How to properly care for your nails

A woman's body needs care every day. It is important to maintain hair, skin, and nails in well-groomed condition. Nails are an indicator of health in a woman’s body, so you need to pay attention to how the properties of nails change over time and maintain health at the proper level. Nails require careful and regular care: in the cold season they are especially vulnerable. Salon manicure, although a common procedure, does not always have an affordable price. In addition, visits to the salon occur irregularly: nails are left without care for at least 2-3 weeks. It is important to learn how to care for your nails yourself, at home. With proper skill, the manicure will turn out no worse than a salon one, and your nails will look beautiful all the time.

The first step to beautiful and healthy nails is proper nutrition.

It's no secret that a woman's age is determined not by her face, but by her hands. Therefore, keeping your hands and nails in a beautiful and well-groomed condition is not a whim, but a necessity. Healthy nails delight with an even pink color, without inclusions. They are strong, elastic, and have no signs of lamination. Proper, balanced nutrition can ensure healthy nails. It should contain the maximum of useful . Important microelements include magnesium, manganese, iron, phosphorus, sodium, calcium and iodine.

The use of vitamin A strengthens the structure of the nail plate and prevents. It is found in red and orange vegetables and fruits, as well as greens (dill, parsley, spinach). A huge amount of vitamin A is present in fish oil.

Vitamin B is responsible for the rapid growth of nails. The body receives it by eating potatoes, beans, wheat grains or seaweed.

The health of your nails largely depends on magnesium. It will provide a beautiful, healthy nail color. You can find magnesium in cereals: buckwheat, oatmeal, millet. Manganese is found in legumes, garlic, nuts, apricots and other foods.

The elasticity and hardness of nails is ensured by calcium. It is found in fish, seeds, seafood, milk and derivatives.

Apples, red fish, and legumes are rich in iron. This microelement is responsible for the structure and shape of nails.

If a woman is inclined to eat gelatin-containing products (jellied meat, jelly, marmalade), then she is lucky: gelatin has a positive effect on the joint fluid, from which nails are partially formed.

Due to the rhythm of modern life, a person is not able to maintain the daily requirement of vitamins in the body at the proper level. A complex of multivitamins, which are sold at the pharmacy, will help with this.

How to take care of your nails at home

An incorrectly done manicure has many unpleasant consequences: splitting of nails, hangnails, breaking off regrown tips. Therefore, before you start manicure at home, you need to consider some rules:

On average, a manicure lasts 2 weeks. It is possible to do it more often, but it is not recommended, since there is a possibility of damage to the soft tissue of the cuticle
Manicure accessories must be sterilized after each procedure. Welcome
Shaping the nail plate with a nail file is a priority. This is due to the fact that the nails must be dry to carry out the procedure. You need to file your nails in one direction.
Metal files damage soft nail tissue: it is recommended to use glass or plastic files
Soften the cuticle with special cosmetics
Use an orange stick to push the cuticle from the nail plate into the nail bed.
You should not use inexpensive varnishes, as they cause the surface of the nails to turn yellow and lose their elasticity. Using a clear base coat will prevent your nails from turning yellow.
Nail polish remover and varnishes containing acetone should leave the cosmetic bag - they dry out the nail plate and destroy its top layer
It is recommended not to paint problematic nails with colored varnish. If there is still a need for this, then painting should be carried out once every 10 days.
It is important to use a moisturizing cream for nails and cuticles every day, before going to bed. You should apply cream with a high fat content to your hands.
When performing work involving water or the use of chemicals, it is imperative to use household rubber gloves. It is recommended to lubricate your hands with glycerin cream
Hand washing should be done with water that does not exceed room temperature. Hot water is harmful to the skin of the hands and nails (the protective fatty film is washed off)
The use of nail masks and herbal baths will have a beneficial effect on the health of the skin of the hands and nails
It is recommended to use lemon, cranberry and currant juices to improve health and strengthen nails at home.

Baths for nail care at home

An effective and inexpensive method for caring for nails at home -. The following compress helps strengthen your nails: mix 25 grams of glycerin with 5 grams. alum and pour 70 ml of water into this mixture. Apply the paste to your hands every day for 2 weeks. If desired, the course of procedures with a compress is repeated every month and a half.

