Sometimes, sitting around in a nail salon chair for hours isn't ideal. Sure, it’s nice to have someone else give you a manicure (especially when nail art is involved!), but when you just need a quick reset, it can be helpful to know the basics of how to maintain your nail health without ever having to leave your couch.
One important element to maintaining nail health at home is using a cuticle oil to help keep your hands hydrated and healthy. We tapped a few celebrity manicurists to give us the low-down on everything you need to know about choosing and applying the best cuticle oil.
What to look for in cuticle oil | Expert-approved cuticle oils | Editor-approved cuticle oils | What is cuticle oil? | How we chose | Meet the experts
What to look for in cuticle oil
Experts agree in general that clean, natural ingredients are best when shopping for a cuticle oil. “I think jojoba oil and castor oil is essential for any good cuticle oil,” says Trenna Seney, manicurist and owner of RSVP nail.
Elizabeth Garcia, manicurist and owner of The Nail Room, agrees. “The ingredients you should look for are natural oils from avocado, almond and coconut oil, as well as vitamin E,” she explains. “This helps soften chapped skin around the cuticle area. It will help soften and repair.”
Barring any allergies to the ingredients in your chosen cuticle oil, Garcia says it’s generally safe for everyone to use a cuticle oil. “After the pandemic, we are all exposed to more cleaning products, hand disinfectants and soap,” she says. “All of these products can make our cuticles dry and cracked, giving us the result of really painful hangnails.”
Using cuticle oil frequently can help hydrate the broken skin around the nails and may help prevent hangnails in the future.
Best cuticle oils, according to experts
Flower infused: Blossom Cuticle Oil
- Easy to apply
- Scent may be too strong
Size: .5 oz. | Key ingredients: Dried flowers, mineral oil
Breeonne Reed, a cosmetologist and nail technician, previously spoke with Shop TODAY and recommended this cuticle oil. She said, “This cuticle oil is a total gem as it’s packed with natural oils (making it super effective), and smells amazing.” She also noted that a little “goes a long way.”
Kamari Stewart, an associate editor at Shop TODAY, keeps this cuticle oil at her desk “for a refresh every once in a while.” She continues, “The brush makes it easy to apply. I have the cherry scented one and it’s pretty heavily scented so you can smell the cherry as soon as you open the bottle. I don’t mind it but it may be a lot for people who are sensitive to scents.”
Budget drugstore find: OPI ProSpa Nail and Cuticle Oil
- Helps soften skin
- Has a nice smell
- Lightweight
- Issues with bottle closure
Size: .29 oz. | Key ingredients: Avocado oil, grape seed oil, sesame oil, kukui oil, sunflower oil, cupuaçu oil
Both Garcia and Seney recommend this OPI cuticle oil to her clients on a budget, since it’s available for just $10 at most drugstores. It’s fast-drying and packed with grape seed, sesame, kukui, sunflower and cupuaçu oils for a hydrating blend that absorbs quickly into your nail beds.
Anti-aging cuticle oil: CND Solaroil Cuticle Oil
- Absorbs quickly
- Improves look of manicure
- Some dislike the scent
Size: .5 oz. | Key ingredients: Sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, rice bran oil
Thanks to ingredients like jojoba, almond and rice brand oil, this cuticle oil is one of Garcia’s favorites. The mix of jojoba and vitamin E helps to create anti-aging effects on the skin surrounding the nails on the hand as you massage the product in. Plus, it has a light cherry-almond scent with notes of vanilla to add a bit of luxuriousness to your at-home manicure experience.
Infused with vitamin E: Deborah Lippmann Cuticle Oil
- Very hydrating
- Shoppers notice difference
- Not everyone likes the scent
Size: .5 oz. | Key ingredients: Jojoba seed oil, coconut oil, vitamin E
Garcia recommends this cuticle oil to her clients (thanks to the superstar ingredient she mentioned above, vitamin E) that helps repair any dry, cracked skin. The non-greasy formula penetrates the nail bed quickly so you can apply and get quickly on with your day.
Designer option: Chanel L'Huile Camélia Cuticle Oil
- Absorbs quickly
- Has nice scent
- On the pricier side
Size: .37 oz. | Key ingredients: Japonica seed oil, camellia oleifera seed oil
This Chanel cuticle oil recommended by Seney comes with a mess-free applicator, so you don’t have to drop it directly onto the nail bed. Instead, the tip is designed to dispense the perfect amount of product to each nail. Ingredients like camellia oil penetrate the skin to coat the cuticles and moisturize them over time.
