Looking beautiful is not just restricted to your face. Right from your hair to the tips of your nails, proper care is necessary to keep feeling fabulous. With the growing emphasis on holistic beauty, make sure that you don’t neglect even the smallest part of your beauty regime.
Although we do end up spending time and money every month on manicures and pedicures, there are some simple things we ignore when it comes to our nails. Take care of these on a daily basis and they will look and feel like straight out of a magazine cover.
Health over length
Agreed that long nails look beautiful, but they will look bad if your nails are not healthy. If your nails tend to break or split easily, we recommend that you keep them short with rounded edges. Cut them once in two weeks and keep them matching to each other. Do not bite your fingernails or pick at your cuticles lest you damage your nail bed.
A healthy diet
Fingernails are composed of laminated layers of a protein called keratin. Keeping them healthy is as important as keeping your skin and hair healthy. Having a protein rich diet and supplementing it with Vitamin E, Biotin and fish oil will keep your nails healthy.
Get them checked
If you see any drastic changes such as discoloration that does not go away, curled nails, bleeding around the nails or swelling and pain see a dermatologist immediately. Don’t try to cut and cure them yourself as it can lead to severe infections.
Keep them clean
Keep fingernails dry and clean to prevent bacteria from growing. Wear gloves when you have a prolonged contact with water or while using harsh chemicals.
Use sharp manicure scissors or clippers to trim your nails. Make sure your manicurist properly sterilizes all tools used in the session. Use a mild soap and gently scrub your nails with a soft bristled toothbrush.
Moisturise
Use a hand lotion on your fingernails and cuticles, too. You can also use olive oil or almond oil and mix it with a capsule of vitamin E and rub it all over your nails before hitting the bed. If your nail is prone to breakage use a nail hardener.
Stay off chemicals
Do not use harsh nail care products and limit your use of nail polish removers especially if they are not acetone free. Indulge in acrylic or gel treatments sparingly. They seem to be convenient and last long but they are hard on nail health. Gel treatments are bad for your skin too as UV rays are used to harden the product and prolonged and repeated exposure can even lead to cancer.
Let your nails breathe for at least a few days before going in for the next treatment.
Always use a base coat and top coat
Using a base coat at all times not only protects the nail from being stained by the polish pigment, but also helps it look more saturated and healthy. A top coat will make your nailpolish last longer and lead to lesser chipping. Which means you will use less removers and chemicals that harm your nails.
