Proper nail care can contribute to your body’s overall health and wellness and ensure you don’t have to worry about irritations and issues in the long run. It’s also an essential step to getting salon-quality manicures at home and keeping your nails growing strong and healthy for years to come.
Here at Nailboo, we’re dedicated to sharing all the information you need to protect the health of your nails and cuticles. Not only do we carry nail dip kits and guides that make it easy to practice the innovative nail dip manicure process right from the comfort of home, but we’re also here to share resources, tips, and tricks for maintaining proper nail care.
Check out this Nailboo guide and begin strengthening and supporting the health of your nails today.
Benefits of Proper Nail Care
Taking care of your nails may feel like just another thing to remember, but the truth is, proper nail care goes well beyond the cosmetic. You don’t need to spend a lot of money or even take that much time out of your busy day to care for and support your nail and cuticle health.
Plus, it can make a big difference when it comes to your overall health and wellness. In fact, our nails can even tell us what’s going on in the rest of the body, if we know what to look for.
Here are just a few of the reasons you’ll want to create a personalized nail care routine with the help of Nailboo.
It Prevents Infections
The skin around our nails is often thinner and more prone to damage and breaking than in the rest of our body, which means it’s a prime location for infections and viruses to take root. We use our hands for so many activities throughout the day and we’re exposed to pathogens that can cause irritation and pain when not managed properly.
Taking good care of the nails and nailbeds can reduce the likelihood of contracting those viruses and infections and can help to keep your nails happy and healthy.
It Reduces or Prevents Pain and Irritation
A lot of times, those infections or the damage caused by broken skin can lead to pain and irritation as our body tries to heal and fight off potential pathogens. Proper nail care is an essential step in reducing the pain that often comes with nailbed and cuticle damage, so you can focus on what really matters throughout your day.
It Keeps Us Informed
Our nails can tell us a lot about our overall health and wellness. If you notice color changes, changes in the strength or thickness of the nail, or even spots below the surface of the nail, it can be an indication that it’s time to speak with a medical professional.
When we know what our nails normally look like, we can keep track of any changes that can require professional attention, so we can address issues early and get back to feeling like ourselves as soon as possible.
It Keeps Your Nails Strong
If you notice that your nails are becoming brittle or breaking more easily, it may be an indication that you need a little more attentive nail care. Using the proper oils and lotions, removing your nail polish correctly, and avoiding damaging events and activities can all help to ensure that your nails are less prone to damage or breaking and that they continue to grow healthy and strong.
It Makes Your Nails Look Good
Cosmetics and appearance aren’t the only reason that proper nail care is so important, but they are one benefit. If you’re looking to achieve the appearance of smooth, strong nails with healthy nailbeds and cuticles, then nail care is essential. Even if you don’t like to get manicures, proper nail care will make you look professional and put together for any event.
It’s Great for Manicures
If you are on the lookout for a gorgeous new nail art design for an event or holiday, well-maintained nails are the way to go. When you take good care of your nails, the polish or dip powder will go on more effectively and stay fresh and clean looking for longer.
It’s also safer to apply different manicure styles and types to healthy nails, as adhesives or UV exposure can be damaging to broken or irritated nails and skin. When you take good care of your nails, you have more great manicure options available to you.
Tips and Tricks for Maintaining Nail Care
There are so many benefits of taking proper care of your nails and nailbeds, and the good news is that it’s easy to get started with the materials you have right at home. Take a few minutes every day or every week to work proper nail care into your routine and you’ll start to see the benefits in just a little while. Here are some of Nailboo’s favorite tips and tricks for maintaining proper nail care.
1. Keep Your Nails Clean
The most essential step you can take when it comes to caring for your nails is to keep them clean. When there’s excess dirt or debris under the nails, it can get into the microabrasions around the nailbed and cuticles and cause irritation.
Keeping your nails clean also reduces the likelihood of damage or injury from small particles or debris, and minimizes the risk of infection, so always take those extra few minutes to wash below the fingernails.
2. Change Your Routine for the Weather
You’re likely already changing up your skin and hair care routines for different seasons, and nail care is no different. Different weather conditions and environments can have different impacts on the health and needs of your fingernails, which is why it’s so important to adjust your care routine for the weather.
