How To Maintain Long Nails

Whether you're the type of person who religiously paints their nails as a class of self-care or someone who'due south constantly picking and biting at their cuticles, we all yearn for salubrious, perfectly manicured nails. Well-clean-cut nails make you look instantly polished (pun intended!) and tin can even make hands announced more youthful.

To counteract the effects of actress hand-washing and skipped salon visits, nosotros talked to smash-care experts to notice out exactly what yous should be doing for your nails — simply get-go, how can you lot tell if your nails are healthy? Here's what to wait for.

Signs of Healthy Nails :

Nail plates are a pinkish-white color
Cuticles are existent (and so don't cut them!)
Nails and white tips are fifty-fifty lengths
Prominent half-moon shaped white section (called the lunula) at nail base

Signs of Unhealthy Nails:

Peeling or splitting nails could be dryness or the result of vitamin deficiency
Tiny white spots usually mean you're biting your nails or painting them as well often
Horizontal grooves could be from stress, high fevers, or jamming your finger
Scarlet, swollen pare around nails could be from removing or biting cuticles
Spoon-shaped nails could be a sign of iron deficiency or anemia

If you're concerned near your nail health, information technology'southward important to consult a dermatologist. Since your nails are super visible, it'due south easier to tell if an issue arises — meaning you tin treat it early if yous get help, says Dana Stern, M.D, a dermatologist and blast care specialist in New York. Now here's how to get strong, healthy nails:

1. Keep your easily very clean.

Subsequently you lot launder your hands, make certain nails are thoroughly crud-free past commencement removing all traces of smoothen with an acetone-free remover, which won't dry out nails. Employ soap to a clean toothbrush, so gently scrub nails and surrounding skin to remove clay and exfoliate whatever dead skin without harsh, drying chemicals, advises Ava Shamban, G.D., a dermatologist in Los Angeles and writer of Heal Your Skin.

2. Be gentle on your nails.

Your nails are delicate, so treat them that manner. Avert using metal tools under nails, every bit also much excavation can cause the nail plate to separate from the pare (a status called onycholysis), mutual for people over 50, says Dr. Stern. Cleaning with chemicals and washing dishes by hand tin can also weaken nails. Guard them by wearing safe, vinyl, nitrile or plastic gloves, says New York City dermatologist Janet Prystowsky, M.D., Ph.D.

3. Clip your nails regularly.

Consequent trims are as important to your nails as they are to your hair, says Dr. Prystowsky, and brand nails less prone to snags and breakage. So aim to clip them every two weeks, adjusting frequency every bit needed once you meet how your nails respond.

4. Prioritize boom health over length.

Long nails are elegant, but if yous're someone who has struggled with hangnails or breakage, Dr. Shamban recommends that you keep your nails brusque — at least for flow of time as you allow them to grow stronger. A shorter fashion with rounded edges looks corking and tends to be easier to manage, so you won't accept to subject area your nails to extra wear and tear. As long as each nail is uniform in shape and matches its ix neighbors, y'all won't miss the added length.

Mont Bleu Premium Set of 3 Crystal Nail Files

Mont Bleu Premium Set up of 3 Crystal Nail Files

5. Always go on a nail file on hand.

If your job or workout routine exposes your nails to potential harm, Dr. Prystowsky advises keeping a nail file handy for on-the-spot buffing of any crude edges. For the smoothest finish, work in one management with the grain of your nail.

Instead of an emory board, which tin crusade nails to skin and snag, attempt a glass (also called crystal) nail file. "A glass file volition create an even border to the smash and tin can be used on the weakest, brittle, and damaged nails," Dr. Stern says.

6. Don't forget to have care of your boom tools, as well.

Disinfecting your nail tools between uses is just equally of import as regularly cleaning your makeup brushes, and for the same reason — bacteria. To keep your nails infection-gratuitous, Dr. Prystowsky advises washing metal tools with soap and h2o and then wiping down with rubbing alcohol. And don't forget to regularly replace disposable tools like emery boards. There's no reason to keep using a tattered tool when it's and then piece of cake to rotate in a new one for a few bucks.

seven. Leave your cuticles lone.

Deborah Lippmann It's A Miracle Cuticle Oil

Deborah Lippmann Information technology's A Miracle Cuticle Oil

The cuticle has a very important purpose to serve: It seals the expanse at the base of the boom. So think twice about cut or removing the cuticle, because it tin pause that seal of protection, leaving you vulnerable to bacteria and the possibility of infection (also as painful and cruddy tears). Taking care of your cuticles also helps minimize those dreaded hangnails, Dr. Stern says.

