the habit, I’m definitely getting there, and that is something I never thought I’d be able to do. Read More »

[Everyone's got a vice, a bad habit, something they know they need to change. Unfortunately, everyone also has a million excuses why they just can't do it. Not anymore. Every month we will be following a different CollegeCandy writer as she takes on a personal challenge. Last month Michelle gave up stress eating. This month, Charlotte's going to try to stop biting her nails. Can she do it!? Could you?]

Wow, are we really onto week 3? Well I am definitely noticing progress and I’m learning what works and what doesn’t. What doesn’t is painting my nails, weirdly enough. Not being able to see that glimmer of white means I can happily gnaw away at them long before realising the damage I’ve caused. What also doesn’t work is forgetting to apply my nasty-tasting solution every day. It’s always those in-between days when I find myself nibbling, and the day-old taste is never quite enough to deter me. However, as I mentioned last week, clear nail varnish is a winner. I’m using one that is supposed to make my nails stronger, which is definitely something they need. Even when I’m not biting them, I am constantly sucking on them and they easily get soft and I feel cheated when they are ruined without the satisfaction of biting them. Read More »

[Everyone's got a vice, a bad habit, something they know they need to change. Unfortunately, everyone also has a million excuses why they just can't do it. Not anymore. Every month we will be following a different CollegeCandy writer as she takes on a personal challenge. Last month Michelle gave up stress eating. This month, Charlotte's going to try to stop biting her nails. Can she do it!? Could you?]

First of all, thank you so much to all of you who left me wonderful supportive comments after my post last week. I’m so glad I’m not the only one still biting my nails aged 21!!

I’m not going to say I haven’t bitten my nails all week. Because that would first of all be impossible for me, and that would also be a lie. There has been some nibbling. Some chewing. But I have been making a conscious effort to not bite my nails as much as I normally would. There is a little bit of white to be seen on my nails. Only a little, but more than my usual white-free stubs. I have found, and some of the comments confirmed this, that clear nail polish is definitely the way to go. Even when I wore a lovely peach colour on my nails on Monday, I was biting that off by Tuesday and in turn, chewing on my nails too. Clear nail varnish allows me to be more aware of how far I’ve come. Seeing that smidgen of white really helps motivate me. Read More »

[Everyone’s got a vice, a bad habit, something they know they need to change. Unfortunately, everyone also has a million excuses why they just can’t do it. Not anymore. Every month we will be following a different CollegeCandy writer as she takes on a personal challenge. Last month Michelle gave up stress eating. This month, Charlotte's going to try to stop biting her nails. Can she do it!? Could you?]

Back in January, I completed my first College Candy challenge without any slip-ups or failings. Admittedly, as a British girl and committed tea-drinker, a month without coffee was difficult at times, but not overwhelmingly so. I knew I could definitely complete the challenge without too much difficulty.

But coffee isn’t really my vice. This is different. My real vice doesn’t involve any money, and is completely inescapable — I am a chronic nail biter.

I don’t really remember biting my nails much as a child, and it was only in high school when I realised that everyone else had grown out of a habit I just couldn’t kick. I tried everything;  spending hours painting my nails, nasty tasting solution but none of it worked. I battled through every layer of pretty colours and bitter taste to get my fix.

When I think about it, yes, it really is a disgusting habit, but I’ve never been able to stop. I am orally fixated. I had a pacifier until I was five. I chew pens. I eat out of boredom and my boyfriend doesn’t have any complaints. Nail biting is my number one vice and this is really going to be tough.

The hardest thing is, I’m rarely aware that I’m even doing it. My boyfriend starting saying “stop” whenever he saw my hand at my mouth, and most of the time I wasn’t even conscious that I was nibbling. However, he soon got frustrated when we realised how frequently he had to tell me off and stopped. I pestered him to keep going, but even after he’d given me a stern look I’d be at it again in a couple of minutes. It helped for a while, but we’re now long-distance so he isn’t here to shout at me.

Read More »

Bad habits. Everyone has them (yes, even me!). I pick my cuticles. And I’ll be the first to admit- it’s not appealing. Far from it actually. It can be painful, but mostly it is just gross. Not only to me, but to those around me.

I realized just how gross when I saw a not so charming boy taking part in the same not so charming habit during a lecture and my friends pointed out that:

a) Yes, I look like that too when I pick/bite

b) We are destined to be together because we share the same nasty habit.

Whether it is nail biting, throat clearing, being chronically late, talking too loud on your cell phone etc- we all have that one (or eight) habits we just wish we could break. But sometimes we really can’t help but take part in our bad habits. Kind of like when we couldn’t help but text that guy last Saturday night at 2am, even though we said we were sooo done with that.

Sometimes bad habits are just really hard to break.

So before you make that New Years Resolution to not oversleep or stop cracking your knuckles, here are three steps to actually help you achieve that goal.

3 Easy Steps to Breaking Bad Habits (From WebMD)

1) Make It Conscious. Many times, we do these things without thinking about it. Like when we are bored in class or stressed in the library etc. So figure out when and why you take part in your habit(s) of choice. If you realize when/why you are doing it and can attribute what you are feeling that is driving you to do it, you will have an easier time finding a way to stop. Read More »

Back in the day, a celebrity’s entertainment value was limited to only two dimensions: the big screen and the small. But with the advent of the internet, (thank you, Al!) we are now able to delve deep into their personal lives and obsess over their every move 24/7- sometimes for the good they do, but mostly for the bad.

We follow their daily mishaps online as if it were the nail-biting storyline of our favorite primetime soap. There is something so inherently beautiful about the celebrity trainwreck. You know you should, but you cannot look away.

So, in celebration of this morbid fascination, we thought we would give you the chance to choose your favorite celebrity’s next misfortune.

The following are 5 Top Tabloid Heavyweights. Click on a storyline to vote for the headline you would like to see happen next.

Britney Spears

Britney Spears’ next move?

Choose your own celebrity misfortune for Kate Moss, Ellen Degeneres, Paris Hilton and Heidi Montag after the jump. Read More »