Mavala Stop Deterrent Nail Polish Treatment | Nail Care to Help Stop Putting Fingers In Your Mouth | Bitter Taste | Easy Application | For Ages 3+ | 0.3 Fl Oz

I've had a nail biting issue since I was 4 years old- I turn 32 here in less than a month so for almost 30 years I've been contending with this. I've tried all kinds of cures under the sun to stop my habit but this problem was deeper than something of a simple 'habit'. For anyone reading this review and thinking of this product to stop a serious, chronic habit- I want to recommend a few things. If you struggle with anxiety as many nail-biters do, consider visiting your doctor, a therapist, even a psychologist. Nail-biting is a symptom, not the problem. Part of the reason I'm finally able to tackle this is that I'm not only using this product to deter me but I have now been on an anti-anxiety medication for a few months prior. This has made me far more capable in terms of trying to take these OCD habits by the horns and work them out. You need management skills, to understand antecedents to your behaviors, and how to modify those situations. So ending your nail-biting habit if anxiety related might take more than a simple paint on product. Secondly, it states to use it once every other day. I use it almost every day - and become rather aware when the taste is fading and make note to keep coating it on. It's working great, my nails are the longest they've EVER been, and I'm thoroughly happy even if the taste of this stuff is completely rancid. (Aka- it does the job it's supposed to). Keep the bottle somewhere visible and where you frequently have your line of vision (but obviously away from children). For me, I set it next to my monitor screen. I'm on my computer daily - so I'm bound to notice it being right there. Don't let it go out of sight, out of mind. KEEP your nail clippers handy! Even if it seems easier just to bite or peel away an uneven bit of nail, you'll spare most of it by just clipping off those rough edges. Sounds like common sense, I know. But anyone with an OCD habit for nail-biting understands what this refers to and how much of a 'trigger' those rough nail edges are. Keep all these things available, Next, I also take Biotin. It's a supplement- you can get it from any kind of drug store or Wal-Mart, etc. Read the bottles carefully, make sure you grab the one-a-day variety. You don't want to have to pop 3 of these a day to get your recommended dosage. Biotin helps improve nail strength- and many chronic nail biters I know have flimsy nails. Mine are definitely stronger - and my hair! So double benefit. Mavala Stop has definitely been the best product I've found for deterring my nail biting. This stuff is foul and will even be obvious if you put food in your mouth with your fingers like... eating french fries might be a chore. Just a heads up. Which is good! Sometimes having our hands near our mouths like that is an unintentional antecedent. Try to use forks and spoons for your food as much as possible. Good luck!

We have a 2.5 year old daughter who was one of the most compulsive thumb-suckers that I have seen of her age. We understood that it was a way of quelling her anxiety (in addition to the fact that it was just habit), so we hesitated to take her thumb away from her. It was especially bad at night. Her dentist expressed concern about the effect on her teeth (bucked teeth, high arched palate, lower front teeth curved inwards), which is readily apparent. I was skeptical of this, but wanted to make sure we got her done with sucking her thumb all in one shot (rather than dragging it out over time). So this is what I did: 1. We prepared her for weeks in advance that she is a big girl and almost ready to stop sucking her thumb. Never once did we say, "Stop sucking your thumb" or pull her thumb out of her mouth. We knew the motivation had to be internal, not external. We told her "bye-bye thumb week" was coming up. We made it sound exciting and fun :) 2. We picked a week where I knew I could afford to lose sleep. 3. This may sound counter-intuitive, but we attached a pacifier to her lovey. She carries it everywhere, so we wanted the pacifier to be available at all times. We didn't want to completely take away the "safety blanket" of her thumb, and wanted to give her an alternative. We used the "soothie" brand since it is more like a thumb. 4. We made a special afternoon of it, painting her fingernails pretty colors, and putting Mavala on it. We told her it was time to say "bye-bye thumb." 5. We put a band-aid on her thumb to help her remember not to suck it. 6. We bought a bag of chocolate Easter eggs and told her she could have one every evening if she didn't suck her thumb during the day. She tried sucking her thumb not long after I put this Malava on it. It was bitter, but she was determined, and within seconds threw up all her lunch. This made me sick to my stomach and I almost regretted it putting it on her, but decided to stick with it. She cried, and we offered her the pacifier instead. Never really having used a pacifier, she didn't know what to think of it, but it soothed her a little bit anyways. That night, she could not fall asleep. She was used to using her thumb and didn't have it anymore. I sat by her bed for several hours, and she finally fell asleep. This happened three nights in a row. (After the first day when I put the Malava on her thumb while painting her fingernails, I doubted she would let me do it again because she kept saying that she didn't like the fingernail polish because it tasted bad. So I put it on while she was sleeping. As all the other comments have said regarding this product, a little goes a long way.) Miraculously, she never really put her thumb back in her mouth after throwing up. She would look at her thumb sadly and cried a couple times, but soon became proud of the fact that she was a big girl. She used her pacifier every night, but usually spit it out within minutes after falling asleep. The chocolate Easter eggs were a big motivator for her too. Within 4-5 days, I didn't really feel the need to put Malava on her anymore, because she had almost forgotten what it was like to suck her thumb. I thought she would revert at night, but she didn't. She started falling asleep on her own and staying asleep, sometimes using the pacifier but rarely. The only thing I wish I had done was to keep putting Malava on for about three weeks to a month. The reason is that about a week into it, she couldn't find her pacifier one day and started sucking her thumb, realizing that it didn't taste bad. I put some on that night again, but the "no-thumb spell" had been broken. She tried it a few days later again, so I regretted not just sticking with the program for a bit longer. She almost never sucks her thumb or pacifier anymore. I'm grateful that this product helped me get my daughter past her thumb-sucking habit. I was afraid it would be traumatizing to have this stuff on her fingernails, but I think it helped make the process over quickly rather than dragging it out. This was SO much better than having to put braces or a palatal expander on (yikes!) when she gets older. Overall, it was a relatively gentle and painless process.

