10 nail care tips

A woman's appearance is her dignity. All girls strive to be beautiful and want to catch the admiring glances of others. To look good, you first need to learn to take care of yourself. Every part of the body needs gentle daily care, from your heels and toes to your face and hair. Hands and nails are no exception. Their well-groomed and healthy appearance will not go unnoticed.

The question of how to care for nails at home arises for everyone, since in salons such procedures cost a lot of money. And there is not always enough time for such trips. And sitting on your favorite sofa, it’s much more comfortable to conduct your own beauty sessions. But in order for all this to only benefit your hands, you need to know all the subtleties and rules of home nail care. You should also have a little knowledge about health in this area.

What can a nail plate tell you?

Nails do not always look healthy and strong. For many they peel off. Some people often break. Some complain of the appearance of white spots. All this is not happy and needs treatment. The color of the nail, its shape and its surface can tell what is missing in the human body.

Deficiency of vitamins A, B and E is expressed in dull nail color. Anemia can manifest itself in the same way, but this is much less common.
Slow nail growth often indicates a metabolic disorder.
The lack of calcium and phosphorus in the body is reflected in the thickness of the nail plate. It becomes very thin and completely transparent.
And if there is an excess of iron in the human body, then longitudinal darkish grooves may appear on the nails.
Transverse stripes indicate problems with the gastrointestinal tract.
If your nails are growing too quickly, this may indicate that there is a surge in hormones.

Based on these signs, you can understand what health problems the girl has and what exactly needs to be cured. Proper nail care at home depends on the listed ailments.

Home nail care

Tools

First, scissors. It is not recommended to trim your nails with them. To avoid delamination, it is better to remove the length by filing. But cuticle scissors with thin, sharp blades will come in handy to remove hangnails carefully, without cuts. Choose professional tools made from high quality stainless steel. When closing, the blades of the scissors should converge smoothly, be smooth and perfectly polished.

Of course, nail care and manicure are impossible without nail files.

The main advice is to forget about metal ones: they injure and cause peeling. If your nails are fragile and brittle, a fine-grained glass, crystal or ceramic file would be the best option. Such files act as carefully as possible and seal the edge of the nail.

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You can also use files on a cardboard or plastic base, onto which the working coating is glued. They differ in the degree of hardness, or abrasiveness, which is measured in special units - grit, and is usually indicated directly on the file. The higher the numbers, the more gentle the effect of the tool on the nails. Remember: the optimal abrasiveness of a file for natural nails is from 180 to 240 grit.

In addition to files for cutting length and giving nails the desired shape, there are also polishers and buffs - files in the form of a polishing bar. These are soft tools with abrasiveness from 240 to 1200 grit, which grind the nail plates, removing all roughness, and giving a mirror shine.

There are also files for side ridges - rough and dry skin on the sides of the nails really spoils the appearance of the fingers, and cutting it off with scissors is not recommended. Using a special laser file, it can be easily and accurately sanded.

In addition, to care for your nails at home, you will need orange wood sticks to push back the cuticles, a manicure bath - a professional or just a bowl of suitable size, and cotton pads.

Remember that manicure tools, like a toothbrush, are a strictly individual thing. Don't even share them with your sister or best friend. Buying a Glasperlene sterilizer or a dry-heat oven, like in a salon, will be unnecessary, but an antiseptic spray for treating instruments will not hurt, even if only one person uses them.

Nail and cuticle products

It is better to have two hand creams at once - with different textures. Lightweight and easily absorbed, leaving no greasy residue, carry it with you and use it after every hand washing. Store the thick and oily cream-balm on the nightstand near your bed and apply it at night. Good hand creams contain the following ingredients: vitamins C and E, lanolin, allantoin, nourishing oils (olives, avocado, wheat germ, mango and others), plant extracts. A not at all superfluous thing in hand cream is SPF.

You just can't get by with creams. The cuticle needs special care - oil. It will soften the cuticle and side ridges, giving the fingers a neat, well-groomed appearance, and nourish the base of the nails with microelements, polyunsaturated acids and other benefits, making them healthier and stronger. Oil in pencil form is convenient to carry in your bag, and a bottle with a brush or pipette is a “stationary” option.

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To take care of your nails with a homemade unedged manicure, you need to purchase a remover - a product that softens dry cuticles so that they can then be easily removed. Removers “dissolve” unnecessary skin either through alkali or fruit acids. In the first case, they act quite aggressively, and you should not keep the product on the skin longer than the time recommended by the manufacturer.

