Strong, healthy, manicured nails look fashionable and fierce!
Lovely nails highlight the beauty of our hands and feet. Healthy nails are clear with pronounced cuticles and white in color, whereas unhealthy nails are saddled with dents, ridges and often have a yellow tone. Proper nail care is just as important to our health and beauty as nourishing our skin and eating a nutritious diet. Our nails contain a protein called keratin, which grows from the area at the base of the nail under your cuticle, so nails thrive on protein and B vitamins. Healthy nails are firm, uniform in color and grow quickly.
Manicured, polished nails look sensual and sexy. Creative nail art is a perfect top layer to healthy nails. Keeping your nails strong and attractive is easier than you might think.
5 Tips for Keeping Your Nails Strong and Healthy
Moisturize the Cuticles: Your cuticles provide a protective layer to the base of the nail. If you cut them back too far, you cause damage. As part of your regular nail care, rub a nail moisturizing cream into the cuticle area. This helps eliminate infection, redness and swelling that can be caused by damaged cuticles.
Keep Your Nails Dry and Clean: This helps to prevent bacteria from growing under your nails. Water-soaked nails can lead to thin, split, fragile nails. It helps to wear rubber gloves when washing dishes or cleaning.
Keep Your Nails Trimmed: Much like our hair stays healthier with occasional trims, so do our nails. By trimming your nails regularly, you help to alleviate snags, hangnails and breakage. Use a nail file to smooth out the edges of the nail. A nail buffer also works wonders for keeping the surface of your nails soft and free of ridges.
Biotin: Your nails need vitamins and nutritious foods to grow strong and healthy. In addition to protein, the B vitamin Biotin helps alleviate weak, brittle nails. Biotin, when taken as a supplement or in foods, helps to strengthen and grow the nails. Remember, Biotin helps avoid breakage.
Apply a Clear Protective Layer of Nail Polish: Many nail companies sell clear polish products made specifically to protect and harden your nails. Apply this protective layer on its own or under colored polish. This base coat nourishes the nail, as well as acts as a primer for your polish.
Strong, healthy nails, topped with colorful, creative polish and nail art, are gorgeous and glamorous. Healthy hands and nails look youthful and pretty. It doesn’t take long to care for your nails, and the rewards are well worth the time and effort. A little bit of attention and polish goes a long way in helping you maintain soft, supple, beautiful hands and nails.
The fashion trend of the moment is to have neat, natural, shorter nails, but as all glamour girls know, there aren’t any set-in-stone rules in fashion. Long nails are chic and cool too, so go with whatever works well for you!
Healthy Nails – Happy Nails! Give Manicures a Hand!
Nancy Mangano is an American beauty/fashion/style influencer, fashion journalist, screenwriter and author of the Natalie North murder mystery book series. Visit Nancy on her global online fashion/style/beauty magazine Strutting in Style! at https://nancymariemangano.com, her Facebook page Nancy Mangano at https://www.facebook.com/nancymmangano/ Twitter @https://twitter.com/nancymangano and her author website http://www.nancymangano.com