I have been a nail biter most of my life and I wanted to stop. I tried everything I could think of to try to stop biting my nails. And this is something I would do subconsciously. I would do this while sitting watching tv, reading a book, magazine or computer and when I am bored. Enter Mavala Stop. I would sit here on Amazon and other websites reading reviews and just about every review I would read raved about this product for helping them quit biting their nails or keeping their children from sucking their thumbs and fingers. I had my doubts reading these reviews but I decided to take the plunge. I got this product on Monday, right after Easter, and applied this product. I forgot I had this product on my fingers and put them to my mouth. The taste. OH THE TASTE!!!! I'd swear the same sadists that created "The One Ring ' in the bowels of Mordor, created the taste of this product (those that have watched "The Lord of the Rings" movies or read the books will get this reference). It is the most vile, horroble bitter taste I have ever tasted. The taste sticks to the inside of your mouth and stays there for a long time. There is nothing you can do to get the taste out of your mouth once its there. Plus, not only does the taste stick to your mouth and tongue, it sticks to your lips and around your mouth. So anytime you lick your lips or anywhere surrounding your mouth, you get that taste as well only not quite as strong. As far as how well the product lasts, it seems to have some staying power but leads to one of my complaints about the product. It seems to have a weakness to soap when you get a bath or wash your hands. It knocks the taste of the product down a good bit, especially after getting a bath. So if you reapply this after getting a bath, you should be good. If you can spare getting soap on your fingernails though the bad taste does seem to last but does get somewhat weaker over time. I can't speak to how the product works on children, but I can speak for an adult and this product does work. I have been using the product for a week and after that first day, I have rarely put my fingers to my mouth as I don't want to taste that taste in my mouth. It does effect eating snacks like popcorn and potato chips as well as eating finger foods. But now, I don't bite my nails, and for that...this product is a really good thing. In closing, if you are a nail biter and you want to quit? Please, I implore you... get this product. Yes, it tastes horrible and nasty but it works wonders. If it can help someone who has bit their nails for the last 33 years plus then it will help you, too.

I purchased this is a last ditch effort to get my then 13mth old son to stop sucking his two fingers. He had sucked them to the point of being literally raw and blistering. We'd tried just about everything else we could think of before turning to this product. The day it arrived in the mail I immediately pulled it out of the box, pulled my son onto my lap and proceeded to paint those two finger nails. At first it seemed to work. One suck and his faced screwed up like he'd just sucked a lemon. After trying desperately not to laugh, I spent the next two hours blissfully NOT saying "Don't suck your fingers!" The silence was heaven. But then after about 2hrs I noticed he was happily sucking away again. So I reapplied the product. Another 2 hours without sucking. Another coat...and so on for the next 48hrs (except while sleeping of course). By the end of the second day my son had GROWN ACCUSTOMED TO THE TASTE and would suck his fingers within minutes after applying the product! We ended up wrapping his hand in socks, mittens, and first aid wraps for the next two months (taking it off only for eating) while the fingers healed. When we finally stopped wrapping his hand he seemed to need to suck less than before. Since then he continues to suck lightly whenever he is tired or hungry or nervous. Because it hasn't gotten raw or blistered again, we've let it be. If it does get raw again we may try the Mavala again since we still have the bottle, but I wouldn't buy it again. Incidentally, during one application I had the misfortune to spill some on my jeans and hands. Although I immediately washed my hands *thoroughly*, the taste remained *very* strong for several hours. I accidentally touched my lips by habit once and was rewarded with a lingering AWFUL HORRIBLE taste on my lips for over 2 hours! It took DAYS for the taste to completely go away from my fingers!!! Thus, I can say with some certainty that it ought to stop most grownups from EATING anything at all that requires using your fingers to assemble or eat it (the taste transfers from your fingers to the food), let alone stopping someone from biting their nails! It came off my jeans with one run through the washer. ******* April 2011 UPDATE******* I am currently using that same bottle on my *second* son who is now 3 and still sucking his thumb UNLESS I paint this stuff on his thumbs. He HATES the taste and cries whenever we put it on him because he knows it means he can't suck his thumb, but the sucking is already affecting his jaw and teeth alignments, so on it goes. I'm working on remembering to apply it every morning. I think if I can get more consistent it'll do the trick for this guy. Guess my first boy was just more tolerant/stubborn, depending on how you look at it. ;-)

