Secrets of healthy natural nails

Secrets of gorgeous natural nails
By Beverly Johnson



Nothing ruins perfectly polished beauty like broken, brittle, damaged nails.

Try out these easy beauty tricks and soon you’ll be enjoying strong, beautiful natural nails you won’t mind showing off!

1. Keep your hands out of your mouth. If you’re really trying to grow out your fingernails, you should avoid putting your finger tips in your mouth. Even if you’re not biting your nails, the saliva can still damage your nail and cause it to become weak.

Saliva contains a digestive acid that breaks down the nail surface, making it weak and likely to chip.

2. Protect your hands: Dish soap, washing detergent and even germicidal soap can dry out your nails, leaving them brittle and prone to breakage. Wear thick gloves whenever you do the dishes or are going to expose your hands to water for any length of time. This goes for gardening or sports too. And, never use your nail tips to do odd jobs, like opening a can.

3. Don't underestimate the damaging power of hot water to soften your nails quickly. Hot water can make your nails weak and soft.

Avoid hot water baths or showers whenever possible. Opt for a short warm shower, instead.

4. Get your calcium and minerals. Nails thrive on the minerals and vitamins found in milk, fruits and vegetables. For long and naturally beautiful nails, try to get at least a glass of milk daily. Even if you're not a big milk drinker, you can get your daily allowance of calcium from many vegetables (such as broccoli or cabbage) or even a soft chewable calcium tablet.

And, fill up on fruits and steamed veggies at meal times.

5. All natural beauty for your nails.

Rub one teaspoon daily of olive oil or castor oil over nails, nail bed and cuticles to keep nails looking perfectly pink and healthy.

Once a week, apply a drop of tea tree oil to each cuticle. Tea tree oil contains an all natural anti-septic that will help your fingernails stay free of germs that might cause infection.

Apply Castor oil or healing Shea butter to your hands and nails nightly, massaging thoroughly. Then put on a pair of soft cotton gloves. When you wake up, you'll find that your nails look fantastic, and your hands are soft as baby's skin!


6. Eat your way to beautiful nails. If you're on the perpetual diet, you may find that your nails suffer, too.

This may be because many necessary nail friendly vitamins, are missing from fad or crash diets. Include a wide variety of fruits and vegetables in your diet for best fingernail health.

Or, supplement your current meals with a good multi-vitamin. Also, be sure to check out the vitamins specifically marked for "Hair and Nails."

These may contain gelatin or other vitamins and minerals necessary to good looking nails.

7. Do you read labels? For your nail's sake, you should. Some nail polish still contains formaldehyde and other dangerous chemicals.
Not only can these harm your nails, they can also be dangerous to your over all health.

8. Never cut or tear your cuticles. The cuticle’s job is to keep foreign bacteria out of your body that would otherwise enter via the nail bed. The cuticle is your fingernails last line of defense.

If your nails are perpetually broken or ragged, or your fingers suffer regular swelling or infections, your cuticles may be to blame. Take care of this very vital part of your finger. Only push back cuticles. Never cut cuticles.

Moisturize cuticles daily with castor oil. And, skip the germicidal soap which can dry out cuticles, making them more likely to tear.

9. Sanitize your home manicure kit utensils with alcohol (or other sanitizing agent) before and after each use, to remove potentially harmful bacteria. Bacteria on nail clippers and other utensils can get under nail beds and into minor cuts on your fingers, causing infection, so clean everything thoroughly first.

Carry your own nail polish and pedicure/manicure tools to the salon. Insist that the nail tech use your set instead of hers. Don't worry, she'll understand. And, if she doesn't get your need for safety, find someone who will.

10. Wash your hands thoroughly after you handle your feet.
This might sound obvious, but you'd be surprised how easy it is to pass germs from your feet to your nails.

Some types of fungus that makes toe nails brittle and hard can be passed to finger nails causing them to become unsightly and yellow. If you notice this condition, talk to your doctor right away. There are topical and oral treatments available.

Posted in Nail Care , Secrets of healthy nails