With nail art being all the rage nowadays, more and more people want to grow their nails longer so they’ll have a bigger base for the fanciest designs. The longer your nails are, the bigger and bolder the design can be. And if you’re a big fan of nail art, there’s a good chance that you’ll want to sport some of the wilder ones at some point.
While you can always opt for artificial nails, there’s still something nice with having strong long nails. This is why you can find lots of people growing theirs out. Unfortunately, not everyone can do this easily.
Lots of people have trouble keeping their nails long as they can get brittle and break with the slightest impact. This, of course, can be a massive problem, whether you like nail art or not.
What should you do to prevent this? Here are five ways that you can try:
Find Out Why Your Nails Break Often
There are tons of reasons why your nails break often but if you really want to address the problem properly, you should find out the reason why this happens. It can be just a bad habit which can be resolved by any of the tips below or it can be caused by an ailment. The latter needs to be addressed immediately as it can affect not just your nails but your overall health as well.
A few of the most common ailments that cause nail breakage include:
- Nail psoriasis
- Fungal infection
- Lichen planus
- Hyper and hypothyroidism
- Iron deficiency
If you have other symptoms for these conditions, you should look at ways how to manage and treat them right away.
Moisturize Your Nails, Too, and Do It Often
Are you guilty of not using hand cream until you’re already starting to feel your hands getting painful and itchy? Then there’s a good chance that you’re harming your nails, too.
Most hand creams also have additional ingredients to add moisture to your nail beds so a simple application will already help you hit two birds with one stone. However, if you only do this once a day, there’s a good chance that you’re not doing enough for your hands and nails.
What you should do, however, is to apply hand cream every after hand washing. If you used soap on your hands, it’s wise to wear hand cream after to restore the moisture that the soap stripped from your skin and cuticles.
Wear Nail Polish the Right Way
Nail polishes are great ways to liven up your look but there are proper ways to do them. For one, you’re not supposed to wear them all the time. Even those with strengthening ingredients can still be drying to your nails so experts recommend removing them every after 5 days. This is around the time when they break down anyway, so you don’t have to feel wasteful. Giving your nails a few days to breathe in between re-applications is also a must.
Applying a hand cream or any moisturizing agent before applying nail polish is also a good way to helps strengthen your nails. Doing this will help prevent the nail polish from drying out your nails as it will seal in the moisture brought in by your chosen lotion or cream. It can be tricky, but it’s definitely worth a try.
Stop Cutting Your Cuticles
Lots of experts don’t want you to keep nipping at your cuticles no matter how common the practice is. Why? It can damage your nail bed and expose your nails to infections and further damage. As your cuticles serve as a protective feature, cutting it too short can make it weaker.
What you should do instead is to lightly push them towards the skin very lightly right after you shower. This will prevent their overgrowth without you needing to remove them altogether.
Be Mindful in Choosing a Nail Salon
Going to a nail salon with questionable sanitation practices and low-quality nail care products can also be causing your nails to be weaker. This is why you should only stick to notable and respected places like the Dashing Diva. They’ll take care of your nails properly without putting your health at risk.
Acrylic nails may serve as excellent alternatives to your real nails if you’re really having a hard time growing them out without your nails breaking right away. However, having long, healthy nails is still way better as it’s a good sign that you’re in top health. It can also be less costly as these acrylic nails also come with a price. Wearing nail glue for days on end can also be a bad thing for your nails, so if you’re already struggling in improving your nail health, this might not be the most helpful tip.
At the end of the day, improving your nail’s health is still the best way to prevent nail breakage. Make sure to pay closer attention to them as they can be saying lots of things about your health. Address them right away and you’ll have better odds at improving both your nails’ quality and your overall well-being.