Having long and curvy nails? Does your heart skip a beat when one of them breaks down?

Yes, women love to have long nails and are very conscious about them just as they are for their hair and skin. Cleaning and maintaining your nails plays a crucial role to have neat and attractive nails. So, is moving to the salon every now and then is a good way to protect them? Definitely no. The salons would merely give you a chemical based treatment which might also damage them. You might receive bundles of suggestions from different people on how to take care of your nails.

However, some are based on myths that are sure to harm your nails. The nails give an exquisite and tender look to your hands and hence, lack of proper care would result in several nail problems that would damage them.

So, which is the best way to look after them? How can they be maintained with basic care at home? Here are some basic techniques to take care of your nails that would help you to keep them safe, and allow them to grow strong also.

10 Tips on How to Take Care of Your Nails

1. Cutting Nails! Look After the Cuticles

Cuticles are an important part of your nails. They are naturally gifted with a tendency to protect your nails from any kind of fungus or bacterial effect. Cutting off them would create infections. The cuticles can be slightly moved backward, after having a shower when they are tender to make them clean and secure. Giving them a gentle massage would also work for them in regaining their softness. Also, once you cut them they would grow hard which would be difficult to manage.

So, next time you cut your nails, make sure you don’t damage the cuticles to give your nails utmost protection.

2. Moisturize Your Nails

Are your nails breaking down frequently? Since how long haven’t you give a touch of moisture to your nails? Yes, just as your skin requires moisturizing, similarly, your nails also need the same care. This would help your nails in growing and give a cute look to your cuticles. You can use oils like olive oil, almond oil or avocado oil to moisturize them, or also apply creams which are rich in Vitamins. For better nourishment, you can apply some oil or creams on the cuticles before getting into your bed, and your nails would get moisturized the rest of the night. You can also use a mild amount of lip balm to hydrate your nails and cuticles.

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3. Avoid Frequent Hand Wash

Do you have a habit of washing your hands after a specific interval of time, or after the completion of every single task? Get rid of that habit as soon as possible. You are damaging your nails and cuticles indirectly every time you wash your hands. Washing them frequently would vanish the moisture of the nails and henceforth, damage them.

In case you need to wash your hands frequently, make sure you also use some moisturizer every time. Also, while dealing with the household work, avoid the use of too much water through your hands, and make sure you stay away from the chemicals which can be harsh to your nails. Keep your nails dry to avoid the growth of fungus and other bacteria when they are wet.

4. Do You Concentrate on Your Diet to Keep Your Nails Healthy?

Shocked! But it’s true. The food your intake contains calcium, Vitamin A, folic acid, silica, Vitamin C, phosphorous and much more nutrients. All these nutrients are essential for your nails to restore their healthiness. Intake of milk, cheese, yogurt, plenty of water, spinach, parsley, broccoli, carrots, coriander, almonds etc. is also necessary supplements to nourish your nails and provide you with Vitamin A. The nails also need keratin which can be taken by having beans, fish and nuts. Look after your diet and you are sure to get strong and healthy nails in return.

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5. Check Your Nail Polish Remover Before Using It

Love applying different shades of nail polish! Do you check whether your remover contains acetone or not?

Acetone is a product that would damage the moisture of your nails and cuticles. It removes all the effect of the natural oils you have applied for your nails and skin also. If you are having brittle nails, it would damage you more than normal nails. Do your nails and surrounding skin look white after using the remover? Yes, that’s because of the excess use of acetone in the remover.

Instead, use some nail polish removers which contain oil or apply gentle soap to a toothbrush with soft hair and scrub your nails. This would clean your nails as well as remove the nail paint.

6. Do Your Nails Remain Dirty Most of the Time? Clean Them

Just as cleaning your hair is important at a regular interval, your nails also need to be cleaned. Spend some moment in soaking them in warm water. Make the water soapy using gentle soapy gels, clean the nails and surroundings using a soft brush. Doing this would not only help you keep them clean, but will also protect your nails from any kind of infections caused due to the germs they carry. The dead skin surrounding the nails is also harmful which can be removed by a mild stone, the pumice stone.

Giving your nails manicure at regular interval is also necessary to keep your nails clean and remove the dead skin around them.

7. Nail Hardeners Protect Your Nails – A Myth

Do you keep coating your nails by nail hardeners! Oops, stop doing that. You are harming your nails by using them. The nail hardener damages the nails rather than protecting them. The hardener should only be used if your nails are very weak and break frequently. The nail hardeners make your nails crisp which easily breaks during routine work also.

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8. Going for Regular Manicure Treatments! Stop It Right Now.

Although getting a manicure is beneficial for your hand’s skin and nails, but regular manicure is definitely not recommended. The chemicals used in the manicure kits damage the softness of your nails, cuticles and surrounding skin leading to brittle and dry nails. It leads to nail infections like chronic nail bed infection, puffy redness, and much more. The area surrounding your nail bed should be plain and soft. Regular manicures lead the area to become puffy which means you are infected.

To prevent your nails from such infections, you can use your manicure kits and tools and lessen the visits to the salon for a manicure.

9. Manage Your Nail Size and Avoid Artificial Nails

No doubt long nails give a beautiful look to your hands, but they also lead to snags. How would your hand look when it carries few nails lengthy while some half due to breakage! Really bad. So, make sure you maintain a small length of your nails and shape them properly. The short nails would also be easy to manage and clean which would give you a neat appearance.

Love wearing artificial nails! There is some bad news for you than. The artificial nails cause damage to your nails also. They lead to fungal infections at times and complete damage at its worst. If still in case you have to wear them, don’t wear the ones with full extensions, wear only the tip extensions to reduce the damaging effect.

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10. Having Nail Paints with Acrylic! Get Rid of Them.

The acrylic nail paints are the most attractive ones among other simple nail paints. They are easy to apply and also get spread quickly on the nails. But the affect your nails badly also very easily. The chemicals used in making the acrylic nail polishes consist of resins, formaldehyde and many such ingredients which are harmful to the nails. It may also destroy your nail matrix resulting into the complete removal of the nail. They damage the natural oils present in the cuticles leaving your nails dry and brittle. Some women have also reported allergic reactions in using such nail polishes.

Henceforth, cleaning your nail regularly, trimming them, using gloves for harsh cleaning or gardening, reducing the use of nail polishes and nail arts, coating your nails with a mild top coat, etc. are the best way to protect your nails from damaging. If you are having nail tools at home, make sure you also keep them clean and hygiene so that they would cause any damage to your nails and give you clean and fascinating nails.

Hope these simple tips will help you take care of your nails and maintain their beauty for longer times!