You may not realize it, but some of the first things people look at is your hands and your nails. Because of this, it’s important to take care of your nails and keep them healthy.
Whether you keep polish on your nails or you like to wear them bare, a good place to start is by putting oil on your nails, said Gail Sadler, instructor of cosmetology at Southern Union State Community College.
“You want to use some type of oil on them because they get dried out so bad,” Sadler said. “That’s what makes them flake and peel off. They get dehydrated.”
You may also be damaging your nails when you take off acrylic nails or gel polish. Kaylee Campbell, a cosmotologist at Spa One Eighty in Auburn, said although it can be addicting to peel off the acrylic nails or gel polish, this is the last thing you will want to do.
You’ll want to keep an eye on how your manicurist takes off your nails. Campbell said she doesn’t use a drimmell tool like some salons, but instead she soaks them off and uses a buffing block.
“The way that we soak it off is very helpful for your nails,” she said. “Because the farther down you go, the farther you buff your nails, the more brittle they’re going to become.”
If you’re removing your gel polish at home, Campbell said you should dip a little cotton ball in acetone, wrap it around your nail, and then wrap foil around that. The foil will create heat that creates a chemical reaction and breaks down the gel polish.
After a while of wearing nail polish, your nails may start to stain yellow. Campbell said not to worry about it.
“It’s just your polish’s pigment basically that’s staining your nails, and there’s nothing wrong with that,” she said. “It’s just staining. But buffing your nails will take that off.”
You may have heard before that painting a base coat before your color will help fight against yellow staining. Campbell disagrees, saying that a base coat isn’t necessary unless you’re using gel polish.
“We’ve actually tried it with with base and without base,” she said. “The polish doesn’t last longer, the polish still stains the nail bed.”
Although the base coat isn’t important, forgetting a top coat will keep your manicure from lasting a long time. Some top coats work better than others, and Sadler recommends finding a UV top coat. This works like gel polish and stays on for a while, but it doesn’t require a UV light.
There are a few other things you can do to strengthen your nails. Sadler and Campbell both recommend finding a strengthening polish. Campbell also said that vitamins like Biotin help nail and hair health.
Last, if your nail does break, Campbell said you can put nail glue on top of it. Eventually, it will grow out to where you can just file it down.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
