Who doesn’t like to flaunt those appealing and gorgeous nails? Essentially they are a mirror to your personality and display your charisma. Do you know that frequent manicures and beauty salon visits are not needed for good looking nails? To keep your nails beautiful and healthy, natural Nail care at home is all you need. Regular nail care with simple ingredients for healthy nails can be such an inexpensive affair.

Source : foodtrients.com

But do you know how to get healthy nails? Some simple nail care tips can keep your nails strong and healthy. These include keeping the nails clean and dirt-free. Being gentle with your nails and not scrubbing them roughly. Not using harsh chemicals or scrubs on your nails. Not biting the nails or cuticles.

Nail Care Tips

Here are some nail care tips for healthy and gorgeous nails.

• To stay away from brittle nails a simple salt water trick can take care. In a litre of water add 4 tablespoons of common salt and soak the hands for about 15 minutes. Later dry your hands and put cuticle softener on the nails.
• Rose water is excellent for bright glowing nails. Combine 40 ml rose water with 10 gm glycerine and 50 ml hydrogen peroxide. Soak cotton balls in this mixture and rub it on your nails.
• Are your nails getting brittle? It might be due to calcium deficiency. To stop your nails from splitting, include calcium rich food in your diet.
• For healthy nail cuticles, massage your nail cuticle daily with cuticle oil. Daily application of cuticle cream or cuticle oil massage is recommended for healthy nail cuticle and beautiful nails.
• How to grow strong nails? For strong and healthy fingernails use nail strengthener and conditioner. Sometimes nails may get weak due to excessive soaking in water or even exposure to chemicals. This can cause chipping, peeling or breaking of nails and also yellowing or discolouration. Nail strengthener can be easily made at home using easily available ingredients such as olive oil and lemon juice.
• Nail cuticles are prone to cracks during cold weather. Aloe extract or jojoba oil can be used around the nail cuticles to keep then soft and healthy.
• Dietary Vitamin B supplement Biotin is found to be beneficial for growing nails and making them strong.
• How to Cut your Nails? Always keep your nails properly trimmed. This not only helps to maintain healthy fingernails but also enhances their growth. After trimming the nails it is recommended to use a fine nail filer to smoothen the edges of the nails.
• Another home remedy for strong and beautiful nails is mustard oil. Dip the nails in warm mustard oil for 15 to 20 minutes. Then gently messaging the nails and fingers improves blood circulation.
• Dipping the nails in warm olive oil for 15 to 20 minutes for 3 to 4 times a week keeps them healthy and glowing.

Source : frontroll.com

What are Those White Spots on Fingernails?

Do you ignore the white spots on fingernails? It is a wrong notion that these white spots are a result of calcium deficiency. Such white spots are very common and seen in many people. These white spots on fingernails are known as leukonychia. These spots might be the result of some old injury to the base of your nail. The white spots are harmless and do not indicate any specific deficiency. The white spots are temporary and they grow outwards as your nail grows in length. Depending on how fast your nails grow, these white spots also go away in a few months.

How to Take Care of Nail Cuticle?

Nail cuticle is delicate but they have a protective function. Cuticle covers the base of the nails and seals them. If your cuticle is damaged or pushed back, it makes the nails vulnerable to bacterial infection. It is recommended to take care of the nail cuticle by gently massaging with cream or lotion and keeping them moisturized. Nail cuticle care should be a part of your nail care routine.

Also avoid the nail cuticle to be trimmed or pushed back during manicure. Sometimes the nail cuticle might show redness, pain or swelling. Such condition might need immediate medical attention.

How to Take Care of Your Nails?

You must be wondering about the special care your nails require. Our nails are subjected to several harsh conditions. They are exposed to strong detergents, hot water, dirt and germs which make them sensitive and brittle. How to take care of your nails? Here are some simple home remedies for nail care which will surely keep your nails healthy and beautiful.

