Don’t you just hate it when you break a nail? What a disaster! If a nail breaks by accident, it’s okay. Accidents happen. However, if your nails are constantly breaking, splitting, peeling or chipping, then you have a problem.
You must take care of your nails diligently and with great patience — strong, beautiful nails do not happen overnight. By following the simple tips outlined below, you can have the nails that you have always dreamed of.
1. Keep Your Hands and Nails Clean
To have beautiful hands, you have to have beautiful nails. To have beautiful hands and nails, you have to keep them clean. Wash your hands with gentle hand soap and use a nail brush to scrub your nails thoroughly on top, along the folds, and under them where dirt usually hides.
2. Moisturize Your Hands and Nails After Washing Your Hands
Water hydrates your skin, but dehydrates your nails. To compensate, you need to moisturize your hands and nails after every wash. Your regular hand moisturizer will do. As you’re rubbing your hands together, make sure your nails are being thoroughly moisturized as well.
3. Wear Rubber Gloves When Washing Dishes
Not only is this common chore tough on your hands, it is also very damaging to your nails. Excessive dish washing is one of the most common reasons that nails become dry and brittle.
If you have a dishwasher, use it. If you have to wash the dishes by hand, protect your nails by wearing rubber gloves.
4. Wear Protective Gloves When Doing Chores
You also shouldn’t forget to protect your nails when doing other household chores. Harsh chemicals from soap and cleaning products are murderous to your nails. Wear latex gloves with a cotton lining to protect your hands and nails when cleaning your kitchen or scrubbing the bathroom.
5. Wear Protective Gloves When Gardening
Gloves also go for outdoor chores! Protect your nails from dirt and breakage when you are working on your garden. You should never work on your garden without garden gloves. In addition to keeping the dirt off your nails, garden gloves also protect your hands from blisters, sharp objects, and thorns.
6. Keep Your Nails Hydrated
Water, harsh soap, and other cleaning products dry out our nails. In addition, our nails get drier as we age. To make up for the loss of water, we need to moisturize our nails regularly to prevent breaking, splitting, and chipping.
To keep your nails hydrated, moisturize your hands and nails after every wash. You can also rub a small amount of petroleum jelly on your nails after bathing or showering, and every time you wash your hands. Shea butter, jojoba oil, avocado oil, castor oil, and olive oil are also great for keeping your nails hydrated.
Be careful of using manufactured nail moisturizers since these products may contain alpha-hydroxy acids, lactic acid, and urea, substances that can cause stinging and contact dermatitis in some people.
7. Polish Your Nails
Applying nail polish, even if it is just a clear base coat, protects your nails and reduces moisture loss. A proper nail polish application consists of a base coat, one or two coatings of your chosen nail polish, and a topcoat.
The base coat is important to ensure good adhesion to the nail plate and prevent the polish from chipping. The base coat may also prevent nail discoloration caused by dark polish.
The topcoat provides gloss and resistance to chipping.
Note: Nails don’t need to breathe! Since nails are made of keratin, they don’t require oxygen and do not need to “breathe” the way your skin does.
Give your nails lots and lots of tender loving care. If beautiful hair is the crowning glory of your face, having beautiful nails is the crowning glory of your hands.