"Taste the Mavalaaaa!" is what my husband screams when he accidentally puts his nails in his mouth. He is a chronic nail biter who always gnaws his claws down to the quick, and so he's never had the white show on his fingernails before. After using Mavala every day for a couple of weeks, his nails were long enough that he actually needed to cut them with clippers! I was ecstatic! But wait! There's more! It's not just a temporary fix. After those weeks of regular use, he had become completely conditioned (read: disgusted) to stop biting his nails, even once we ceased applying the Mavala. It forced him to acknowledge his subconscious habits, and the bitter taste was unpleasant enough to deter him from idly biting his nails. Truly the miraculous cure you've been needing for you or your loved one's nail biting! More about this product: It comes in a nail polish-style bottle with an applicator brush in the cap. It also applies much like a clear coat nail polish, not like a thin liquid, as I originally thought it would. As such, it adheres to the nail like a glue, making it pretty difficult to wipe, lick or wash off by accident (or on purpose, muahaha). You need to use only a little bit, on the edge of your nail (if you're a biter). One application will last you the entire day, sometimes a little into day two. My advice for success with this product: Just remember that any bad habit dies hard. We purchased Mavala several months ago and stopped using it when my husband stopped biting. He went several bite-free months, but since then, times have been stressful at work and he occasionally relapses into nail-biting. If this happens to you, immediately go back to Mavala! Always keep it handy. Put it in your desk at work or keep it in your purse or car. Just remind yourself how horrible it tastes! You're much better off with this stuff to help you stop chewing. Also try applying it earlier in the day, before you go to work/school/places where you tend to bite your nails the most. Avoid eating finger foods and touching your lips (or at least be very careful)! Popcorn, pizza, sandwiches, etc. are a nightmare to eat with Mavala on. Even if you are behaving, the flavor tends to rub off on anything you touch. My husband has even given me a hello kiss after a long day at work where he struggles with biting his nails. Even THAT brief contact transferred the taste of Mavala to my lips, blegh! All that being said, I cannot testify to any of its other uses (such as to deter thumb sucking), but I do highly recommend it to anyone with a nail-biting problem. Be consistent, have the discipline to apply it every day, and correct yourself when you catch your bad behaviors. You will have healthy nails in no time! :)

This product is amazing! I have been chewing on my cuticles for at least 10 years and have never had anything work like Mavala does! I used to chew on my cuticles CONSTANTLY throughout the day, which left my fingers bleeding, raw, and horrible to look at by the end of every day. In fact, I envied people who chewed on their nails because their fingers looked light years better than mine did! I didn't realize half the time when I was chewing on them, which definitely makes it hard to break the habit. At first I tried to have my boyfriend and other friends just stop me when they saw me, but they can't watch me all the time, and I just got really good at waiting for them to stop looking. After trying some other creative ways of breaking the habit, I decided to purchase Mavala Stop to see if it would deter me from putting my fingers near my mouth. Did it ever! The taste is NASTY (which is great for reminding you to stop) and it lingers for a while on your lips and tongue afterward for at least a few minutes. This is great for me because it just reinforces the lesson even after, which means I am less likely to attempt to chew again. I swear I would try to convince myself that it wasn't so bad, but when you have the taste still on your lips for a while there is not way to deny that is it gross. I am proud to say that my cuticles are healing up wonderfully and I am less likely now to try to put my fingers in my mouth. There is enough nail polish in the bottle to last you until you have permanently broken the habit too, so you don't need to worry about a temporary fix and then when you run out falling back in the habit. The polish is not very noticeable either, just a little shiny at first and then dulls after a day or so. A few things to note though: The first day I used this product, I put a lot of it on and all over my cuticles just for safe measure. I don't put any more on my cuticles just because it was too much, but it was a great shock factor to teach me not to do it any more. I would say though be careful with children because it will be REALLY bad if they put their whole nail in their mouths without realizing it. The taste also lingers on your lips if you touch them (which is really disgusting while eating food), so be careful when you freshly apply the stuff. And for adults, slather it on every 2 days with someone else to watch you, since it would be easy to "forget" to put it on without a support system to make sure you follow through. Seriously though, I carry this stuff in my purse and I have not had a problem! I dread the thought of chewing my cuticles cause I know I will get a nasty taste in return! This product would probably also work for kids who has issues putting different stuff in their mouths (fingers, boogers, blankets, toys, etc) or with pets chewing on things. Be creative and give this product a try, you won't disappointed!

