Tips and Tricks for Healthy Nails

The state of your nails reflects your overall health. Good thing you don’t have to buy fancy nail products to keep your digits glossy, healthy and strong! Being overly aggressive with nail maintenance is just as detrimental to your nails as zero maintenance. In today’s post, we are listing down simple yet effective ways to keep your nails in tip-top shape:

Moisturize Daily

To keep the nails from peeling or cracking, you have to moisturize the hands daily! Use an emollient hand cream that will lock in moisture into the deeper layers of the skin. Make a habit out of applying cuticle oil on the nails every night. Massage the oil well into the nails to stimulate nail growth and optimize absorption. An alternative to cuticle oil is olive or coconut oil. These nourishing oils are packed with vitamins and antioxidants! Finally, drink more than 8 glasses of water daily to keep the nails strong healthy.

Gentle Maintenance

As mentioned earlier, aggressive maintenance can do more harm than good on the nail bed. Pushing the cuticles increases the risk of infection to the nail bed. Be gentle when giving yourself a manicure, especially when trimming the cuticles. Look out for signs and symptoms of infection such as inflammation, swelling and pus in the cuticles. If infection occurs, consult your doctor.

Buff the Nails

Buffing the nails regularly will restore the glossiness of the nails. It will also stimulate normal nail growth! But again, you want to be gentle on the nails so use a soft brush made with natural fibers. Buff the nails outwards, not inwards so the cuticles are not pushed. Brush gently twice or thrice a week for beautiful nails.

Protect the Nails

Washing the hands frequently can strip moisture away from the nails. If you’re doing chores or your job requires frequent hand washing, we recommend wearing a pair of rubber gloves to protect the nails. Protective gears like rubber gloves protect the hands from hot soapy water, which can dry out the nails.

A Break from Manicure

Although nail polish offers excellent nail protection, constant manicures could cause the nails to dry up. The constant trimming and pushing off the cuticles also exposes the nail bed to bacteria. Nail polishes contain harsh chemicals that can strip moisture from the nails. So give your nails a break from manicures.

Also, keep your hands protected from UV rays especially if you love gel nail polishes. The constant exposure to UV light can age the skin and increase the risk of skin cancer. We recommend slathering sunblock on the hands before exposing the nails to UV light.

Trim Your Nails

Trimming the nails will never be out of fashion. Trim the nails regularly to achieve natural-looking, healthy digits! Avoid incessant nail filing when shaping the nails. Abrasion can cause nail cracking. Just shape the nails by filing in one direction. Trim the nails short and finish off with a gentle buffing! Finally, don’t forget to moisturize the hands and nails to keep the skin soft and moisturized.