Best cuticle oils, according to editors
Award-winning budget pick: Sally Hansen Vitamin E Nail & Cuticle Oil
- Nourishing
- Easy to apply
- A lot can come out
Size: .45 oz. | Key ingredients: Vitamin E, aloe, apricot kernel oil
Stewart also recommends this oil by Sally Hansen, which won the award for Best Budget Cuticle Oil in the 2024 Shop TODAY Beauty Awards.
Stewart says "it’s easy to brush-on." She continues, "One bottle lasts a long time. I’ve been actively using this for at least a year now and am just now hitting the bottom."
Award-winning editor favorite: Cuccio Naturale Milk & Honey Cuticle Oil
- Easy to apply
- Great value for price
- Slight almond scent
Size: 2.5 oz. | Key ingredients: Vitamin E, cottonseed oil, safflower oil, sunflower seed oil
Editor Vivien Moon recommends this cuticle oil and says, "I keep this cuticle oil at my desk so that it’s within reach and try to apply on a daily basis (I don't always remember) and have noticed an improvement in my cuticles even with my sporadic usage."
Moon continues, "I love that it’s large enough to last for years and how easy it is to apply with the nozzle. I especially like it for winter months as I know the dry cold air will make my hands grimy but this oil will keep my cuticles healthy as it has done over the last few months."
Danielle Brennan, a managing editor at TODAY, reviewed this oil for the 2024 Shop TODAY Beauty Awards and said she "loved the scent." Brennan continued, "A little bit goes a long way. I loved that it was in a small bottle and featured a dropper. I put it on each day and I felt it immediately worked."
No-mess application: L'OCCITANE Shea Nourishing Nail & Cuticle Oil
- Compact, good for travel
- No mess
- Pricey for size
Size: .25 oz. | Key ingredients: Shea oil, apricot oil
This easy-to-apply cuticle oil comes recommended by Stewart, who says she doesn't "leave the house without it now." Stewart continues, "It’s the perfect size for keeping in any bag and is the perfect way to apply some cuticle oil on the go without the mess. It’s a small tube so the price is a little much but I think it’s worth it. It’s lasted me almost a year at this point and I will be replenishing when I run out."
Travel friendly: Miniluxe Cuticle Oil Rollerball
- Travel friendly
- Absorbs quickly
- Inconsistent oil release
Size: .33 oz. | Key ingredients: Castor seed oil, sunflower oil, rice oil, jojoba oil, grape seed oil
Jess Bender, a senior editor at Shop TODAY, is a fan of this travel-friendly cuticle oil. She says, "Cuticle care is now as simple as rolling this onto each nailbed and waiting for it to penetrate and absorb, which happens pretty quickly in my case." Bender continues, "It works especially well against stubborn hangnails and kept them at bay during colder, drier winter months."
What is cuticle oil?
Cuticle oil is typically made up of a blend of seed and fruit oils that you can apply around the base of the nails to hydrate the skin and decrease the look of dryness over time. Hydrating the skin around your nails does have some health benefits, too.
In a recent article about nail slugging (aka the act of moisturizing your cuticles in effort to strengthen your nails), Dr. Hadley King, a board-certified dermatologist, told Shop TODAY, “It’s important to keep the skin around the nails well-moisturized to optimize the skin barrier function so that bacteria and other pathogens are less likely to penetrate and cause infection.”
Frequently Asked Questions
According to Seney, “Anyone can use cuticle oil. I would say for use daily is fine, and I’d recommend [using it] before bed so it sits overnight,” she says. You can even use it “more often in the colder months to help prevent dryness.”
A tip from Seney: Make sure to let your regular manicure dry fully for at least 20 minutes before applying a cuticle oil to ensure it doesn’t mess up the drying process of the polish.
How we chose
These cuticle oils were chosen by manicurists and Shop TODAY editors who provided details about ingredients, absorbency and hydration of the products. The manicurists we interviewed also shared advice on what to look for while shopping for the best cuticle oils.
Meet the experts
- Trenna Seney is a New York City-based nail tech and owner of RSVP nail.
- Elizabeth Garcia is a New York City-based celebrity manicurist and owner of The Nail Room.
- Dr. Hadley King is a board-certified dermatologist based in New York City.
- Breeonne Reed is a nail technician and cosmetologist who's also the founder and CEO of The Salon 2 You.
