How To Get Your Nails To Grow
A number of factors can contribute to the quality of our nails. Some things are within our control, such as diet and nail-biting, while some are outside of our control, like cold weather and hormones.
Hormonal changes, such as pregnancy and ageing, can play a part due to changes in your oestrogen levels. It they are low, it can affect how well the body retains water, which can in turn cause nails to become dry and break more easily.
Drinking more water and eating foods containing vitamin E can help improve the health of your nails, while you should also avoid biting or picking the skin on your cuticles. If you have particularly dry hands, make sure they’re covered in cosy gloves during winter, too.
Regulars at the nail salon should also avoid peeling off gel nails. Youre not only removing the gel, but also the top layers of your nails, which can make them sensitive and cause discolouration and bumpy patches. Acrylic nails, on the other hand, can make your natural skin weaker and thinner over time, so its important to take a break every once in a while.
Use Cuticle Serums For Moisturization
Healthy cuticles are the key to healthy, strong nails. However, it is quite common to damage your cuticles or push them too far, often increasing the risk of infection in the nail bed. Your cuticles may also get damaged due to medical conditions that lower blood circulation to the extremities, such as diabetes.
To help strengthen your nail cuticles and boost blood flow to them, it is suggested to perform a quick massage. You can use coconut oil, olive oil, flaxseed oil, almond oil, double-duty ointments, hand creams, and skin protectants to massage your cuticles.
Invest in a cuticle oil that not only moisturizes the cuticles but also nourishes and repairs them, all of which contribute to improved cuticle health. You can purchase cuticle oils with a high content of shea oil.
Simply gently massage your nails with the product for 510 minutes. Wear cotton gloves once the product is absorbed and leave it on overnight. Wash your nails in the morning using warm water. Eczema-friendly creams are also available for people with eczema.
Choose Your Nail Products Wisely
The use of different nail polishes to increase the appeal of your nails is a common practice. However, nail polishes that contain toxic chemicals must be avoided as they can weaken your nails and make them brittle. These chemicals include camphor, formaldehyde resin, TPHP, dibutyl phthalate, toluene, and xylene.
Moreover, the use of nail polishes is often coupled with the frequent use of nail polish removers such as acetone. These products can strip the natural oils from your nails, leading to weak and brittle nails. The chemical-laden nail polish removers can also dehydrate your nails and cause discoloration, keratin granulations, splitting, and peeling.
It is suggested to use alternate products such as acetone-free nail polish remover pads for this purpose. This also eliminates the risk of gamma-butyrolactone poisoning, which usually happens when children accidentally ingest acetone-based nail polish removers that contain this harmful compound.
Another common nail beauty product to stay wary of is acrylic nails and acrylic gel manicures, especially from unlicensed salons. This artificial nail technique can increase the risk of nail and cuticle infections and conditions such as contact dermatitis.
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How To Grow Your Nails Faster And Make Them Stronger
Women’s Best Beauty TeamAugust 29, 2019Reading time: 2min
Do you experience slow nail growth, brittle nails, nail breakage, nail splitting, and other nail problems?
Then we have good news! The times, where you needed to spend a lot of money on acrylic nails or manicure to have long, strong, and healthy-looking nails are finally over.
We show you the best natural home remedies for nail growth that really work!
Treat Your Nails Like You Treat Your Hair
Its the new golden rule. Hair and nails are both composed of keratin proteins, so it makes sense that many of the same rules for treatment apply. Dr. Stern says both hair and nails can become dehydrated and damaged from over-processing. Frequent polish removal, gels, and acrylics do to nails what dyes, chemicals, and heat application do to hair. Just as hydration can help repair hair issues such as frizz and split ends, it can help improve dry and brittle nails. Theres no nail care equivalent to second-day hair, but operating as though there are hard and fast rules for how to wash, care for, and use your nails can help keep them in the same good shape as your hair.
It bears repeating: Hydration is the foundation. Just as you would condition your hair with a leave-in or rich conditioner, I would condition your cuticles as well to promote healthy, growing nails, Dr. Green says.
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Cut Back On Gel And Acrylic Manicures
They may be touted as an easy alternative for people who have trouble growing their nails, but frequent gel or acrylic manicures can cause your nails to peel, weakening them in the process. These manicures also expose your digits to excessive amounts of acetone in the soak required to remove them, which is very drying to the nail, says Dr. Klein. If you prefer to keep these types of manicures on rotation, make sure to either give your nails time to breathe between applications or save them for special occasions.
Commit To Monthly Maintenance
Which brings us to our next point: monthly maintenance. Whether you opt for a DIY manicure or take a trip to the salon, a regular tuneup is key to keeping those tips strong. Your nails can tell you a lot about your overall health, so use that time to make regular check-ins as well. “When you take your nail polish off, check your nail color and the strength of your nail plate before you go ahead and apply polish or treat your nails,” says Lin.
