Home page » Beauty » Nails
Author of the article
Svetlana Pavlikhina
Reading time: 7 minutes
AA
A medicinal nail mask will help restore a healthy appearance to your nails. It can be made with different components that are found in every home. Regular use of strengthening, oil-based warming masks for rapid growth of the nail plate gives good results. These homemade products are no less useful than store-bought ones.
Efficiency of the procedure
Homemade homemade mixtures accelerate nail growth, strengthening it. For this, ingredients are used that can increase blood flow to the nail root, moisturize, protect the stratum corneum, and saturate it with vitamins.
Essential microelements
The main element that forms the nail is keratin (protein), the building material of skin, hair, and nails.
Its deficiency leads to delamination of the stratum corneum. Nails become brittle. They can be made healthier by including ingredients with sulfur, calcium, selenium, zinc, vitamins A and E in masks.
Increased blood flow
The root of the nail is connected to the skin at the nail bed. Through blood vessels, blood delivers useful substances to the nail.
Increased blood flow to the nail root leads to its accelerated growth . For this purpose, warming masks are used that increase blood flow.
Hydration
Lack of moisture in the body and working with aggressive drugs lead to dryness and fragility of the stratum corneum. Oil masks help nourish it, protect it from external influences, and increase the elasticity of the nail plate.
Baths for strengthening nails at home
This is a simple but no less effective method. You can alternate them with masks or use them for steaming before a manicure. A course of baths can be done daily. During the procedure, the water should not be too hot. Below are the 10 most popular recipes:
WITH MINERAL WATER AND SALT
Heat still mineral water and add sea salt to it (25g per 2 glasses of water). Leave your nails for 15-20 minutes, then pat dry with a towel. This bath will nourish the nail well with minerals. After it, you can apply a nourishing cream.
WITH IODINE
For 500 ml of water you will need half a teaspoon of iodine. You can enhance the effect by adding 2 tablespoons of salt. Exposure time – 15 minutes. Iodine is a natural antiseptic that helps fight fungus.
ON HERBS
A collection of chamomile, St. John's wort, and burdock root gives a good effect. You can buy herbs at the pharmacy and mix them yourself. Brew at the rate of 2 tablespoons of raw material per glass of boiling water, let cool and hold your hands for 20-30 minutes. The components can be used separately.
WITH OILS
You can take a simple vegetable (linseed, sunflower, apricot, any other), or in combination with an essential one (cedar, pine). To a glass of warm water, add a tablespoon of essential oil with a couple of drops of essential oil. Leave for up to half an hour.
SODA
Preparation: add a tablespoon of baking soda to a glass of hot water. Mix everything, let cool and hold your fingers for 15 minutes. Afterwards, apply moisturizer. It is good to do this bath before a manicure and no more than 2 times a week.
WITH GELATIN
Gelatin strengthens the nail well. Ratio: sachet per glass of hot water. Place your nails in the cooled bath and leave for 15 minutes. After the course, the effect will be no worse than when using a gelatin mask.
LEMON
After 5 procedures the effect will already be visible. You will need the juice of ½ lemon per glass of warm water. You can add a little olive oil. Exposure time – 10-15 minutes. Afterwards, apply moisturizer to the skin of your hands and cuticles.
DAIRY
It will nourish your nails well with calcium. Heat 2 cups of milk and keep your fingers for about half an hour. You can supplement the recipe with honey and gelatin by adding 2 teaspoons to the milk (you will get the consistency of jelly).
NUTRITIONAL FROM COOK AND BUTTER
It will give a quick effect after use. The nail will receive calcium, vitamins and microelements. In a glass of warm water, stir a little cottage cheese with flaxseed oil. Leave your nails for a quarter of an hour.
WITH HONEY
Dissolve 1 tbsp in a glass of warm water or milk. l. honey Exposure time – from 20 minutes. If you have flaking nails, then after the course you will forget about this problem.
Factors affecting nail growth
People's nails grow slowly. Their length increases by 4-6 mm per month.
The following factors influence growth:
- hormonal levels (puberty, pregnancy, menopause);
- general condition of the body (diet, chronic diseases, seasonal colds);
- heredity: the concentration of cysteine (an amino acid that makes up the stratum corneum) is present in a person from birth, its high concentration makes nails strong;
- quality of nutrition (diet, vitamin deficiencies, poor diet).
The thinning of the horny coating is caused by working with your hands in water, in the cold, using chemicals without gloves, and the habit of biting your nails.
Types of masks
To treat nails, natural homemade effective masks and purchased products that contain chemicals are used. The use will be beneficial in any case, but treatment procedures must be carried out regularly.
Purchased masks
The cosmetics market offers a large number of firming products with a varied composition, including chemical elements.
Manufacturers claim that nail masks are designed to grow in a week, but this is not true. The effect should be expected after a month of regular use.
Homemade masks
You can prepare such products yourself at home. The ingredients for them are the most common. Applications on nails should be done regularly, only then will the result be noticeable.
