Can A Beauty Product Help Break A Bad Habit?

I can't remember a time when I didn't bite my nails. It's a habit I formed at an early age — possibly because I was an impressionable youngster, and my father and uncle both gnaw. But, now that I'm a beauty writer (and, you know, an adult), I've tried countless ways to kick my bad habit. Nasty-tasting polish? Check. Constant manicures? Double-check. But, no matter what I do, my fingers find their way to my mouth — and, before I even realize what I'm doing, I start absent-mindedly chewing.

It's disgusting. It needs to stop, and, at this point, I'm willing to try anything. So, when our beauty director, Megan, sent me info on Valentina's Home-Brewed Pure Body Care, a company that creates aromatherapy products with life-improving intentions, I got my hopes up. The brand's goods are supposed to help with everything from sleeping through the night to falling in love — but the one I was most interested in was Habit Breaker.

The line claims to calm triggers that cause certain habits using scent. But, if you find yourself falling back on your patterns, you can sniff a travel oil to snap out of them. Craving a cigarette? Take a whiff of this instead! And, you can choose from a body wash, body oil, salt scrub, body mist, bath salts, and the travel oil. Armed with my new regimen, I set off to see if my nose held the secret to breaking the battle of the bite.

On a daily basis for two weeks, I'd use the body wash, oil, and mist. I'd keep the to-go oil in my purse and sniff it when I was feeling particularly stressed. This proved to be especially useful last week, as I worked on three back-to-back photo shoots and wanted to chomp on my fingers in the worst way.

The essential oils in Habit Breaker are sweet orange, cedarwood, and lavender. Instead of smelling overtly citrusy, the blend was calming. Each of the products worked insanely well, although my favorite was the body oil. Unlike others that I typically use (I rely on these exclusively to keep my skin smooth), this formula wasn't as thick and goopy: It glided on easily and absorbed quickly.

But, did it break my habit? It's hard to tell. I definitely found my fingers in my mouth a couple of times during the two weeks I tried it out. But, once I found them in there, I had a plan of attack: I'd reach for my oils, which distracted me enough to stop biting.

Using the products every morning also made me mindful of the fact that I did, in fact, have a weakness that needed to be addressed. While I used to shove my nail-biting deep into my subconscious in shame, this experience brought it to the forefront. It made me more aware of what I was doing, which made it easier to control it.

My nails grew, I bit less, and for that, I'm thankful. I treated myself to a manicure after the two weeks ended, which made me want to chew even less. So, I'd consider this experiment a success. I only have one question left to ask: Can Valentina's Home-Brewed True Love collection help break my cycle of horrible dates?