For instance, in dry weather or if you spend a lot of time indoors with the heat on, your cuticles can dry out and become cracked or irritated, so you’ll want to add more lotion and cuticle oils to your routine. In the summer, you may be swimming more or exposed to the sun and chlorine, so use sunscreen and always wash pool chemicals off your hands when you can.
Addressing seasonal needs for your fingers and nails is a great way to ensure they stay happy and healthy. It also makes it easier to get that winter or summer manicure that you really love.
3. Avoid Biting or Picking at Hangnails
We don’t always realize that we’re biting or picking at our nails and cuticles, but the truth is that the action can cause a lot of damage to our nails in the longterm and short term. When we bite our nails, we expose them to possible irritations and infections and we make them more brittle and uneven, which increases the risk of them snagging, catching, or breaking.
Picking at hangnails and the skin around the bed of the nail can cause damage, abrasions, and injuries that lead to further irritations and complications.
It can be difficult to avoid biting your nails or picking at hangnails but pay attention to the times when you do and try to reach for the proper nail clippers instead. You may also want to consider trying out a product that coats the nail and is designed to taste bad, in order to prevent you from biting.
Not only will this save you irritation and the pain often associated with pulling at the cuticles or the skin surrounding the nail, but it will also help to protect your body’s overall health, as you reduce the risk of infections.
4. Trim Regularly
One of the best ways to avoid getting hangnails and to keep from biting your nails is to trim your nails regularly. Not only will this help to keep them short enough that you won’t feel tempted to bite or pick at them, but it will also help to reduce the risk of snagging and catching.
If you’re working on improving your nail’s strength and health, then keeping them short is really helpful, since you won’t have to worry so much about potential damage or breakage.
5. Don’t Use Them as Tools
We can’t prevent all of the damage that might affect our fingers and nails since we use our hands for so many activities throughout the day. But we can reduce the risk of causing damage when we actively work to avoid the things that most often cause broken or stripped nails.
While it can be tempting to use our nails for smaller tasks, like opening soda cans or unhooking keys from a ring, these actions can put our nails at risk.
Even if you don’t break your nail during the activity itself, using the nail for small tasks can make it more vulnerable to breaking and stripping in the future. While taking that extra minute to go looking for the appropriate tool for the job may feel like just another chore, it can make all the difference when it comes to the wellness and strength of your nails, and it can save you pain and irritation in the future.
6. Watch for Signs of Irritation
It’s important to care for our nails regularly because it can provide insight into what the nail is supposed to look like, which makes it easier to recognize problems when and if they occur. If you pay close attention to the nail, you can notice any indications of irritation or even infections that often attack the sensitive skin surrounding the nailbed.
That makes it all the easier to get the treatment and care you and your nails deserve, so they can get back to being strong and healthy again.
7. Use the Right Tools for Nail Care
One of the cardinal rules of taking care of your nails is that you always want to use the right tools for the job. Using toothpicks or thumbtacks to remove dirt from under your nails can cause injury and irritation and may even lead to the kind of infections that cause pain in the nailbed or cuticle.
It’s easy to begin developing a nail care kit and they don’t take up much space, so you can keep them close at hand if you need to file, trim, or clean your nails. Not only are the products more effective at keeping your nails happy and healthy, but they’re also easier to clean and designed to do the job right, so it’ll be faster and easier every time.
Consider making a nail care kit for your office or car so you can avoid using what you have on hand. It’s also very important to wash and care for your tools properly, which Is a key step in both proper nail care and when using cosmetic tools or materials.
Soap and water usually do the trick. Just remember to allow the tools to dry completely before storing. Nail care tools are inexpensive and easy to find, so replace them regularly to keep your nails healthy and strong.
8. Remove Any Nail Polish Properly
It’s not only important to use the proper nail care tools when caring for your nails in-between manicures. You also want to use them before and after manicures. It can be very tempting to scrape the nail polish off your fingernails as it begins to chip. In fact, we often don’t even realize that we’re doing it. But scraping the nail polish off your nails can cause lasting damage and often leads to stripping and weakening of the nails.