Useful recipes for healthy hands

Baths, even at home, are equivalent to spa treatments. They are very useful and very easy to implement. The main thing is to follow these steps step by step:

prepare the nail - rid it of varnish;
prepare all ingredients;
mix all ingredients to a homogeneous mass or solution;
put your hands in it for a certain time;
wipe dry;
lubricate with moisturizer.

It's all quite simple.

Soap solution and olive oil

A soap bath is recommended for severely peeling nails. The duration of the procedure is 20 minutes. Ingredients: 1 glass of sea salt and 1 glass of water with liquid soap added to it.
A solution with olive oil perfectly softens rough cuticles, strengthens nails well and makes hands very soft. The procedure takes 15 minutes. Only half a glass of warm olive oil will be useful.

How to properly care for your nails at home

In order to properly care for your nails at home and ensure their neat, healthy condition, you need to additionally carry out cosmetic manipulations, providing them with nutrition and improving their structure.

Baths

To ensure results, you need to set the frequency of using the baths - it is recommended to do them 2 times a week.

The most effective bath is made from sea salt; it gently cares for the nails, removing the dry layer of skin. For this, per 100 ml of hot water, take one tablespoon of salt, which dissolves in it - the amount of solution can be increased proportionally. You need to immerse your hands in the mixture for 15 minutes, then pat dry with a disposable towel and apply nourishing cream or oil.

Masks

You can take care of your nails by making masks. You can make them yourself, or you can use ready-made ones that are sold in the store. They are equally effective in caring for sensitive surfaces.

Masks usually contain oil:

Mix a tablespoon of olive oil with 5-7 drops of lemon juice.
Distribute the solution over the cuticles and side ridges.
Rub the mixture in, spending a minute on each finger. A large amount of massage helps reduce cuticle growth.
Put on cotton gloves and leave your hands like that overnight.
In the morning you can wash off the remaining product.

Manicure

Recommendations on how to care for your nails at home include proper manicure.

A proper manicure includes a few tips:

You cannot remove the length completely to the root, as this can damage the structure of the plate, slowing down its growth;
Before a manicure, you need to sterilize all instruments to prevent infection;
It is first recommended to soften your fingers by immersing them in hot water for 10 minutes;
Use a remover to make cutting cuticles easier;
Use a file instead of scissors.

To properly care for your nails, you need to pay attention to the manicure. Often girls do it carelessly, quickly cutting off the length and removing overgrown skin on the nail, but it is important to do this carefully.

It is not difficult to care for the plate; to do this, you need to set aside an average of one evening every 5-7 days to bring its condition in order.

Nourishing nail masks

A hand mask is a very popular, useful and effective spa treatment that requires attention. It takes a minimum of time, but brings noticeable results. Such procedures can be alternated with baths.

Pepper and iodine

Pepper mixture is used to combat brittle marigolds. Its effectiveness is quite high. Apply to hands for 5-10 minutes. Ingredients: 1 teaspoon of nourishing cream, 1 teaspoon of hot pepper.
The iodine mask is simple to perform, but not inferior in effectiveness. Perfectly strengthens nail plates. You just need to lubricate your nails with iodine at night.

Salt, iodine, paraffin and wax

One of the fast-acting mixtures is an iodine-salt mask. Makes nails strong and healthy. You need to add a few drops of iodine and 1 tablespoon of sea salt to a glass of warm water.
If your nails grow very slowly, then wax or paraffin masks are suitable. Only melted liquid will be useful. You need to dip your hands in it and wear it like gloves for at least several hours.

Olive oil and gelatin

For a mask with olive oil, you will need 1 glass of oil and 2-3 drops of lemon juice. It is recommended to leave this mixture on your hands overnight for the best effect.
Gelatin is a pretty healthy product. You just need to dissolve 0.5 tablespoon of gelatin in a glass of boiling water and put your hands in the cooled mixture for about 15 minutes.

Masks made from vitamins and jojoba oil

A mixture of vitamins A and E works wonders. Simply mix them and rub on the nail plates. You can carry out the procedure at least every day.
Jojoba oil has extensive medicinal properties. You need to rub it into your nails at night.

Properly care for short nails

Short nails are not a punishment, it is also a very big advantage. Firstly, they are much more practical than long ones, and secondly, many men do not like “huge female claws.” But if the nails break even in this form, they are peeling and thin, then you need to learn to find the root cause.