For severe problems with nail splitting, the best treatment will be salt baths. You will need natural sea salt without cosmetic ingredients. You need to dissolve a teaspoon of salt in 0.2 liters of heated water. Keep your hands in the bath for 20 minutes. Treatments are carried out every day for two weeks, provided that nail treatment is required. For prevention, it is enough to use a salt bath once a week.

Iodine bath indicated for nail plates that need strengthening. To make the composition, you need to dissolve 6 drops of iodine in 200 ml of water, the time your hands stay in the water is a quarter of an hour. The treatment course includes 2 repetitions of 14 days. The break between repetitions is a week.

Rubbing in vitamins A and E will help moisturize the cuticles and top layer of nails. You can buy them at the pharmacy: they are sold in blister packaging, inside which oil balls are packed. In addition to rubbing in vitamins, the following bath is recommended: mix heated liquid honey, olive or linseed oil in a 1:1 ratio. Add a chicken egg, previously beaten in a blender or by hand. Dip your fingertips into the resulting mixture, and after a quarter of an hour, rinse with slightly hot water without soap. Dry the surface of your hands and rub the rich cream into the skin. The cream is also applied to the nails.

To give your nails natural beauty, a bath with the following filling is suitable: pour 4 teaspoons of crushed chamomile with water (0.2 l), let it boil and then cook for another 5-7 minutes. As soon as the mixture has cooled, you need to strain it and add 0.1 liter of fresh currant juice. The procedure time is 20 minutes. After drying your hands, lubricate them with cream. Essential oils have excellent properties for strengthening the nail plate. You can use: bay oil, jasmine, lavender, rosemary, grape seed oil, orange, and others.

Masks for healthy nails

A red pepper mask strengthens the nail plate, but if prepared incorrectly it causes burns to the skin of the hands. You can make a mask as follows: pour ½ tablespoon of ground red pepper into 10 ml of boiled water and add low-fat hand cream. Heat the resulting mixture and, after cooling, coat your nails with it. The mixture should be warm. The procedure time is 15 minutes. Remove the used pulp from your fingers with olive oil.
Peel the potatoes and chop them in a blender along with a fresh leaf of white cabbage. Add sour cream or cream 10% - 2 teaspoons. The procedure time is 15 minutes. Remove the mixture from your hands with a cotton swab soaked in warm milk.
Make a mixture of 2-3 drops of iodine and 50 ml of olive oil (you can use grape seed oil or ylang-ylang). Add 4 drops of lemon juice. Warm up. Place your fingers in the oil mixture for 15 minutes, then rinse with water.
Grind a white cabbage leaf and 1/4 banana in a blender. Add 1/2 tablespoon of cream and honey. Mix. Time for the procedure is 25 minutes. Remove with a cotton swab soaked in milk at room temperature.
Brew burdock, chamomile and St. John's wort herbs in 0.2 liters of water. Leave for 15 minutes, strain and use to treat nails. The procedure time is 15 minutes 3 or 4 times a week. For prophylaxis, carry out the procedure once a week.
Pour 10 ml of grape seed oil, 2 drops of rose oil and 3 drops of orange oil into a bowl (eucalyptus oil - 3 drops, and lavender - 5 drops). When used daily before bed, the mask can strengthen nails and restore glossy shine.
Mix ½ tablespoon of olive or almond oil with 2 drops of your favorite essential oil (optional: patchouli, sandalwood, bergamot, etc.). Rub into nails with circular massage movements. This mask will whiten yellowed nails and give them shine.
To strengthen and quickly grow nails, you can perform paraffin therapy. The procedure is easy to perform and suitable for home use. The necessary components are sold at the pharmacy.
A mask of thyme and lemon oils (mix 1:1) will lighten your nails and prevent splitting.
A mask of lemon and eucalyptus oil in a 1:1 ratio will return transparency to your nails.
To relieve inflammation of the cuticle, a mask made from essential oils of rosemary, sandalwood and tea tree oil (mix 2 drops each) is suitable. Along with treatment procedures, it is recommended to apply special gels containing vitamin E and calcium to the nail plate.

Prevention of nail disease.

If your nails have changed: your nails have begun to peel, crumble, or the color of the plate has changed, you should immediately consult a doctor. Such signs indicate the development of a fungal disease. To make your nails less susceptible to fungal diseases, you need to know that using other people’s personal belongings is strictly prohibited. Having your own towels and slippers in common areas (baths, swimming pools) is a mandatory condition for prevention. You can use antifungal varnish.