If you need to push back your cuticles, Debbie Palmer, D.O., the medical director of Dermatology Associates of New York in Harrison, NY, recommends doing then once per week subsequently you shower (when peel is soft) using a wooden orange stick. Terminate by massaging cuticles and nails with a cuticle oil or handling. "Serum-similar strengtheners are captivated quickly and typically contain moisturizers to rehydrate dry, brittle nails," GH Beauty Lab pharmacist Danusia Wnek says.

eight. Protect your nails with a base coat.

When you lot're painting your nails at home, don't skip the base coat. Dr. Prystowsky points out that this stride both shields the nails from being stained by polish and helps the color look more saturated and opaque with just one glaze. Even without color, "strengthening varnishes leave a shiny difficult coating on nails; reinforce tips, making them appear thicker; and can protect against damage," says Wnek. And if you actually want to take things to the next level, Dr. Shamban suggests adding a glaze of clear gloss between each layer to add together extra smooth and protection.

ix. Read the labels on your polish.

Only as with makeup and skincare, not all boom polish brands are created equal, so make sure yous're ownership or using a good product. Dr. Debbie Palmer urges you lot to steer clear of polishes containing toxic chemicals like dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde, and toluene, as these toxins can contribute to brittleness, splitting, and bang-up.

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Glaze

10. Use a top coat to prevent nail chips.

Don't think y'all can skip a top glaze, either. This pace is only equally important, every bit the meridian coat seals in the polish'southward color and adds a much-needed gloss finish to your digits. Dr. Prystowsky recommends adding another peak coat layer every three days to decrease chipping, so you'll become the most out of your manicure.

eleven. Indulge in acrylic or gel treatments sparingly.

Any nail expert y'all talk to is going to do their best to steer you lot away from acrylic or gel manicures — every bit long-lasting and convenient as they are because they're very hard on the nail. Just if y'all're keen on getting them, there are some ways to minimize the harm to your hands and nails.

The principal issue with a gel manicure is the exposure to UV light in the drying device, which tin can damage the skin below and around the nail, leading to an increased risk of cancer. To help reduce that risk, Dr. Prystowsky recommends applying a sunscreen with an SPF of 30 to 50 earlier the process to assistance block the damage, or you lot can try special gloves that expose only the nails themselves, shielding the residue of your hands from the harmful UV rays.

There's also a professional service that the Proficient Housekeeping Establish's Beauty Lab constitute won't ruin your nails: CND's Shellac Luxe salon service, which won a Adept Housekeeping Beauty Award in 2019.

12. Give your nails a suspension.

Save the elaborate blast art and those bold colors with lots of pigment for the weekend, and during the rest of the calendar week, give your nails fourth dimension to rest and repair with a articulate gloss. Dr. Shamban warns that going from ane strong smooth color to another without giving your nails a interruption can dry them out, turn them yellowish, and over fourth dimension, even weaken the structure of the nail.

Dr. Stern agrees, maxim that nail polish removers could as well be the reason your nails are weak. Sometimes going all natural "tin exist just the matter that your nails need in order to rejuvenate and refresh," she says.

13. Moisturize your hands and nails regularly.

You moisturize your face before bed, and so exercise the aforementioned for your nails. New York City nail good Holly Falcone likes to employ a mix of almond and avocado oils to go along cuticles and nails hydrated while she gets some close-eye, merely any food-rich oil or moisturizer will do. In a pinch, you tin fifty-fifty use a dab of lip balm. "Efficacious formulas comprise humectant ingredients similar glycerin, emollients such equally fatty oils and occlusives like silicones, which work together to hydrate nails and skin," says Wnek.

xiv. Vesture gloves when doing dishes.

Playtex Living Reuseable Rubber Cleaning Gloves

We'll say it again: Whenever you lot're cleaning with harsh chemicals, gardening, or doing anything that involves soaking or dirtying your hands, you need to wearable safety, vinyl, nitrile, or plastic gloves — some of which have a cotton liner. Cleaning dishes in hot, soapy water sans gloves can weaken the nails, while getting them caked with dirt from gardening volition require a level of cleaning that you want to avoid wherever possible.

Similarly, when atmospheric condition is dank, recollect to wear a pair of mittens or gloves then that the common cold air and air current don't undo the hard work you did moisturizing, leaving yous with dry out, flaky, scaly skin.

15. Load up on poly peptide-rich nutrient.

Your fingernails are made of a protein called keratin, so just as with the clarity of your skin or the smoothen of your hair, yous can ameliorate your nails by tweaking your diet. Falcone advises adding vitamins and supplements similar biotin, Vitamin E, and fish oil to your daily regimen, while Dr. Palmer recommends protein-rich foods similar beans, fish, and basics. The 1 matter every expert agrees on: One time you hitting on the combination that works for you lot, y'all'll be rewarded with stronger, clearer nails.

Amina Lake Abdelrahman, Good Housekeeping Institute Editorial Assistant Amina is an editorial assistant at the Good Housekeeping Found, where she works with lab experts (who test all the latest products) and writes original content based on their recommendations.