Tips for Healthy & Beautiful Nails

Nail care Tips: Keep them Strong and Shining
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Nails are important part of your hands and toes. Nails protect your fingers from getting hurt. Condition of nails also tells about your overall health. Nails get lots of wear and tear due to work you do with your hands. You have to protect your nails from chipping and breaking.

Healthy Nails:
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Healthy nails have a pink sheen reflecting from them. They are crystal clear and look pinkish because of the flow of blood in tissues underneath them. For nails to be healthy, you should eat healthy diet which includes lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Diet should contain all the required vitamins and minerals. Silicon rich food like broccoli, onions and fish are great for nails. Take biotin rich foods like whole grains, banana for the health of nails. Zinc and vitamin B are must for the health of nails. For strong nails, you need calcium and phosphorous. You can get it by milk, curd, cheese or fresh carrot juice. Besides it, drinking plenty of water and other fluids are good for keeping nails hydrated and flushing out the toxins.

Other diet facts concerning health of nails:
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Nails become dry and brittle due to deficiency of vitamin A and calcium. There is appearance of hangnails due to lack of protein, folic acid and vitamin C. Deficiency of vitamin B12 causes dry and darkened nails. White spots appear on nails due to lack of zinc. Appearance of red skin around cuticles indicates lack of proper metabolism of essential fatty acids. If you have chipped and cracked nails, you are lacking proper hydration in body.

To maintain healthy nails, it does not take much of your time. You just need to have proper diet as told above, keep them moisturized and protect them from environmental and mechanical wear and tear.

Normal shaped nails are stronger than the long and pointed nails. It is essential to apply coats of nail hardening agents to prevent them from chipping and breaking. Most effective nail hardening agents are one which contains nylon fibers.

To keep the nails beautiful and protected you need to apply nail polish. But the more important nail care tip is not to apply it frequently as it gives yellow discoloration to the nails. So remove nail polish at once a week to let the nails breathe. You can apply coconut oil or castor oil on nails at night time once in 2-3 days, to keep them shining.

Some important Nail Care Tips:
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For shortening of nails, do not clip them rather use an emery board to file nails to a desired size. Avoid giving sharp shape to nails.

Apply a clear coat of nail paint almost daily to protect the nail tips from chipping, physical trauma and any harmful contact with chemicals.

Avoid frequent use of nail polish removers; use this once a week. Avoid the use of nail polish removers containing acetone; it makes the skin dry.

If have bad habit of nail biting; get rid of it as early as possible. It deforms nails and creates nail infections.

Do not use any metal instrument to peel or scrape the nail polish from the nail plate.

Also do not use any metal stick to push back cuticles. Cuticles protect the nail roots from bacterial and fungal infections. Do not cut the cuticles; instead push them with a rosewood stick. Do not over groom your cuticles. Cuticles get damaged and become thick.

Get a weekly manicure at home by yourself or by a professional at a parlor.

Nails should be completely dry before you file them.

Weekly Manicure:
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It can give your nails a weekly manicure which hardly takes 30 minutes and benefits are worthier than that. It keeps your nails strong and glowing.

First remove any nail polish on your nails with nail polish remover. For this, dip a cotton ball in nail polish remover and press it over nail to soften it and remove polish in firm move. Then shape your nails with an emery board. Filing should be done from corner to center and do not change the direction of file; it will cause nails to break or split. Dip your hands in water having mild soap and few drops of hydrogen peroxide. Take them out and pat dry. Push back the cuticles with a rosewood stick but do not over do it. Massage your hands and nails with a nourishing skin. After that, apply a coat of clear nail polish. After it gets dry, apply a coat of nail color paint.


Soniya Jaraika