If a bare nail is more your thing, Lim still recommends proper nail hygienethat is, keeping them clipped, cleaned, and filed. “Take your fingernail and raise the free edges to see if there are any snags, and you can smooth them out. That’s a great way to maintain your nails,” she says.
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Take A Collagen Or Biotin Supplement
“Pay attention to your diet,” explains Amy Lin, the founder of sundaysa nail care brand focused on wellness. “Your nails are made of proteins and naturally need a lot of vitamins.” Specifically, your nails consist of keratin, so it’s important to make sure you’re getting your fill of keratin-building amino acids. Two of the most popular are biotin and collagen, as they tend to be the most effective in supporting nail health.*
First up: Biotin has been shown to support thickness and firmness of nails in several human studies.* One study, in particular, found that those who took biotin supplements had 25% thicker nailbeds than the placebo group.* In terms of collagen, another study showed that when patients took collagen daily for 24 weeks, their nail health was better maintained, including faster growth rates, reduced breakage, and improved appearance.*
Hydration Will Strengthen Your Nails
Now that the gel-dip-acrylic is off, the key is to moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. “Prolonged use of gel manis and acrylics dehydrates your nails, making them dry, brittle, and fragile,” says manicurist Jin Soon Choi, founder of JINSoon nail polish and salons.
A cuticle oil is your BFF for imparting deep hydration. Focus on slathering it not only on the nail itself, but also massaging it well into the cuticle the cuticle is where new, healthy nail growth will start so it’s important to nourish and hydrate this area, says Choi.
One best-seller to try: CND Solar Oil Nail and Cuticle Conditioner. Holford also likes using straight up jojoba oil, which can strengthen nail beds and boost healthy nail growth. She recommends applying it three times per day for five days for the best results.
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How To Make Your Nails Grow Longer And Stronger
Buh-bye, brittle nails.
Maybe its been the lockdown boredom , but it seems so many of us are attempting to grow our nails longer and stronger right now.
If youve ditched the acrylics and taken a much-needed break from the gels, yet your nails are still brittle and flaky, we feel your pain.
On a mission to achieve the long, resilient talons of our dreams, weve tried out all the hacks and enlisted some of the best experts to reveal exactly how to make our nails grow longer, stronger and healthier for good. Stay with us for everything you need to know..
How To Grow Longer And Stronger Nails
How To Use Nail Growth Treatments
Nail growth treatments can be incredibly versatile. Whether youre looking for a base coat for a manicure or a cream you can apply as and when if youre out and about, weve got you covered in our list below.
Depending on the format, usually products will need to be reapplied at least once a week. If its a cream or oil, you can apply daily but a polish should provide you with a little more coverage. The general rule is to apply to clean, dry hands and then wait for the magic to happen!
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Always Apply Base And Top Coats
Base and top coats are especially helpful when your nails are on the weaker side because they provide your nails with an additional protective barrier from things like dehydration and breakage, says Dr. Evans. Essies Grow Stronger Base Coat leaves nails nourished and protected, for example, while the brands Good to Go Top Coat protects your mani from chipping and peeling.
Try A Keratin Supplement
Keratin is not just a hair treatmentit’s actually the main protein that makes up your nails. So taking a keratin supplement could help build strength and resiliency, much in the same way it works on your hair. Taking it orally or applying it topically as an oil may bring you one step closer to long and healthy nails.
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Shape Your Nails With A File
If you want to prevent your nails from snagging and tearing, you gotta keep those babies in tip-top shape. Always keep an emory board or a glass nail file nearby to avoid snags that’ll set you back in your nail growth journey. Although you can definitely stick to whatever nail shape you prefer, Dr. Agbai says rounding your nails at the sides will help to improve nail strength and decrease breaking and chipping.
Add Vitamins To Your Diet
Your fingernails often reflect your diet, says Gray. Dietary deficiencies not only prevent nails from growing normally, but also can cause weakness and brittleness, which are two of the main nail problems.
But there are certain types of foods you can add to your diet to help strengthen your nails. Anything with plenty of vitamins, such as vitamin E and B, and zinc, fruit, vegetable and nuts , explains Draper. Eggs are full of protein which is exactly what your nails need. Also, good fats such as those found in oily fish and avocados. But the most simple thing you can do is drink plenty of water for essential moisture.
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Remember Toenails Count Too
Everything that applies to your fingernails applies to your toenails, which experts say may be even more prone to problems due to careless pedicures. “Because feet are more often inside shoes — a dark, moist environment — fungus can grow more easily,” says Ravits. If you get regular pedicures, experts say take your own instruments and never let the tech dig under the nail or around the cuticle. Moreover, Ravits says cutting toenails at an angle — instead of straight across — increases the risk of ingrown toenails, which can be painful and sometimes develop into an infection.
