8 Nail Care Tips for Healthy, Strong, Beautiful Nails

There's a special kind of empowerment that comes from having healthy, strong, beautiful nails. Whether you wear color polish or go polish-free, being able to show off nails and cuticles that are healthy and well cared for is a giant confidence booster.

Whether your nail care is a form of self-care, an indulgence, or just routine maintenance, keeping your nails in tip-top shape is a worthwhile investment that pays dividends over time. Having healthy nails says you care about yourself; that you are worth it. And you are really, really are. 😊 ❤️ 

The most time proven way to stronger, longer, healthier nails is a combination of lifestyle habits and using the right products. With a very simple routine we’ve laid out here, you can have beautiful nails in no time at all.

It starts with kicking some bad habits, such as using your nails as tools. They’re jewels 💎, not tools! For doable, helpful nail tips, we recommend easy, everyday do’s and don’ts for optimal nail care wellness.

Moisturize Your Nails

Moisturizing is a well-known secret to healthy skin, but it's often overlooked in nail care. While dry, brittle nails can be the result of many factors, it’s ultimately a cry for moisture, so consider proper moisture the foundation of your nail care routine. We recommend using a strengthening cream such as Strengthening Bamboo Cream and applying it to bare nails and cuticles whenever they feel dull and dehydrated.

Don’t Cut or Pick at your Cuticles

It's common practice to cut, clip or try to get rid of cuticles altogether, but cuticles are not the enemy. In fact, the cuticle is the nail's natural protective seal. Cutting, clipping, picking can damage both the cuticles and the nails. This practice leaves the nails and cuticles vulnerable to bacteria, environmental grime and the risk of infection. When cuticles are poorly cared for, they can get dry and injured, which can affect the way your nails grow out. We recommend regular use of a cuticle oil such as Sweet Almond Cuticle Oil that you massage into cuticles and gently push them back. This practice not only improves your cuticles, but your overall nail health and appearance.

Limit Contact with Water

We’re not suggesting you stop washing your hands or showering with gloves, but we do recommend that you reduce the amount of time your nails are exposed to water and wear protective gloves when washing dishes or for any other activities that expose your nails to water for long periods.

Just like our skin and hair, our nails absorb water and when they do, the nail structure becomes weakened. Excessive water exposure can put significant strain on the nails and can result in a condition called onycholysis, which can permanently damage and disfigure the nails.

We also opt for getting dry manicures that don’t soak your nails in water first. This practice is very common in many nail salons, but is generally considered a bad practice. Not only does this make your nails more vulnerable to infection, but it also doesn't allow nail polish to adhere as well or last as long.

Be Gentle

Using nail files that dig under the nail tips, emery boards that often contain bacteria, filing nails back and forth or exposing nails to the harmful effects of drilling to remove gels, acrylics or dips. This drilling process is done at the proximal edge of the nail where the nail meets the cuticle. This is the virgin nail area that has just emerged from the nail matrix and is the most vulnerable. Drilling anywhere on the nail, but especially in this area causes severe damage that may permanently disfigure the nail and affect its future growth.

Instead, use gentle files like the Crystal Nail File Duo Set and file in one direction, then the other. These files are made from tempered glass and can be washed in a disinfectant soap with warm water to remove any bacteria.

We also recommend opting out of the viscous cycle of gels, acrylics, and dips. Yes, dips too. These products are occlusive and when they adhere to the nail, starve the nail of oxygen, blood flow and moisture. Instead, opt for Gel Effect Nail Lacquer, infused with a blend of Bamboo Extract, Shea and Argan Oils. Gel Effect gives the nails that gorgeous plump look and long, chip resistant wear of a gel, dip or acrylic, without all the harmful side effects.

Treat Your Nails Like You Treat Your Skin and Hair

This is the golden rule we live by. Skin, hair and nails are made of layers of Keratin Protein, so caring for your nails like you care for your skin and hair just makes sense. And like skin and hair, nails can become dry, dehydrated and damaged from over processing.  

Frequent polish removal, gels, acrylics and dips do to nails what dyes, chemicals, and heat application do to hair and what over stripping does to skin.

Just as hydration can help repair hair issues such as frizz and split ends, and skin issues such as wrinkles and sagging, it can help improve dry and brittle nails. Our equivalent of “second day hair” is deep, saturating moisturization. We recommend an overnight treatment using Marine Algae Hydration Serum. A highly concentrated serum formulated with hyaluronic acid, which pulls moisture from the air and holds it to the nails. It also contains deeply hydrating and nourishing marine sea kelp to help heal damaged nails and cuticles.

It bears repeating, moisturizing is key. We have routines for deep conditioning our hair and using hydration masks and creams to moisturize our skin, so don’t neglect your nails and cuticles. They need hydration to stay healthy, strong and beautiful.

Manicures and Meteorology: Why Keeping an Eye on the Weather can Save your Nails

Winter can be a rough time for skin, hair, and nails alike. Not only can cool, dry weather cause nails to get extra brittle, but the extreme swings in temperature from going outdoors to indoors can cause additional damage. The shift from a heated home or office to the chilly open air can cause nail cells to contract and expand repetitively, resulting in a weakening between the cells, leading to brittleness and breakage. We recommend wearing gloves outside and routinely applying Strengthening Bamboo Cream to nails and cuticles.

Invest in the Best Products Possible

Crystal nail files are generally a one time investment that pay dividends over their lifetime. Unlike emery boards, crystal nail files are made from tempered glass, so they don’t wear out or collect bacteria. And you can clean them to avoid the risk of contaminating your nails with bacteria that stay on emery boards. We recommend Crystal Nail File Duo Set which includes one file for filing and shaping and one for buffing.

Cuticle Treatments are strongly recommended for keeping your cuticles healthy which leads to better overall nail healthy and appearance. Massaging a cream or cuticle oil into cuticles will keep then healthy, nourished, moisturized and hydrated. And they’ll just look and feel so good!

Be Patient with Nail Growth

If you're a chronic nail-biter, you know the victory of finally growing your nails out past your fingertips. Healthy habits plus patience pay off in nail care. But the primary focus should be on figuring out how to strengthen your nails, not solving the puzzle of how to grow nails fast. Using a reparative strengthener like W3 Peptide Serum, formulated with skin care Pea Peptides repairs fission’s and damaged Keratin Protein layers of the nails, improving the overall nail structure, which leads to better growth.

A healthy, strong nail structure ultimately leads to longer nails when you practice good nail and cuticle care. If your nails are brittle, which is the #1 most common problem, start by clipping them short until the regain their strength. Shorter nails are less at risk for getting snagged on clothing which can lead to tearing or splitting and cracking from being hit on hard surfaces.

Like everything else, consistency is key. Developing and maintaining a daily nail and cuticle care routine will lead to healthier, stronger and more beautiful nails. 💅