7 tips for healthy nails all year round

Winter or summer, it’s always a good time to take care of your nails. It doesn’t take long to keep your nails in shape. Here are our tried and true tips to keep your nail health game strong.

1. Don’t cut your cuticles

Your cuticles seal in moisture and protect your body from environmental germs so it’s best to keep them intact.

Our tip: Use cuticle oil to soften and hydrate your cuticles. If your cuticles are bothering you, push them down gently with a manicure stick (aka ‘the orange stick’).

2. Use a base coat

A base coat will protect your nails and strengthen them. If you want an everyday slick of clear gloss to protect your nails, base coat is the one you should go for. It works to strengthen your nails by acting like a band-aid. It holds your nail together so you’ll get more length, strength and less breakage. Your nails will also look glorious. #winwin

3. Don’t pick at old polish

We know it’s tempting (we know, we know) but resist the urge to pick it off as it can damage the nail bed underneath. Instead, use a hydrating and strengthening nail polish remover. We don’t want to toot our own horn too much, but our remover is great. It’s enriched with horsetail extract to give your nails the health boost they’re craving and won’t dry out your nails at all. It doesn’t even smell.

4. File your nails to keep them a uniform length and shape

It’s much easier to keep short nails healthy as well. We know we’ve said this a hundred times, but please file in the same direction. See-sawing a file back and forth will damage the nail matrix (no thank you) and will also result in raggedy edges. No one likes a raggedy edge. A glass nail file is gentle on your nails and will never go blunt. It’s quite the eco-friendly flex.

Our tips: It’s always tempting to pick hangnails. Don’t do it! Use the clippers instead. Use a glass nail file and smooth out any ‘nicks’ so they don’t go on to get caught on other things and damage your nails further.

5. Stay hydrated

Like the rest of you, your nails need hydration. This means drinking plenty of water to hydrate from the inside out, and cuticle oil to nourish your cuticles from the outside in.

6. Eat for nail health

Healthy nails love vitamin E, A, C, K &B, zinc and essential fatty oils are all good friends to nail (and hair) health. Here’s a quick list of foods that tick the nutrient boxes. We understand you may not be able to get your hands on them easily in different parts of the world, but if you’re interested, we’re talking about dark leafy greens, avocados, raw pumpkin seeds, almonds, orange root vegetables, chickpeas, lentils, ground linseed, hemp seeds, walnuts, cashews, wholemeal bread, and quinoa.

7. Be gentle with your nails, product-wise

Avoid products with high percentages of alcohol (hand sanitiser and cleaning products are the biggest culprits. Protect your mitts with gloves if you’re cleaning and show them some love with a good hand cream post sanitise. Cuticle oil and hydrating nail polish remover are two quick additions to your self-care routine that will keep your nails healthy.

What do you do to keep your nails healthy?

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