Healthy nails is more than taking vitamins and getting a manicure. Read to see if you are making any of the following mistakes with your nails.

Bare nails

You’re letting your nails “breathe” by taking breaks between polish changes and keeping your nails bare.

This used to be me all the time. I thought it was good for my nails to leave them bare for a while.. but turns out I was leaving them exposed to chipping, soaking up water, and biting when stressed out.

Nail polish protects your nails. Nails can absorb a lot of water, so doing things like dishes can make nails expand when absorbing water and later shrink back when dry. This then makes them flimsy and not as strong (think of a balloon that keeps getting inflated then deflated- it loses its structure and elasticity). Nail polish coats the nails and actually prevents the nail from absorbing too much water.

Cutting the cuticle

Sure it looks clean (more so when the professionals do it) but a better alternative is cuticle remover and gently pushing back the cuticles. Cuticles act as a barrier to prevent bacteria from getting underneath the skin. Google finger paronychia. I think I see this at least once a week in the clinic by someone that got their nails done or is a nail biter. When an infection happens after you visited the nail salon its likely because the cuticle was cut, and not because they used dirty tools.

You don’t use cuticle oil or nail strengthener

Ill he honest- I used to be one of those people that thought nail strengtheners was just a marketing gimmick. Until I started using nail treatment and cuticle oil religiously. The vitamins that are in them (and some have collagen) enhances nail growth and prevent nail breakage. You should be oiling your cuticles a least once a day to prevent skin dryness, cracking, bleeding.