Nail masks at home
Simple recipes that give effect within a week:
LEMON-HONEY MASK
Squeeze the pulp out of half a lemon and chop it. Mix with a little honey and keep the brushes on for about 7-10 minutes. Rinse your hands and treat them with cream. Lemon strengthens well, and honey nourishes the plate with microelements. Just two procedures per week are enough.
GELATIN
Dissolve a sachet of gelatin in 300 ml of hot water, then cool. Adding vegetable oil (olive, flaxseed, whatever you have on hand) will have a good effect. Place the brush (or apply it) into the mixture for a quarter of an hour. Three procedures in 7 days will already give a good result.
BASED ON RED PEPPER
There are different recipes for this mask. The best option is to apply it together with a thick ointment (for example, panthenol). Pepper increases blood flow in the nail bed and matrix. If used improperly, you may get a chemical burn. The ointment will prevent this unwanted effect.
Prepare a liquid paste from ground pepper (a pinch in half a milliliter of water, enough to cover your nails), to which add ointment. Heat and cool. Do not exceed the holding time (quarter of an hour)! Once a week is enough.
Masks for nail growth at home
VITAMIN
Prepare a mixture of oil solutions of retinol, tocopherol, pyridoxine (A, E, B6 - 1 ampoule of each), you can rub it into the dermis. Wear rubber gloves, leave for half an hour and rinse. It is good to make such a mask in winter, when the skin becomes dry. A couple of masks for 7 days will give a good effect.
WITH MUSTARD
Mix a tablespoon of mustard with water and a little honey until it reaches a pasty consistency. Apply to nails, hold in gloves for 20 minutes and rinse. One procedure per week is enough. Mustard, like pepper, stimulates blood circulation in the nail plate, making nails grow faster.
YOLK WITH CREAM
Mix and then heat the ingredients: chicken yolk, 2 tablespoons of cream and a little flour. The mixture should be thick. When it has cooled, massage it into your nails and skin. Exposure time: 2 hours using rubber gloves. When rinsing, do not use soap. Make two to three masks a week.
Masks for strengthening nails at home
BASED ON BEESWAX
It is better to do this mask at night, you need to sleep in fabric gloves, and wash everything off in the morning. Melt 100-150g wax, a tablespoon of sea salt and 2-3 drops of iodine. It is better to melt the wax in a water bath and mix the ingredients while it is hot. Once cool, place your fingers in it, then let the mixture set. It is best to carry out procedures 2 times a week.
WITH ESSENTIAL OILS
You can create your own recipes by combining different types of oils. They are very easy to make. For example, take jojoba oil as a base and add a few drops of two more different oils (lavender + apricot oil). Massage your nails with this mixture.
IODINE
For 10 days, paint your nails every day with a brush at night with medical iodine. You can use an iodine pencil. After use, the nails will stop peeling and will look healthy.
Effective moisturizing masks
OIL
Prepared by mixing olive oil (100 ml) with calendula oil (50 ml). Heat the mixture until warm and soak your nails in it for several minutes. It will have a good effect if you go to bed with such hands, having first put on fabric gloves.
GLYCERIN-HONEY
This mask is also best applied at night. It moisturizes and nourishes the skin of the hands and nail plates. Make a mixture of glycerin and honey in a 1:1 ratio. Apply with massage movements and rub in. It is better to take thick honey. In the morning, wash off with plain water without soap.
COCOA MASK
It's very easy to do. You will need cocoa butter. Hold it in your hands until it becomes soft, then rub into your nails, cuticles, and skin of your hands. Keep your hands in gloves for 2 hours and rinse off. The mask can be left on overnight. Do it between coats of polish because cocoa butter gives the nail oil that is lost when removing the previous coat.
What effect to expect
Warming masks with red pepper and mustard accelerate nail growth by increasing blood flow to the nail bed.
Masks with iodine, gelatin, and sea salt strengthen nails thanks to the microelements they contain.
Oil masks, products with glycerin, paraffin, vegetables and fruits, juices, oils nourish and moisturize the thinned dry stratum corneum.
Masks for growing and strengthening nails: tips for use
- Steam your hands before applying. This way the active substance will be absorbed better. It is good to do procedures after a bath or sauna. It is unacceptable to apply a mask to a nail with any coating, so do not forget to remove the polish!
- Enhance the effect with massage and heat. Rub the mixture vigorously and wear gloves. Heat activates blood flow, and massage will improve microcirculation.
- Carry out a course of an average of 10 procedures. Application frequency: 2-3 times a week. The exception is irritating masks (based on pepper and mustard), which can be applied no more than once every 7 days.
- Moisturizing and nourishing masks are best applied at night. During this time, the active components will have time to nourish the nail as much as possible. Wear gloves made of natural fabric (preferably cotton) on your hands and wrap yourself under a blanket so as not to lose heat.
