Promoting Growth of Healthy Nails and Cuticles
Like a firm hand shake defines a person’s confidence, healthy nails and cuticles are essential to add beauty to your hands. Nails are actually dead cells of the body, but they play an important role in beautification of the hands. Healthy nails can be easily given desired shapes and colors which add to a person’s feel good factor. With more and more options of nail enamels, varnishes and polishes and increasing interest in trendy nail arts. There is also growing concern about taking care of your nails. Keeping your nails healthy requires just a little effort and some care. You should always make sure never to leave your hands too dry as it would hamper the health of the nails and the cuticles. Cuticles need to be very well taken care of as they help boost the health, support and look of the nails. Dry cuticles are referred unhealthy and thus should always be taken care of.
Below are some tips to keep your nails and cuticles healthy:
• Avoid nail biting as this not only worsens their shape but also negatively affects the skin under your nails and the end result is less desirable nails.
Keep your nails clean: long nails often provide space for accumulation of dirt and dust. Also, if short the area around the finger nails and the cuticles can be the appropriate places where some debris might get collected. This can easily lead to fungal infections starting from nails and reaching the skin. Nails should always be clean so make sure you wash your hands several times a day.
• Keep your nails well moisturized all through the day. This might require applying hand lotion several times a day but it’s a good habit to maintain healthy nails and avoid cracking of the nails.
• Do not remove your cuticles.. Cuticles act as protective skin to avoid the entry of bacteria into the body. Cutting the cuticles away, completely, can lead to irritation and possible infection.
• If possible follow regular manicure routines where experienced staff can take care of your finger nails and cuticles without causing any damage. Professionals have proper equipment and training to remove and clean out the dirt and callus from around the nails.
Nail Growth:
Sometimes some people face problems nail growth. Sometimes they might be too brittle and crack on their own and at other times the nails might lack growth. This may happen due to a deficiency of certain nutrients in the body and can be addressed by maintaining a healthy diet. Sometimes nail problems can be a more serious issue so you may want to consider contacting a dermatologist who can examine the root cause of the problem.
When applying moisturizer pay extra attention to your hands and make sure to put lotion around the nails and on the cuticles and massage properly. This will give them a healthy look and also promote their growth. Also you can use vitamin E oil for massaging gently around the nails and the cuticles. These days there are serums and lotions designed specifically for promoting nail growth. For example GoNails Nail Growth Treatment by GoBeauty helps to strengthen and repair fragile and brittle fingernails and toenails.
The Author:
Naomi Andrews is an esthetician from Hawaii. With about 10 years of experience as a practitioner in leading spa she has had the opportunity to use various Mineral Cosmetics and Nail Care Products.
Natural Nail Polish – Rub petroleum jelly on your nails then buff with a soft cloth.
To Remove Stains On Nails – Mix 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in a cup of water. Soak nails in a bowl of the liquid for a few minutes.
For Greasy Hands – After washing your hands rub cornmeal into them.
Harden Soft Nails – Harden nails by soaking them in warm olive oil for 20 minutes every second day.
Homemade Hand Exfoliator – Mix 1 teaspoon sugar with 2 teaspoons oil. Any unused cooking oil will do. Rub well into hands for a minute or two. Wash in warm water using a mild soap.
If you have dry skin on your hands then wash with soap then wet hands again. Pour salt on them then scrub under water. Dry hands then put lotion them.
Easy French Manicure – I think this site is just great. Here’s a great tip for a do-it-yourself French Manicure without the mess!!! Just put sticky tape across your nails leaving the white at the top to get a straight line and apply white nail polish to the top half, peel of the sticky tape straight away and cover the full nail in clear polish or peach or whatever you prefer and there you go, a French manicure without the cost!!!!!!!
Keep a little dish of oil (sweet almond is best but any oil will do) next to your bed and before going to bed, gently rub a little of the oil into your fingernails every night and see how strong and shiny they get.
Here is a great beauty secret to grow long nails. 3 times a week soak nails in a cup of milk for 10 minutes. 5 minutes on each hand and watch nails grow fast and their strong as ever!
Hot Stuff…Stop Chewing Your Nails!
Hey thanks for this fantastic website..I love it! My secret to stop biting nails is sprinkle some cayenne pepper into a little water, mix then dip your fingertips into the liquid, shake off. When you go to bite your nails your mouth will burn! Tabasco sauce can be used instead of the cayenne pepper. Trust me it works! Oh and make sure you don’t have any cuts around your nails or it will sting! Ouch!
Natural Shine – Hi..put one drop of lotion onto each fingernail, massage in then use a nail buffer for a natural looking shine. Buff from tip to base basically going with the grain of the nail. With this method, you won’t need any nail polish…no yucky chemicals! 🙂
If you want to keep your nails clean and white, just soak them in warm water for three minutes. Then put two Alka-Seltzers in the mix and soak until it stops fizzing!
Love this website, by the way. Thanks for all the tips.
Okay you love your nails and you also love nail polish but you hate getting the polish on your cuticles, why not try putting petroleum jelly around your nails on your cuticles and take it off when you are done.
Nail polish tips
*Never leave nail polish in the sun can cause bubbling.
*Never shake the bottle. Take the nail polish bottle and rub it back and forth between your hand, this won’t cause bubbling.
*Always wash your hands first with soap then after when your hand dries, clean your nails with nail polish remover ( even if you nails don’t have nail polish so what, it gives your nails a more cleaning action.)
*If you put on a second coat, wait until your nail dries before you put on a second coat.
*If you want your nails to dry faster, just make sure your nails are almost dry, put your hands in a bowl of cold water and keep your hand in there for at least 2 minutes so it will be completely dry.
Easy Way to Dry Nails – I always used to get my nails smudged from the nail varnish, now I help it dry quick by using a blow dryer – I use one blast of hot air and then I go on to cold for a few minutes until nails are dry to the touch. No more smudges!!!
Yellow Finger Nails
If you have yellowish fingernails, cut open a lemon and rub the lemon half on your finger nails for about 30 seconds. I heard this gets out the yellow.
Lemon Rose Hand Lotion
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons glycerine
2 tablespoons rose water
2 tablespoons distilled water
Mix ingredients and place in a pretty glass bottle. Wipe on hands daily or anytime your hands feel dry. Softens skin, smells lovely and will strengthen finger nails.