Mavala® Stop (0.3 oz) My three year old daughter has been suffering from severe trichotillomania (hair pulling), trichophagia (hair eating) and thumb sucking. The habits seem to go hand-in-hand in her case. Her pediatrician was concerned because she was eating the hair as she sucked her thumb which could cause a blockage in her intestines which could be fatal if not discovered and removed surgically. We've been seeing a psychologist and trying everything to stop these habits (such as using other polish that claims to do the same thing as Mavala, we also tried having her wear gloves, we tried distraction, tried putting bandaids on her thumbs, tried stress relievers like squishy toys for her to squeeze and bracelets for her to fiddle with, we tried a reward program where she would get surprises if she didn't suck her thumb or pull her hair, we tried disciplining her when she would do these things, we had her pediatrician and her dentist talk to her about it, we tried everything). It has been a source of constant worry for me because I didn't know what to do and I was so fearful that she would be teased about this one day and that would make it even worse, not to mention the effect on her self esteem and the potential health hazards. We started using Mavala a few weeks ago (after having tried other similar products with no luck). I must say I was hoping for the best, but not expecting much due to the strong attachment my daughter had with her thumb. But after reading many reviews and seeing other people having positive results, I figured we had nothing to lose. Our next step was going to be medicating our daughter based on advice from a psychiatrist and we really didn't want to go down that road. I was worried that my daughter would not let me apply the Mavala to her nails because we had tried similar products and she would try to prevent us from putting them on her because she said they tasted yucky (but obviously not yucky enough to stop her from sucking her thumb). So I explained to her that now that she was three years old, she was big enough to use a "special polish" on her nails. The special polish was Mavala. I made a big deal about it and she became excited about trying it. I told her it would make her nails shiny. So she sat in my lap and allowed me to put it on her nails without a fuss. That first night was difficult because she kept saying she wanted her "thumbkin", and she wanted the polish off. She went to bed in tears. That is so hard for a mom to see. But I kept reminding myself why I was doing this. We put the Mavala polish on her nails every night before bed for several weeks. She continued to allow me to put it on her because she felt so special being able to use this polish (it's like she would forget every night that she didn't like the taste of it). For a few nights she would cry herself to sleep because she would try to suck her thumb and then when she would get a taste of it she would be so upset. It probably took about a week before she stopped trying to suck her thumb. We continued to use the Mavala every night for about 6-8 weeks just to be sure the habit was broken. Sometimes I would just put it on her thumbs and not her other fingers since that was really my only concern. I'm extremely happy to report that this product was a miracle for us. It worked. It actually worked. It saved my sanity, but more importantly, it saved my daughter's life. I truly believe that. Her trichotillomania (hair pulling) and trichophagia (hair eating) also stopped when she stopped sucking her thumb. That is life saving. This product works!!!!! I can't even begin to say how much this product means to me and my family. It's absolutely what we needed and I'm so thankful for everyone who posted positive reviews. Without those reviews I probably never would have tried this product. So that's why I felt so strongly about posting this review. I've never posted a review about anything I've purchased before. But if I'm able to help one other person out there it is worth me taking the time to write a review to let people know that this product worked for my daughter. Give it a try. It's amazing!

This nail polish was recommended by my daughter's dentist when she was 18 months old to help stop her from sucking her thumb. The doctor explained that while I was free to try it, it usually works better for children over 3 due to their brain maturity. He also emphasized that, in his opinion, this was the only method that truly worked, as he had successfully used it with his own daughters after trying everything else. I first tried it at that time, she felt nauseous, got irritated, but eventually got used to it and continued the habit. Since it wasn’t working at that stage, I stopped using it. However, when she turned 2 years and 3 months, I decided to give it another try before exploring other methods—and it was a success! She immediately stopped sucking her thumb with the help of positive reinforcement and an occasional reward system. Now, four weeks later, there’s no sign that the habit ever existed. In fact, her teeth showed significant improvement within the first week! The doctor recommended applying it every four days for a month, we are just 5 days away from the goal. I’m beyond happy with the outcome and highly recommend this product—100% effective!