Home Remedies for Nail Care

• Who doesn’t like to wear nail polish so that they look pretty? But you should always give them some polish-free time periodically. Try to use a nail polish remover which does not contain acetone.
• Wear gloves while washing or cleaning clothes and utensils. Immersing your hands in hot or soapy water can weaken the nails and brings dryness to the skin and hands. So it is recommended to wear gloves while you scrub.
• Similarly, while gardening and house cleaning too you should put on the rubber gloves to protect the nails from dirt and germs.
• Natural nail care such as moisturizing the nails with a skin care lotion with vitamin E. A mixture of almond oil and avocado oil can also be used to keep your nails and cuticles hydrated. Any nutrient rich oil or moisturizer will give you those fabulous looking nails.
• Try to trim your toe nails in a straight line. If they are cut in deep curves then it may result in split nails at the corners. It also gives rise to ingrown nails and sometimes infected toes as well.

Nail Disorders and Diseases

What Causes Nail Fungus? Nails are prone to fungal infection too. Nail fungus is called as onychomycosis in medical terms. It is caused mostly due to poor hygiene. They might turn yellow or even brown and green in certain conditions. Swimming pool or gym showers, improper sanitization of equipment at nail salons or wearing tight fitting sweaty shoes may cause nail fungus.

Soak the toe nails and finger nails in a mixture of equal parts of water and apple cider vinegar. After a while, dry and massage the toes and with olive oil.

Some other Nail Diseases are as under:

• Paronychia infections of the nails can be caused by some viruses, bacteria or fungi. People who have their hands in contact with water for a long duration may get this infection which is highly contagious. The infection is characterised by swelling and redness of the nail folds with pain.
• Pseudomonas bacterial infection occurs between the nail bed and the nail plate. It is characterised by green discolouration of the nails. These bacteria flourish in moist places ad grow on dead tissue.
• Tinea Unguis is ringworm infection of nails. It shows deformity and thickening of nails and subsequently results in nail plate loss.
• Onychatrophia is nail atrophy where the nail lustre is lost. The nails become smaller and may be shed off.
• Psosaris appears as raw scaly skin similar to eczema. It leaves the nail dry, pitted and crumbly textured.
• Beau’s Lines are nails with horizontal lines of liner depressions and darkened cells. This nail disorder may be caused by malnutrition, illness, trauma, severe metabolic condition or even chemotherapy. These lines occur due to disturbance in formation of proteins in the nail plate.
• Leuconychia is characterized by presence of spots or white lines on the nails. This condition may be caused due to tiny air bubbles trapped in the layers of nails due to certain trauma. This nail condition may be hereditary and nails may normalize when they grow.
• Onychauxis is a condition which is characterized by over thickening of nails. This might occur due to certain internal disorders.

Foods for Amazing Nails

How to take care of your nails by consuming nutrient rich foods? Our nails are made up of proteins called keratin. Healthy diet is important for maintaining healthy nails. It is advisable to include dietary vitamin supplements such as Vitamin E, Vitamin B7 or Biotin and fish oil regularly in your diet.

It is also recommended to consume foods rich in proteins and omega 3 fatty acids such as nuts, chicken, lean meat, fish and beans etc. Zinc helps to cure white spots and iron prevents formation of ridges. Vitamins A and C prevents your nails form drying and dullness. Hence ensure that your diet is adequate amounts of zinc, proteins, and iron.

Some other foods to be included in the diet for strong nails are green peas, sunflower seeds, oats, eggs and salmon.
Wheat germ is found to be a great dietary source for strong and healthy nails. Wheat germ is an excellent source of vitamin E, proteins and Dietary zinc.

Salmon is an excellent protein rich food and also packed with vitamin B12. It helps to prevent darkened, overly curved and dry nails.

Sunflower seeds are packed with zinc, iron and vitamin E. They are also an excellent source of vitamin B6 and full of nail health promoting nutrients.

These are some of the best foods which will surely keep your nails stronger and healthier!!

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