Avoid Low Quality Products
If you have already started seeing signs of weak and brittle nails, then you should know that there are many home remedies that will help you grow strong nails at home without having to spend a lot of money or going to the salon.
Some people do not know about some of these home remedies that can help make your nails grow back healthy and beautiful. One way to keep your nails strong and healthy is to make sure that you use healthy and nutritious foods.
Many of these remedies are also very cost effective, so you will not have to worry about wasting money on treatments that wont work.
The first home remedy that you can use to make your nails grow healthy and strong is to use essential oils. These oils will help to moisturize the cuticle of your nail which will make it grow properly. You can use essential oil drops on your nails every day for the best results.
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Increase Biotin Intake To Make Your Nails Stronger
Increase your biotin intake for beautiful and strong nails. It contains water soluble vitamin B which helps build nails hardness and thickness while reducing the probability of splitting. Lack of biotin intake leads to brittle nails and excessive dryness. Consume foods rich in biotins like egg yolks, soybeans, sweet potatoes, lentils, almonds, and corn.
Always Cut Your Nails
As much as you might love the look of long, beautifully-shaped fingernails, its best to avoid growing them out if you want to make them stronger. Keep your nails shorter, as the longer they are, the easier it is for them to get traumatized, says Dr. Jaber. Short nails are far less likely to be broken in your everyday life. As an added bonus, its also much easier to maintain the appearance of nails when theyre short! Discover more tips to protect your nails.
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Choose A File With A High Grit Number
Did you know every nail file has an accompanying grit number? It’s typically a tiny number stamped either on the packaging or on the file itself, and it conveys how coarse the board will be against your nails. The higher the grit number, the softer the file.
In terms of maintaining strong nails, you’ll want to go with a file that has a higher grit number . “You want something that’s just a little bit more coarse than a regular buffer,” says Lim. No need to go scratching up the nail plate, here. If you can’t find a specific grit number on your file, Lim says you can just take your finger and run it across the board: “You shouldn’t feel much friction.”
Apply Cuticle Oil Daily
Cuticle care is always a good idea, problem nails or not. That’s because dehydrated, frayed cuticles can lead to damaged nailbeds and infection if they’re left untreated rehydrating and moisturizing that surrounding skin is key for top-notch nail care. Add a cuticle oil to your daily routine: Many options include fatty acids and vitamins that nourish the nails and fill in any micro-cracks in the skin.
While using the dropper daily is enough to keep nails healthy, chief educator of Paintbox Evelyn Lim says you can use a cuticle oil up to three times a day if your tips are feeling especially dehydrated . “Apply cuticle oil at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Why not?”
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Watch Your Nails For Signs Of Health Problems
Most of the time, nail problems can be traced to environmental assaults — exposure to harsh cleaning chemicals, use of drying nail products, or just general physical abuse, such as typing or excessive use of fingertips.
That said, the American Academy of Dermatology advises that the condition of your nails can sometimes reflect a problem in your overall health. Here’s what they say to look out for:
- White nails — liver condition
Strengthen Your Nail With Olive Oil
You nail is strong when it keeps strong color, no odor, and the firm base. If your nail loses one of these factors, itâs time you take care of your nail immediately. But the truth is that so many people out there still donât get to know how to make nails stronger and longer at home. And the solution is simply taking the use of essential oil like olive oil.
It can be said that olive oil is one of the best methods to treat your weak nails situation. It is a great moisturizer, which can be used to prevent the dehydration in your nail a very common symptom of your nailâs deterioration. You may not know that one of the main reasons causing your weak nails is the attack of inflammation, bacteriaso if you want to keep your nail strong grow fast, you should really take use of such anti-inflammatory ingredient like olive oil. With olive oil, you nails can also be protected from damage or breakage effectively.
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Leave Your Cuticles Alone
Its common practice to cut, push back, or try to get rid of cuticles altogether, but cuticles are not the enemy. In fact, the cuticle is the nails natural protective seal, according to Dana Stern, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and nail expert. Messing with your cuticles can do far more harm than goodeven if a nail technician is the one doing the handiwork. Dr. Stern says a compromised cuticle can leave the nails vulnerable and at risk of infection.
Michele Green, MD, a cosmetic dermatologist, agrees that poorly kept cuticles can have a domino effect. When your cuticles get dry or injured it can injure the nail bed and affect the way your nails grow out, Dr. Green says. She recommends moisturizing the cuticles with cream or cuticle oil to help protect and strengthen your nails.
