Great nail health is the start of a first rate mani. Healthier nails equal stronger nails that won’t snap and break at the touch of… well anything. Here we’ll go into the importance of nail health, tips on how to achieve it and what affects your nail health.
The Importance of Nail Health
Nail health is so important. Not only do healthy nails make you feel more attractive, but they are there to do a job, acting as a barrier to protect your hands as you work with them each day.
Cuticles for instance, are there to keep out environmental pollutants. Regular nail care will ensure your nails stay strong so they can do the job properly.
Your nails can also actually be telling of your overall well being, sometimes signifying underlying health conditions that you had no idea about. That’s why it’s important to sit up and take notice of them.
For instance, they can act as indicators for malnutrition, kidney disease, liver disease, as well as a host of other health problems.
How to Achieve Good Nail Health
There are a number of tips and tricks with maintaining optimum nail health. Maintaining a good diet with plenty of calcium helps from the outside in but there are also lots of things you can do externally.
Three key products that will contribute to glowing nail health include nail serum, Builder Gel and Cuticle Oil, which we will go into in a bit more depth below.
Nail Serum
Nail serum’s are always a good idea. Mylee’s supercharged Nail Treatment Serum is the perfect treatment to revitalise your nails and promote healthy growth, as well as working as an intensive recovery treatment for dry and damaged nails.
It’s been specially formulated to strengthen, repair and promote healthy nail growth, softening dry cuticles and preventing peeling and splitting.
Benefits Of Builder Gel
Mylee’s 5-in-1 Builder Gel will help strengthen and lengthen your natural nails by up to 1cm. This is expertly formulated to meet the needs of professionals and beauty enthusiasts alike, achieving durable gel nails for up to three weeks wear time.
Pop this on alone, under other polishes or as a finishing top coat to add a protective shield to your nails and watch them grow.
Using Cuticle Oil To Grow Strong & Healthy Nails
Nourish and hydrate your cuticles with Mylee Nail & Cuticle Oil. Richly moisturising, this works to keep nails and cuticles in peak health. The delicately scented oil is specially formulated to soften and nourish.
It soaks in quickly without leaving a greasy residue, whilst essential oils and botanical extracts soften the skin and add shine to nails.
What Affects Nail Health
There are so many factors that can affect your nail health – too many to list here. Some common causes of fingernail problems include injury, infection and skin diseases like psoriasis.
Similarly, issues with the toenails usually stem from trauma, ill-fitting shoes, poor circulation and infection.
“For the general population, nail health is most often an indicator of poor nutritional intake or poor digestion,” Dr. Sara Norris, a naturopathic doctor based in Los Angeles, explains. “Brittle, weak, and peeling nails are the most common concerns I see in my practice and these symptoms are more often the result of a poor diet than of systemic disease.”
How Nails Can Become Weak
Weak nails, characterised by nails that easily break, bend and snap, are typically caused by external factors. These can include overexposure to moisture or chemicals, for instance, washing detergent, cleaning fluids and harsh nail treatments.
Weak nails might also indicate a deficiency in B vitamins, calcium, iron or fatty acids.
Tips for Maintaining Healthy Nails
Thankfully, there are a number of ways in which to improve and maintain the strength of your nails. These methods vary dramatically and work differently from person to person.
External methods: as previously mentioned, the application of nail serum, builder gel or cuticle oil can vastly improve the overall strength of your nails by nourishing and building a protective shield.
Internal methods: Dr. Sara Norris advises taking a multivitamin that includes calcium and B vitamins to give your nails that boost from the inside out.
Avoidance: Try to avoid coming into direct contact with harsh chemicals. The biggest culprits to dry out and damage nails are those found around the house, such as washing detergents.
Nail Health Myths Debunked
- FALSE: White spots on nails indicate a calcium deficiency
According to Dr. Dana Stern, they’re nothing but bruising caused by nail trauma. This can be caused by overly aggressive cuticle manipulation or nail biting.
- FALSE: Gels and acrylics are damaging
Any damage from gels and acrylics is caused by poor removal techniques, not the product itself. The temptation of picking it off and overzealous nail technicians mean protective nail layers are often removed.
- FALSE: Your Nails Need To Breathe
Nails do not need to ‘breathe’. They receive oxygen, vitamins and a blood supply from the nail bed beneath. This means there is no harm in continually wearing nail polish if your nails are generally healthy.
Conclusion
Nail health is more important than you might at first think. It can be a great indicator of your general health, for instance weak nails might reflect a deficiency in B vitamins, calcium, iron or fatty acids.
It may also flag a need for lifestyle changes, for instance to minimise overexposure to chemicals, like those in washing detergent, cleaning fluids and harsh nail treatments.
It’s safe to say that if you’re in general good health, it’s super easy to boost and maintain your natural nails. Thankfully, there are a number of tips and tricks in maintaining great nail health.
A good diet of course helps, but products such as nail serum, builder gel and cuticle oil are here as tools to speed along mother nature. Long and strong nails are within everybodies grasp with a little TLC.
FAQs
How can I make my nails healthy again?
- Heal from the outside with nail serum, builder gel or cuticle oil
- Take a multivitamin that includes calcium and B vitamins to give your nails a boost from the inside out
- Try to avoid coming into direct contact with household chemicals etc.
What are the signs of unhealthy nails?
There are many signs of unhealthy nails, ranging from weak nails that snap, to signifiers of more general health issues. Some things to look out for are:
Fungal nail infections – The nail becomes yellow around the edge and eventually brittle, with pieces breaking off.
Beau’s lines – Depressions that run across your fingernail can be a sign of malnourishment or diseases that cause a high fever.
Terry’s nails – When the nail is white and the tip has a dark band it can be caused by congestive heart failure, diabetes or liver disease.
Does builder gel strengthen natural nails?
Yes, Mylee’s 5-in-1 Builder Gel provides a strong protective shield over the natural nail, allowing them to strengthen and grow underneath
Do nail growth serums actually work?
Yes and no. Nail serum won't actively speed up growth but it will help strengthen them so they're less prone to breakage and splitting, in turn helping them grow longer.
Should you use cuticle oil everyday?
Yes, some experts even recommend that you apply cuticle oil 3 times a day. However, if you skip a day, it isn’t the end of the world.
Great nail health is the start of a first rate mani. Healthier nails equal stronger nails that won’t snap and break at the touch of… well anything. Here we’ll go into the importance of nail health, tips on how to achieve it and what affects your nail health.