First, analyze your diet. Eat more vitamins and fresh fruits, soak your nails in a solution of sea salt and minerals. Taking calcium and fluoride helps a lot. You can also strengthen your nails at home with calcium baths. You just need to dissolve two calcium gluconate tablets in a glass of water.

Gelatin baths help a lot. Dissolve one sachet of the substance in warm water and gently apply the mixture to your hands. Leave it like this for half an hour and then rinse it off carefully. Afterwards, it is recommended to apply a nourishing cream, preferably home-made.

Don't forget about the cuticles on your hands. A European manicure without cutting the cuticle looks safe and neat.

And some more nail care tips:

TIP #1: Don't be afraid to use makeup on your nails

Don't believe that polishes are bad for your nails. Good varnishes can protect the nail from the harmful effects of the external environment - from mechanical damage, from excess moisture. But varnish can only be applied to a well-cleaned nail so that there are no bacteria underneath it.

Little hint:

If you have yellowish or olive colored hands , white, beige, orange and chocolate nail polish colors will suit you.
If your skin has a pale tone , pink, purple, and blue raspberry polishes will suit you.
If you want red, then remember: bright reds look better on olive skin , and cherry reds look better on white skin. Apply the varnish in two layers - this way the color will be more saturated.

TIP #2: File and polish properly

Did you know that a nail file can only be moved in one direction? You can't just move it back and forth. Polish the nail strictly in one direction. This spoils the structure of the nail, then cracks appear and the nail often breaks. Therefore, we polish the nail strictly in one direction.

IMPORTANT! Don't get carried away with polishes and buffs. Yes, they make the nail shiny, but they remove the top layer of the nail. The nail becomes thinner and weaker, begins to crumble and flake.

TIP #3: Which nail polish remover should you choose?

Acetone is a clear, flammable substance with a pungent odor. This is a strong solvent and can even corrode plastic.

Products containing acetone cannot be used on extended nails - this solvent easily corrodes the artificial nail. Do not use nail polish remover more than once a week - it dries out the nail plate and cuticles.

The main active ingredient in nail polish removers without acetone is ethyl acetate - a colorless liquid with a fruity odor that also burns. Widely used as a solvent due to its low cost, low toxicity and acceptable odor.

LITTLE SECRET: If you urgently need to remove nail polish and don’t have any product at hand, remember a few tips. The varnish can be removed with: another varnish, hair spray, deodorant spray, body spray.

Nails show the whole world how you feel about yourself. Love your nails, take care of them, and perhaps someone will also want to take care of you and love you.

The editors recommend:

Care for extended nails:

Do not ignore the date of correction of the extended nail. Since the master does all the basic care for your extended nails, you need to visit him regularly and on time.
Protect your nails from mechanical damage. Extended nails look strong and strong, but they do not bend at all.
Strengthen your nails with cuticle oil and do a light massage. Both your manicure and your hand skin will look much better.
Wear gloves when cleaning or washing dishes. Detergents and cleaning products contain many chemicals that have a detrimental effect on extended nails. However, they have a detrimental effect on everything.
Avoid sudden changes in temperature - don't take a hot bath as soon as you get home if it's freezing outside.

Dermatologists advise: proper care of nails and cuticles

You may feel like your cuticles are just taking up space on your nails. But it's not that simple. They perform their function. They protect the matrix that is located at the root of the nail, which is responsible for nail growth.

The cuticle is a part of your skin; it performs a protective function. To keep your protective barrier strong, you need to use these tips:

Don't trim your cuticles. Dermatologists say that proper nail care does not consist of cutting the cuticles; there is no reason to do this, because by doing this you give bacteria direct access to the blood. This leads to various problems such as deformation of the nail plate and white spots on it.
Use a wooden stick to push it away from the nail. Do this after baths. Cuticles don't like being cut. They should be soft - cutting them hard makes them hard. This causes them to crack. People who trim their cuticles regularly are afraid to stop because they think it will grow further and further onto the nail. But this will not happen - just as frequent shaving does not make hair grow faster.
Keep your nails moisturized . It seems that the cuticle is not as soft as the skin throughout the body, but it also needs moisture. To do this, use creams and homemade nail masks.
Do not bite your nails - if you bite the skin around the nail, the bacteria that are constantly in the saliva, as well as its acids, begin to have a detrimental effect on the skin.
To soften the cuticle , you need baths and masks, which are described below. Or you can just take half a lemon and stick your fingertips into it.