Rant: I thought the $8 cuticle oil from Target was a scam, but my nails stopped peeling in 3 weeks
Every nail tech in Columbus keeps pushing those little pens and I always rolled my eyes, but after my gel peeled off in sheets twice I figured why not, and now I want to know if anyone else actually saw a real difference or if my nails just healed on their own.
Three weeks is about how long it takes for a nail to grow out from the matrix to the free edge, so you basically watched one full cycle of new growth. That means the peeling would have stopped on its own around the same time no matter what you put on it. Cuticle oil does help keep the nail plate flexible, sure, but the peeling you had was probably from the gel removal, not dryness, and oil can't glue split layers back together. If it was really fixing the problem, you would have seen the peeling stop keeping pace with new growth, not all at once at the three week mark. What likely happened is your nails just grew past the damaged part. Save your $8 next time and spend it on a gentler removal method instead.