10 Nail Care Tips for the Nail Addict
1. Wear Gloves
While cleaning the house and washing dishing. This Prevent your hands and nails from drying out and becoming brittle. This also helps to prolong your gel polish, stops it from chipping and dulling in colour.
2. Use Cuticle Oil daily
Most contain Vitamin E, and popular ingredient as its deeply hydrating and helps rebuild the skin cells. Best to use at night time to hydrate dry cuticles, soften hang nails. promote strong healthy nails. Add this to your night time routine.
3. Use Hand Creams After washing your hands.
After ever time you wash your hands, apply hand cream! To put the moisture back into the skin. You wouldn't shampoo your hair and not condition? or You wouldn't use a facial cleanser and not moisturize after? Having a hand cream kept beside your hand wash at the sink is helpful.
4. DON'T PICK!
Picking gel polish can be very addictive, once there is a lift, you cant help yourself but get in there and pick and pull! But if you do pull you are taking away layers of your natural nail also. The natural nail is made up of hundreds of very fine layers. If the layers are pulled away, the nail weakens, and can not be replaced until a new nails grows in its place which can take 3-6 months or longer for some.
5. Clean your nails
So we all now know how to properly wash our hands, (warm water & soap and sing birthday happy for 20 sec's) well don't forget your nails too. Bacteria and dirt can build up underneath the nail, around the sidewalls and cuticle area. You can use a nail brush or even old soft tooth brush to scrub out the dirt.
6. Heal a bleeding nail bed
Broken a nail? and its bleeding! Consult your Nail Tech first as they will be able to give you the right info in what to do. As they know you and your nails best. At home, Prevent infection and promote fast healing. Soak nail in a egg cup with luke warm water, lemon juice and tea tree oil. This acts as a disinfected and a natural antibacterial. Dry the nail then apply Aloe Vera gel (from a leaf) over the affected area. This while help heal the cut, reduce redness and inflammation. Do this twice a day, and keep the nail clean and dry in between.
7. Fake Tan discoloring on gel polish
Directly after using fake tan or a spray tan. Dab some 'Acetone free' nail polish remover on to a cotton pad, and gentle rub the nail to remove the tan stain, this is only a surface stains but if left on the nails for to long it will be more tricky to remove yourself. Apply small bit of cuticle oil onto color and the skin surrounding the nail, this also helps hydrate the dry skin and stops the tan from looking patchy and dirty around the nails.
8. Me time!
There nothing like spending a hour with your Nail tech, no noise, no stress and you can't move either. So Getting your nails done is very therapeutic for some and it can be relaxing for the soul. Studies show that time spent in the nail salon reduces stress, anxiety and mental health. So schedule in some 'Me time' in your busy calendar. Even schedule your regularly nail appointment for the whole year, to have something to look forward too.
9. Care for your Nail tech
You are with your nail tech for a long period of time, there are some things to be mindful for. She wears the appropriate PPE to protect you from any cold & flu viruses, she keeps all her tools and equipment disinfected and sanitized so no bacteria or infections transfer. So, if you are sick with a virus or a head cold you are risking your nail techs health. If you are late of an appointment you are putting pressure on the time given to that appointment. Most Nail techs suffer with back problems and repetitive strain, therefore they struggle to give an excellent service under a shorter amount of time. Your Nail tech just wants to give you a safe, clean, relaxing experience and a quality nail service, all year round. So don't be late or don't show up sick.
10. Treat your Nails like Jewels not Tools!
Its the No.1 Nail Tech tip! We have all heard our Nail tech say this before. try not to use your nails to open cans, pick out dirt, pick out buggers from noises etc. The list could go on, right? treat them like you would with your expensive jewelry.
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