Different types of nail polish require different removal processes, so it’s a good idea to stock up on the right materials and tools for taking off your nail polish or nails properly. For acrylic, gel, and Shellac nails, it’s recommended that you visit a salon and have a certified technician remove your nails properly to avoid any damage. If you use a polish, a high-quality nail polish remover and cotton pads are usually the most effective method for removal.
You can remove dip nail powder at home, as well. All you need is a file, acetone, and cotton swabs. Here at Nailboo, we also provide remover clips, which will ensure that the acetone swabs sit on the nail long enough to effectively remove the polish. We also recommend using a cuticle pusher to remove some of the more stubborn paint or polish that won’t come off. It’s always a good idea to keep moisturizer on hand since acetone and other types of nail polish removers can dry out the skin.
9. Allow Time Between Manicures
Different manicures have different needs and can impact your nails and hands in their own unique ways. But regardless of what kind of manicure you have, it’s important to give your nails time to breathe and heal in between manicures. Depending on what kind of manicure you have, a few days to a week can be a very helpful period where there are no materials or polishes on the surface of the nail, so it can grow strong.
It’s a good idea to factor in that rest period if you have events or activities coming up that requires a completed manicure, but those few days of fresh air can make all the difference.
10. Use Moisturizer
One of the reasons we often experience irritation surrounding the nails is because the skin on the fingers and around the nailbeds is incredibly prone to drying out and cracking. This can be exacerbated by the weather, with cold winds or sun exposure leading to excess dryness and cracking. If you have a job or hobby where you have to wash your hands a lot or you use materials and cleaning chemicals that can cause dry skin, you may be even more susceptible.
That’s why every nail care kit should have a good moisturizer at the ready. Not only will it help to provide you relief from the pain and discomfort of cracked and irritated skin, but it will also prevent future dryness and cracking, which can mean fewer infections and less irritation surrounding the nail.
11. Eat Well
Your nails can tell you a lot about your overall health and wellness, and vice versa. There are many reasons why it’s important to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and to drink water regularly, and the health of your nails is one of them. When we take care of our bodies and provide the proper vitamins and nutrients, we’re boosting the overall strength and immunity of all systems and parts — including the nails.
Add more fruits and veggies to your diet, get regular activity, stay well-hydrated, and you may notice the benefits in your skin, your hair, and, of course, your nails.
12. Leave Them Alone
Sometimes, the very best thing we can do for our nails is to leave them alone. It’s always a good idea to give your nails a break between manicures, but it can go further than that, as well. If you notice that your nails are cracked or damaged, you’ll want to avoid any types of manicures that require adhesives or exposure to UV light. In fact, most professional technicians will recommend allowing your nails to heal completely before applying any gels or acrylics.
Nail dip powder is similar. Not only does it last longer and look better on strong and healthy nails, but when you give your nails the chance to heal before your next manicure, you reduce the risk of irritation or complications from the manicure, which means stronger and healthier nails in the future.
Always pay close attention to the health and wellness of your nails and consider taking that step back to let them heal when necessary.
In Summary
There are so many benefits to taking care of your nails and following a proper nail care routine, and it’s easy to get started with the tools and materials you have right at home today. When you follow a proper nail care routine, you can reduce your risk of pain, irritation, and infection, keep your nails healthy and smooth, and make it easier to apply long-lasting manicures that look great every time.
Proper nail care doesn’t have to break the bank. Here at Nailboo, we recommend putting together a nail care kit, so you always have the right tools and materials close by. You can begin by making simple changes to your routine and day-to-day that can support proper nail health and ensure strong, healthy nails for years to come.
It’s important to keep your nails clean and to remove dirt and debris from below the fingernail with the proper tools every time. You’ll want to trim your nails regularly, avoid biting or picking at hangnails, and always adjust your nail care routine to fit the weather. It’s also helpful to moisturize your nails and to allow time between manicures for your nails to breathe and grow strong.
No matter what stage of your nail care journey you may be on, Nailboo is here to help. Check out our growing library of nailcare information and guides and explore our low-impact dip powder nail kits to begin practicing healthy, long-lasting manicures at home today.
Sources:
Tips for Healthy Nails | American Academy of Dermatology Association
Brittle Splitting Nails | American Osteopathic College of Dermatology
Here’s What That Gunk Underneath Your Fingernails is Really Made Of | Women’s Health
